Myrtle, Myrtle where’s your Girdle? (lingerie)

A Girdle is a type of foundation garment. A lightweight undergarment, worn especially by women. The garment can be partly or entirely made of elastic, or boned, to help support and give a slimmer appearance to the abdomen, hips, and buttocks.

Girdles were considered essential garments by many women from about 1920 to the late 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 skirt and a narrow, nipped-in waistline, also known as a wasp waist.

Historically, the girdle extended from the waist to the upper thigh. Constructed of elasticized fabric and sometimes fastened with hook and eye closures, a girdle is designed to enhance a woman’s figure. Most open-bottom girdles looked like short fitted skirts. In the 1960s, these models fell from favor and were to a great extent replaced by panty girdles, which resemble a fitted pair of athletic shorts. Both models of girdles may include suspender clips to hold up stockings.

In the late 1960’s, pantyhose replaced girdles for many women who had used the girdle to hold up their stockings. Those who wanted more control purchased “control top” pantyhose.

Girdles and “body shapers” are still worn by women (and Men) to shape their figure with a garment. Some of these garments may join a brassiere, becoming functionally the equal to a corset. However, they do not use boning and hence do not produce the constricted waistline characteristic of Victorian-era corsets.

Spanx Bodyshaper

Spanx Smoother

And the traditional short girdles do still exist:

Here’s the one Master hasn’t seen dievca wear, yet:

Dita von Teese Leopard print open girdle with clips

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