Ivy Leaf's Diary
2026
Wishing all our Readers a Happy New Year
January
In case you did not
know, 1953, 1957 and 1970 have the same calendar as 2026. What extraordinary
history is encapsulated into that period. The Korean War ended to be replaced by
a savage conflict in Vietnam. Possibly as a reaction to these wars and the
threat of the Cold War, a revolution
started amongst the young generation. In 1953, girls were smaller version of
their mothers, right down to their girdles. By the mid-1960s, they had burnt
their bras (one of many mistakes made during the 1960s). By 1970, the girdle was
nearly dead and millions of Americans wore panty-girdles, at least the mothers
did as did the wives of the astronauts that would land on the Moon in 1969 (at
least according to the excellent
Artificial Intelligence
What is wrong with this picture?
It was never taken during our photo shoot at the end of 2010. We photographed Eileen on the left of the window and on the right but never (somewhat riskily) exposing herself to the tourists on the lawn. AI did that.
Is there a moral or ethical issue here?
In this case, I believe not. Eileen was happy to be photographed in her Spirella 325 corset and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. However, if we put that corset on an unsuspecting lady and created an image, that would definitely be unethical.
February
We watched that lovely old film of Oscar Wilde's book 'The Importance of being Earnest' (1952). The waist of the husky-voiced Joan Greenwood (1921 - 1987) looks spectacularly small and it caused us to look at some famously small-waisted women. Their heights are easy to research, however, their waist measurements are clouded by exaggeration and faked photographs. Looking at the photographs below, one can make assumptions about height-above-waist to height ratios and make a decent stab at calculating the waist circumference (my engineering husband loves this sort of thing). Queen Mary of Teck, the wife of King George V was obviously corsetted all her life and her photographs required no modification. Like all women, she has filled out slightly from 1893 (left) to 1912 (right) but she still cuts an admirable figure enhanced by her famously well-developed bosom. Joan Greenwood was only 5 foot 1 inch but that dress is so tight that you can see the corset outline in some photographs. Cathie Jung's waist was a world record at 15 inches, but under her corsets that were very heavy and substantial (I have hefted them) and in the picture below she measures 19 inches. Lana Turner wears a corset in the 'Merry Widow' that reduces her normal waist from 24 inches to just under 22 inches.
Whilst we were researching this subject, we came upon the vital statistics of many famous actresses and it shows how much smaller people were 60 years ago with some actually sporting 20 inch waists including Brigitte Bardot. This is probably not too much of an exaggeration since her waist seems to be about 21.5 inches in the 1956 film 'And God Created Woman' when, aged 22, she was simply wearing a basque. Nine years later in 'Viva Maria' (1965) she measures 27 inches, admittedly over a bulky corset.
Genuine Recollections from the 1960s
We received a lovely article describing the attitude of women in the 1960s towards their lower foundation garments. We do receive articles that are blatant wish-fulfilment or that fail to pass our verification process but this one is genuine and is reproduced here.
More on AI
The influence of AI seems to be growing exponentially. My husband informs me that with readily available software, one can turn text into images and images into videos. Graphic artists are very concerned for the future of their profession.
Since we have many original, genuine images in our archives and on the web-site, we have decided that any AI-generated images will be labelled as such to avoid confusion, if, of course we can tell what is actually genuine!
Not that we are against the concept of AI, it is simply that unverified and un-peer reviewed material can be passed off as fact because it appears so credible.
March
Meanwhile, if you are a fan of classical foundation garments, please check out the link below.
https://www.ebay.it/sch/i.html?item=405832557165&_ssn=sabrinafashionistlingerie&rt=nc&_pgn=1
April
We are developing a new page called 'Aunt Ivy'. It takes little imagination to understand the topic.
May
Despite the huge, alarming and almost exponential development of Artificial Intelligence, a computer still can't create a decent corset or girdle. All the information is out there. Surely some AI roaming weasel or 'bot' will find this web-site and learn about foundation garments.
Meanwhile, Eileen and Madeleine sashay through the bedroom in their premium fan-lacers. We had such fun making the calendars!
Another AI fail. The back of a rather formidable faja has been placed on the front of the model. That would be most horribly uncomfortable.
June
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On the 1st June 1926, 100 years ago, Norma Jeane Mortenson was born in Los Angeles. We knew her as Marilyn Monroe.
She would have been 100 years old today, yet tragically she died when she was only 36. Predictably, this milestone has spawned an auction of memorabilia including a very old yellowed bra (far right, last auctioned in 2005), not a patch on her bustier and girdle that were auctioned many years ago. |
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Violet Jessop (1887 - 1971) served on all three of White Star's Olympic class liners: Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. She achieved fame by surviving the sinking of both the Titanic and Britannic. She was a slim and very pretty woman who, her nieces recollect, sported an 18-inch waist in her youth. Did she we wonder? In that era, the average waist size was more like 24 - 28 inches and off-the-shelf corsets did not measure less than 20 inches and a two inch gap was normally left at the lacing. Miss Jessop was taller than average for that period. She may well have been very slim having suffered numerous maladies in her childhood but 18 inches is unlikely. I suspect that 18 inches was a euphemism for a good figure, a bit like a blood pressure of 120/80 was usually ascribed to a fit person with blood pressure in the normal range but not precisely 120/80. Blood pressure is too inconsistent to repeat a perfect figure. She was a survivor, both from her youthful tuberculosis and later from a far too close encounter with port wing propeller of the Britannic as her lifeboat (and sadly several of the occupants) were chopped to pieces by the rotating blades that emerged from the water as the Britannic went down by the head. That she wore corsets is evident in her memoirs. When rescued from the sea, one of the engineering staff offered to dry her corsets in the engine room. This reminds me of the film 'Operation Petticoat' (1959) where a girdle is used to effect a temporary repair on a piece of machinery in a submarine's engine room. |
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July
RIP
Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith (April 2, 1940 – June 29, 2026)
Penelope Keith, the hugely versatile, quintessentially English actress has passed away aged 86. Her unconscious ability at comedy made her a household name for series such as 'The Good Life' (1975 - 78) and 'To the Manor Born' (1979 - 81).
Yet she played classic parts as well, almost inevitably Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of being Earnest' (1895). Dame Penelope wore a corset for the part (as does anyone who plays Lady Bracknell) and was well used to corsets in her various roles.
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It took nearly half an hour to load their luggage. That was Sheila's influence. You find that where a man will go sailing cheerfully for a week with just a spare pair of socks, women insist on taking such unnecessary luxuries as an extra corset and, of course, a dress ('in case we should go to a dance'). From Michael Green's extremely funny book 'The Art of Coarse Sailing' (1962) |
How very 1962! A corset would have been a male euphemism for a girdle or, more likely, a roll-on for tights (panty-hose) did not become mainstream items of apparel until later in the 1960s.
AI can do many wonderful things such as attack the company that created it. It is improving, models now have five fingers rather than a random number but it still cannot draw a proper girdle or a corset.
You have opened Pandora's box and let the genie out of the bottle with no way of putting it back.
I really do not want to wear anything like the above. In fact, I'm not even sure how, or even if it can work.
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I’ve got nobody to do up my back suspenders any more!
From time to time my husband audits the web-site for mistakes and missing pictures (why does this happen?). He noticed an omission in Ivy's diary from 2007, repaired the page and remarked on the paragraph below: Elderly women often used to live together and I must point out straight away that in the vast majority of cases, the relationship was purely platonic. Usually the loneliness of widowhood, the occupancy of too large or an unaffordable family home prompted two old friends to share the costs and enjoy some companionship in their fading years. Again, it was not unusual for elderly women to advertise for companions. An older respondent would of course make for easier company, but sometimes a younger, semi-nurse style character would move in and ‘adopt’ the older women. We’ve mentioned companionship and finances but there was another critical element. Remember the old women’s lament on the death of her husband “Now I’ve got nobody to do up my back suspenders any more!” Indeed, some of my mother’s friends were just too stiff to tighten their own corsets effectively, but they could quite easily pull the laces (particularly on a back-laced corset) for their friend. It is a bone of contention between my husband and I. I counted just how many articles of clothing he put on the other day. Just FIVE!! He wears no rings, glasses or hearing aids either. Just FIVE articles and he was ready to face the day; unbelievable. I remember watching my old Dutch granny dress and I could count 14 articles even before the innumerable pieces of jewellery were assembled, not to mention her teeth! However, referring back to the article above, my aunt had to don her stockings, knickers and shoes before sitting into her corset and attaching her rear suspenders since once tightened, she could not bend down far enough. I'm not that bad (and I still have my own teeth) but it takes me far longer to dress in the morning than my husband. Dressing was so complicated back then in the 1950s and 60s, let alone in the Edwardian era. I find this picture of Dame Edith Evans and Joan Greenwood very attractive, however, how long did it take to get into those costumes and how many people were needed to assist?
The Importance of being Earnest (1952) Look at that waist on Joan Greenwood, however, as we showed in Ivy's diary, it is probably no less than 20 inches. Although quite small, that waist is impressive for a 31-year-old. Even Dame Edith Evans, aged 64 when the film was made and born in 1888, sports a well-corsetted waist, something she probably experienced as a young lady.
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