Girdles

Girdles started to replace corsets in the 1930's and in 1966 six million girdles were sold in Britain in nine months. A fair proportion of these were accounted for by Spirella's 6,000 consultants as the corsetieres had become known. (By 1966, the term 'corset' was having image problems in the marketing department). Even in November 1968, a report from Kayser Bondor disclosed that in a survey of over 3,000 women, 70 per cent still wore conventional girdles and the vast majority of women needed and wanted controlling garments.

As we will see (weddings), 1968 probably sounded the death-knell of the girdle, as British woman suddenly adopted the panty-girdle that her American sisters had been wearing for nearly a decade.

Today (2005), the girdle is probably less well known than the corset that still has a small, but dedicated, following. The panty-girdle, or shaper if you must, is the lower foundation of choice, if, of course you chose to wear a foundation. But let us return to the heyday of the girdle.

Spirella girdle 246 - 1958

The 246 was a lighter girdle for the younger figure, however, fancy materials could be ordered at extra cost and were a favourite choice of brides.

The more flexible girdles 207 and 208 (below) were introduced in 1964, however, the 207 (above) seems to have induced head-aches in the poor models.

The Coppelia 40-series range was introduced in the mid-1960's to counter the cheap (and extremely well made) products from from the stores such as Marks and Spencer. It was very difficult for some women to believe that the extra expense of the made-to-measure girdle was justified in view of the choice of fittings from ready made girdles.

Coppelias 40, 41, 41 (above) and 43, 44 and 45 (below) from 1969 to 1972.

The girl in the middle below is a rare example of a poorly constructed Spirella picture; the girdle is worn far too low and very obviously, such a girl doesn't need a girdle like that, although her mother might!

Frankly, with girdles like these, long-line brassieres would have been more appropriate.

Latterly, Coppelias became (in Britain) the first girdles sold by Spirella in stock sizes. The pictures come from  Spirella's last catalogues produced early in the 1980's.

The Coppelia girdles were, in fact, very well made, however, when they came on the market, the era of the corsetiere as a skilled trade was on the wane. Many corsetieres might as well have sold 'Tupperware', or 'Avon' cosmetics. How many measurements do you need to sell a plastic tub or a perfume? None; and that is my point. Coppelia was never a great success, because it was too easy for an inexperienced corsetiere to foist on a client, and the client would feel that, perhaps Marks & Spencer were cheaper and better.

The emphasis had moved from service and quality, to sales, sales, sales!

Coppelias 42 and 42.

In the 1950's, Spirella coined the term 'Spirelette' for a range of lighter girdles. These were still made-to-measure, and should not be confused with the Spirelette range that was introduced in 1963 and was pushed towards the younger clientele in the 1970's (see panty-girdles). I believe that the name 'Spirelette' was a response to arch-rival Spencer's, Spencerette. The Spencerette, was by no means a light garment, but when the name was introduced, it was certainly lighter than the corset it replaced.

The latter Spirelette was never fully made-to-measure, and was simply available in an enormous range of sizes. Note how even a garment aimed at the more youthful figure (216 from 1954 right), had the option of front-lacing. How many housewives in their 30's and 40's wore a laced foundation in the 1950's? We'll never know and the records of Spirella and Spencer that might provide a clue, are probably lost forever. Certainly, not many of these women would shout from the rooftops "I wear a corset like my mother and granny did", although that would probably be the reason why!

Laced girdle 216 from 1954

Why is it that the photograph compiler gives the model a semi-swooning posture? Scarlet O'Hara's corsets had reached the cinemas 15 years before. 

It is often quite revealing to look at real girdles from Spirella (and other makes for that matter), since, to be honest, the majority of girdle wearers in the last 20 years have been older women.

The example on the right is an absolute classic Spirella. Note the waist, 30", and the 34" hips have created more of a tube, than some of the shapely girdles above, worn by shapely models. This is the girdle of an elderly woman, whose 26" / 36" lower proportions have changed with age. 

Above we have in the top row, unidentified Spirella, 206 and 206.  In the bottom row, a 234, a 246 and an older American 202. On the left in black is another 234. Despite the dramatic difference in materials, the cut of the two 234's is identical.

The real girdles, in colour, and with the obvious lustre of satin, nylon and brocade, say so much more about the garments than the black & white pictures, although exquisitely modelled, will ever do.

Identification requires access to a Spirella magazine or brochure of the period, however, such was Spirella's fascination, and latterly ever-changing range of model numbers, that not even our collection has a reference to the model at the top left. Spirella's service to its client allowed for the copying of older styles and these keep cropping up at auction. Their provenance is hard to determine.

Details from a 206 girdle (1957 - left)

and one twenty years younger (1977)

Regard, however, the difference between a 1957 206 girdle and the 1977 one. Both eminently powerful and long-lasting garments, the older girdle has so much more quality. Note the suspenders 'flashes', the adjustable clips and heavy corset quality satin. The metal zip adds a touch of charm, but for once, the newer garment has the edge since the old metal zips were not so reliable!

Provenance of the best sort!

The girdle's suspenders have been incorrectly assembled and this is why it remained as a return with its tags.

The Unidentified Girdle

Here are two Spirella girdles from an estate, and, I'm ashamed to admit, we couldn't identify the model number of one of them (right). I checked through old brochures to find it, but I can’t. I have several of this style and have seen photographs of them at auction, but never with a model number. It's very much a British Spirella 1960's girdle but it simply doesn't feature in my records. The other girdle from the same estate is clearly a 234 and both appear to be of the same age and condition. At first I thought that it might be an older style that was copied by Spirella at a customer’s request, however, with so many examples around I doubt it. It may be that the girdle is a derivative of the 206 where two elastic centrally placed gores was an option over the normal one piece (Spirella had many options). My brochures certainly cover the period of the girdle but it is not displayed.

A standard 234 girdle is shown above with the 'mystery' girdle below. They came from the same owner; note how the shorter 234 has longer suspenders so that the wearer could use the same length of stocking. The materials are the same, a satin finish brocade and the ages are the same (metal zip and identical suspenders). The construction is very similar, that is unyielding fabric with two vertical elastic sections at the back.

We've been searching our archives to identify this Spirella girdle and we simply can find no photographic reference, however, the 1961 Spirella brochure shows a drawing of women in various girdle styles and the mystery girdle is featured in a cartoon (right), but not in the following pages. How frustrating! Spirella often re-used its artists' work (to save money), so the girdle may be a late 1950's style.

An American Spirella girdle of the 1950's from our collection had washing instructions attached referring to models 205, 206, 210, 215, 216 and 220, the latter four designations being unknown to us. American and British designations did differ latterly, so is the mystery girdle one of those four. To confuse matters further, we unearthed one of these girdles from our collection (we have two), and it has a nylon zip that Spirella introduced in May 1958 (and then only on corselettes).  Now for a real conundrum, we have a few girdles with the corsetiere's tags and date of manufacture and we found an immaculate 206 dated from 1977. The fabric, the elastic on both gussets and suspenders, the zip and the suspenders' metal-work are identical to our mystery garment. The mystery girdle looks like it was made in the 1970's! Spirella often did copy client's favourite garments, so is this girdle style a late 1950's model copied much later?

The mystery girdle

Incidentally, as an aid to dating Spirella's girdles, the metal zip was replaced by nylon zips in 1958, but only on corselettes. The nylon zip, however, was well established on Spirella's girdles by the early 1960's. That dates these girdles above.