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>>Robert wrote: >My wife would not buy a girdle with bones. While we >were shopping at a mall, my wife looked at girdles and >actually had one in her hand thinking she was going to >buy it. >>Well when she discovered it had bones, it went back on >>the rack. I think she saw bones in a girdle as an >>old lady thing. > >In the period I was referring to (later 1950s and >1960s) many, usually older, ladies still wore >corset-like girdles, often pink or "tea-rose" which >had little elastic and plenty of bones. Younger women >were enjoying much more comfortable "modern" >foundations with more elastic net and fashions allowed >more freedom - though trousers were rarely worn. >Even so, by today's standards, girdles were very much >firmer and heavier and had more panelling. Even >suspender belts were often 8 or 9 inches deep with a >degree of tummy control. Women were generally slimmer >than todaybut still regarded girdles as essential to >give a good figure. Many of those "modern" girdles >included bones, sometimes flexible ones to prevent >rolling but also rigid ones to increase control, >especially of the tummy. You are right: girls and >younger women regarded boning as a significant step up >in control (and a step down in comfort) and I know, >from comments I heard at the time, that they saw boned >girdles as an unwelcome indicator of more serious >figure faults. My girlfriend at the time told me she >felt sorry for a friend who "had to wear" a boned >girdle. >> >>Some have no interest in wearing a girdle themselves. >> Some only like open bottom girdles, some like me, >>are obsessed with long leg girdles. > >Yes, I am in that first group. In my youth, just about >all girdles were open-bottom ones so that was the main >focus of interest. By the time panty girdles became >more common (with the wider wearing of tights from the >late 1960s) I was married and watched that transition >with interest. It took quite a long time for women to >switch over fully to tights and panty girdles and I >found it fascinating to hear, from women I knew, their >thoughts and experiences and their reasons for wearing >one type of girdle rather than the other. Some of >these reasons were entirely practical (short skirts >needed tights and a panty girdle was essential; panty >girdles were "not as good" - meaning "less effective" >in dealing with some figures, etc). My wife would >wear a panty girdle only when skirt length demanded >it. At all other times she preferred what she saw as >better control in an open girdle. > >>So I'm curious, why are you here? Obviously if >>you're here you have some kind of interest in girdles. >> I'm guessing your don't have any interest wearing a >>girdle. Tell me if I'm close. >> >Yes, Robert, you are largely right. My interest was >not in wearing but in seeing and listening to women >talking about (or writing about) their experiences of >wearing belts and girdles. That interest started in >teen years when I was intrigued to know what girls my >age wore - and why they chose those garments. That >interest grew over the years. I could read (in >catalogues and advertisements) about what girdles were >designed to do and what women thought of them. >Magazine articles and even radio discussions covered >the positive and negative aspects of girdle wearing >and I could observe the preferences and choices of >women I knew. At that time you could watch women >choosing foundations in shops like Marks & Spencer and >seeing how they weighed up the pros and cons of each >item before deciding what to buy. One Saturday >afternoon when shopping with my wife, I saw a >young-ish woman choose a firm control panty >corselette. My wife said she wouldn't want to "wear >one of those" and explained why. To me, it was and >still is interesting to imagine why that woman wanted >it and what she thought of it when she went home and >put it on. >Now only simple "shapewear" is worn and it isn't >nearly as interesting.

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