Saturday, June 21, 2008, early am.
I was just flipping through TV channels and passed a commercial for another "body shaper". They seem to be all the rage now. What happened?
Until the late '60s we wore girdles. Some included the bra and right down to the mid-thigh, some were waist to top of thigh, and variations between. Everyone wore them if you were leaving the house. It was called a "foundation garment". A girl knew her mother considered her a young lady the day she was presented with her first girdle. Partly it was to prevent the dreaded jiggle. Mostly it was to hold stockings up. And everyone always wore stockings everywhere, all the time. We actually wore stockings with shorts! Bare legs were very daring, and only for the most casual of occasions.
Yeah, there were garter belts, but they were uncomfortable, let your stockings droop when you sat down, and made funny bulges. There were rolled garters worn just above or just below the knee, but everyone knew they encouraged varicose veins, and tended to fail at critical moments. You wore them just around the house.
So we all wore girdles, almost all the time.
Reliable pantyhose were not commonly available until the very early '70s. It was pantyhose and the Women's Liberation movement that spelled doom for the girdle. I am loose! I am free! This is me! Like it or lump it! We gloried in our natural bodies.
Suddenly, I'm seeing what amounts to girdles everywhere. They don't call them girdles. They call them smoothers or shapers. (Um, doesn't this imply your shape isn't good enough? Has it occurred to anyone that if they're lumpy, maybe their clothes are just too tight?)
Hey! They're GIRDLES! They are a negative symbol we rejected three decades ago! And you don't even need them for stockings any more. They are purely an external rejection of who and what you are!
What happened? Why are women backsliding? I don't like it at all.
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3 comments:
I'm so with you on this. I don't know why I let myself get talked into buying a pair of "power panties". Personally, I think my panties are powerful enough.
I remember the joyful day - I was in 8th grade - when pantyhose came out. The crotch immediately slid down to mid-thigh. It was a while before it was realized that is more than one size of woman.
This whole confusing new jumble has me clinging to old favorites - pants that don't show every lump or bump, and flowy blouses. If I can't wear it as pajamas, I don't buy it.
I wish more fat assed men would wear girdles, but that's just me:)
I think I'm too lazy to add another layer to my daily routine. I love your take on this.
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