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Woman / 9th December 1967
Ah, corsetry. Ever since women struggled out of whalebones, the fashion industry has been yelling at us to get back in them, albeit in different forms, whether it be the Bridget Joneseque control pants, or frantically doing toning exercises, as if being a bit cuddly was some sort of crime. Yes, I AM overweight and oversensitive, thank you for asking. My mother used a pantee girdle for years; I can assure you it made very little difference to her figure, and imagine my pre-pubesent horror when she informed me that it would soon be my turn to struggle into the elastic. Obviously, I didn’t follow in her footsteps (for reasons of fashion as well as principle), but looking at the large number of girdle ads in my collection, the elephant in the room looms larger and larger (if you’ll pardon the pun); where does the displaced fat GO?
Tags: blatant sexism, Carol Cleveland, fashion, retail, social history
5 Comments
Tanya Jones on 4 October 2009 @ 10pm
Chance would be a fine thing: a spare tyre between bra and girdle is far more likely!
Beelzebub on 4 October 2009 @ 10pm
To eliminate the spare tyre one wears a long-line bra – a torso entirely encased in skintight 100% nylon.
That corset’s bloody expensive!
Tanya Jones on 5 October 2009 @ 9pm
It bloody is, actually: 84/- is £4 4s, when the average housewife income was £20 a week! I suppose begging the husband was in order, although the average housewife probably had trouble getting on her knees whilst encased in nylon…
Tanya Jones on 17 October 2009 @ 3pm
I saw the modern versions of these in the John Sanders department store in Ruislip today. Some old dear was clutching a high waisted pantee hose, and the best of luck to her: at least these have Lycra!
John H on 3 October 2009 @ 3pm
Into a lovely great cleavage of course.