Girdle
The word girdle originally meant a belt .
In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's
underwear that replaced the
corset in popularity.
Historically and in anthropology, the girdle can be a scanty belt-shaped textile for men and/or women, worn on its own, not holding a larger garment in place, and even less revealing than the
loin-cloth, as was used by Minoan
pugilists.
Constructed of elasticized fabric and usually fastened with hook and eye closures, the modern girdle is designed to shape and smooth a
woman's figure, thereby producing a more aesthetically pleasing and
attractive silhouette.
Encyclopedia
The word
girdle originally meant a belt .
In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's
underwear that replaced the
corset in popularity.
Historically and in anthropology, the girdle can be a scanty belt-shaped textile for men and/or women, worn on its own, not holding a larger garment in place, and even less revealing than the
loin-cloth, as was used by Minoan
pugilists.
Constructed of elasticized fabric and usually fastened with hook and eye closures, the modern girdle is designed to shape and smooth a
woman's figure, thereby producing a more aesthetically pleasing and
attractive silhouette.
Most girdles extend from the waist to the thighs. Older girdles were simply sheaths of fabric that did not cover the crotch.
In the 1960s, these models fell from favor and were to a great extent replaced by the panty girdle. The panty girdle resembles a tight pair of athletic shorts.
Both models of girdles usually include garters to hold up
stockings.
Girdles were considered essential garments by many women from approximately 1910 to the early 1960s. They created a rigid, controlled figure that was seen as eminently respectable and modest. They were also crucial to the couturier
Christian Dior's 1947
New Look, which featured a voluminous skirts and a narrow, nipped-in waistline, also known as a
wasp waist.
Later in the 1960s, the panty girdle was generally supplanted by
pantyhose. Pantyhose replace girdles for many women who had used the girdle essentially as a means of holding up sheer nylon stockings. Those who want more control purchase "control top" pantyhose. Many women forswear girdles, stockings, and pantyhose entirely.
Girdles and "body shapers" are still sold to women who want to shape their figure with a garment. Some of these garments incorporate a
brassiere and thus become functionally equivalent to a corset. However, they do not incorporate boning and hence do not produce the constricted waistline characteristic of Victorian-era corsets.
See also
External links
