POSES and PRESENTATION

 

The talent and skills of the models and photographers combine in the poses used for various garments. Front or side (or back/ turning) shots were sometimes used to emphasize or disguise breast shape and projection such as with the Bandlette bra in Sears (1957). Sometimes the image is just an anonymous torso.  The "high kick" used for the long-leg panty girdle in Roamans (82-83) emphasizes flexibility. The lady from Sears (1969) projects an interesting "come-hither" look. 

 

The kneeling pose used by Montgomery Ward demonstrates the features of the  "Action Back" panty girdle.

This image used by Lane Bryant in 1991 approaches an atmosphere of seduction as well as using a home type background.  

Black & white (or sepia toned) photos were universal in early catalogs. Later, more expensive color drawings or photos began to be used. The earliest color images I've found date from the early 1950's. The red stockings and pink bra and panty girdle set is a knockout combination to me.

 

Montgomery Wards catalogs showed an interesting evolution through the late 1940s and early 50s. Their spring/summer 1943 catalog used live models extensively for women's underwear.  

One of the models in this 1943 illustration wore a "panty work garment" which was another evolutionary step. This garment along with the design of the "leg-band girdle" appears to have been the forerunner of the panty girdle (brief). The image of a woman in a defense plant (appears to be working on an aircraft landing gear) underscores the necessity of more practical garments for women during that time of war. In this presentation, the woman's face is almost completely visible. Unfortunately, that was an exception in this catalog. Most of the images were cropped through the middle of the woman's face when underwear was displayed.

 

Four years later the Montgomery Ward catalog didn't use live models or drawings of models at all in the main women's underwear section. The fall/winter 1947 catalog (75th Anniversary) primarily used torso forms. The only exception occurred on page 188 where several young women modeled slips, and one in a half slip wore a bra. Spiegel in 1946 sometimes used a mix of garments shown on torso forms with live models. In some cases the forms were made as a stylized "mono-torso" (no indication of separation to represent the wearer's legs. This was used in 1946 by Spiegel (right) for the open-bottom girdle to the left of the more conventional, "realistic" form used to display the panty girdle.

Live models for women's underwear were not used for MW catalogs in 1948 and 1950, either. In the 1950 catalog, the garments simply 

"floated" in air (similar to the illustration from 1983 Sear s/s) or were displayed on forms. Sometimes the model wore the garment over a black leotard that resulted in somewhat the same effect as the ghostly floating image. Mostly, I thought these type images were very boring. However, the front and back images used by JC Penny in 1976 for three styles of "Subtle Shaper" were exceptional.  

 I don't know the exact years when these policy changes occurred, but as illustrated elsewhere, by 1960 the MW catalog had returned to using live models.  Later Montgomery Ward catalogs had good illustrations until they went bankrupt in 2001.

 

By their construction, some garments lend themselves to a particular manner of display despite the era when offered for sale. The heavily structured corset from JC Penney in the 1980s (left) is displayed in essentially the same manner as used by Sears in 1936. The main difference appears to be the elastic leg bloomers worn by the model in 1936.

Many people (including me) would probably rather not think about breast cancer and the effects on a woman and her body. However, it is a fact of life. Therefore, I am including one example of a mastectomy bra. I included it in this section since Montgomery Ward went to some effort to depict a kind of "x-ray" view of how a breast form would be positioned in a bra. Also, I was interested to see that the form appeared to have a definite nipple shape. In the 1990's, JC Penny used the Jodee brand name for mastectomy specialty items. There was also a Jodee specialty catalog.  

 

Revealing poses and images

By 1979, Sears displayed tight form fitting garments like the body briefer.

Rarely, the mainline catalogs used somewhat suggestive displays. The "Lady Godiva" image posed by the model using her hair as a bra was an interesting ad in Sears in 1969.

Aldens showed Jezebel's Double Exposure bra in 1980 with the "turn-down" section for maximum exposure. Most catalogs previously showed this bra with the movable panel covering more of the model's breasts. I suspect that this image has been airbrushed to hide her areola. A 38-D model would really have been spectacular in this.

The high cut Gitano briefs shown in Sears in 1990 barely cover "the essentials" - a long step from the figure camouflage of the 1950s and 60's.

 

Models

Carmen Berg (identified as a former Playboy Bunny on the Internet) modeled a "Timeless Comfort" brief for Sears in 1988. Playtex used the identical image earlier in an ad. A footnote by Sears stated that "Timeless Comfort" and "Spanette" were registered trademarks used by SRC under license (I suppose to Playtex).

One popular underwear model was used extensively by RedBook magazine - in an article entitled "Underpinnings" late 1964 or early 1965. The photography for that article was rather unique. The photographer had the model jump on a trampoline and caught her image in "free-fall".

Miller's department store used photography submitted by its suppliers for their store mail-outs. The original of this black and white photo was an 8x10 glossy photograph. The background was a typical curved matte sheet (to minimize shadows or reflection).

This notice appeared in the Sears 1990 catalog. I don't know if this was the practice by all of the large catalog companies, but at least it is a definitive statement for Sears at that time.  

 

The idea must have been interesting to the magazine editors, because they also included a picture of the photographer (male) with this lady. Although this image from Sears in 1969 is fuzzy due to enlargement, her face and hairstyle are so distinctive, that I recognized her immediately. (She certainly must have left an indelible impression on my young mind for me to have instantly recognized her 35 years later.) She was introduced in that article and I hope that a reader may be willing to share copies of those images. 

Ethnic models

Into the 1970's, I only saw white women models in the major catalogs. However, representatives of different ethnic groups began to appear after that time. Some examples (but not necessarily the first) are Black (1977 JC Penney), Hispanic (1988 Sears), and Asian (1990s - JC Penney).