Corset history - 1900 to present

So I left off around 1900 with the "S" shaped corset ...

Click this to read the first blog that covers the years 1500 -1900.

This great graphic show what the corset did in the first two decades of the 20th century.

I've heard people say the corset was developed as something to control the bust.  But, at this point the front has become very low.  Buy the mid-teens it doesn't cover the bust at all.  The advertisement above is from 1912.  And this photo is of a corset a few years later. You can tell,  as it does not go quite as low on the thighs.


I wonder what it was like to sit in one of those really long corsets?  I bet the actresses on Downton Abbey could tell us.

Up to this point women are still wearing chemises under their corsets and layers and layers of other under garments on top. 

That was about to change!

So here are two examples of what women were wearing under their dresses in the 20s.  Just as the fashions had changed dramatically, the corset had, too. The first one looks, to me, like one of the first girdles.  It must have had elastic panels, where as the other one still laces up.  I imagine the older women wanted to wear a lace up garment like they were use to, and younger women were more likely to try the new stretch under garment.  But, I am sure there were some older women who were happy to be wearing something more comfortable.

By the 1930s, the chemise was gone.  Women were wearing either all in one undergarments or bras and girdles.  More about bras in a bit, maybe tomorrow.

1930s advertisement ... a pretty heavy duty garment!

To my eye, the girdle didn't change much into the 40s.  But, of course, this was during World War II and people had better things to do than redesign the girdle.

The hour glass figure came back in the 1950s with Dior's New Look silhouette. The undergarments defined the bust and waist more clearly.

Sometimes women would just wear a waist cincher under a dress with a full skirt.  Why be more uncomfortable than necessary?

On to the 60s and this is what I remember my mother wearing.  Notice that two of the girdles are "pantie" girdles, but the one on the left is an "open bottom" girdle. I remember thinking open bottom girdle were icky when I was a little girl, but really if you are going to wear something so tight, under a tight dress, it's the only sensible thing.  I can't imagine how hard it must be to wiggle out of a pantie girdle just to go to the bathroom and then pull it back on along with your stockings and garters.

You can still get open bottom girdles.  I know people who wear them with vintage clothing from the 30s - 60s.  Here is one website where they can be purchased. Girdle Bound.

In the early 70s things got colorful, but the Women's movement was coming on strong, women were burning their bras, pants were being worn instead of dresses and women stopped wearing girdles.  I was in my 20s at this time, and I never wore a girdle.

So, as I was searching on for images on line, there really wasn't anything for the rest of the 70s or 80s to speak of but then ... I found this!

I guess at this point women were feeling comfortable in the progress made in the work place and wanted to feel "sexy" again??? In any case, girdles made a come back with some people.

This is a 1990s girdle or as we would call it now, shape wear.  And if you notice it is NOT open bottom.  I have worn one of these a few times and they are hard to go to the bathroom in.

So, now we have Spanx!


The more things change, the more they stay the same.


Tomorrow bras ... I had no idea there would be so much to write on girdles.