Italy

 

 

Anecdotal comments about the effects of pasta on the Italian's matron's figure are legend, and based on fact. It is true, and one may observe in several Italian actresses in their 40's, that a very delicate age is entered where the body may either grow old, thin and haggard, or balloon into the Italian 'mama'. I hasten to add  that Miss Loren, who graces this page, has avoided these pitfalls and is an example to us all.

 

My husband recalls the film “the Millionairess” (1960) that starred Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren. Miss Loren famously disrobes in front of Peter to reveal her black corset. Critics of the film suggested that the corset she wore was a piece of frivolous lingerie designed to titillate, and that no women in 1960 would wear such a garment. But in Italy, fashionable women did wear such corsets, they were Victorian in style, and they were black. (There are any number of photos of the stunning Miss Loren in her corset. Even today, this magnificent lady obviously has not succumbed to pasta inflation).  

 

Again, it is my husband who remembers quite clearly visiting the Italian resort of Via Reggio in 1965. In one back street shop was a corsetry display quite unlike any other he had ever seen. It was a collection of corsets, as close to Victorian in style as he had ever seen; however, these were not vintage garments, it was what the shop specialised in making, apparently for wealthy and fashionable clients. I suppose like the Norwegian corset described in the Scandinavian section, once you have invested money in a corset that is strong enough, your clothes will fit for ever more; pasta or no pasta!

 

However, these classic photographs are very revealing about Italian corsetry, and not just literally. The sultry pose of Miss Loren (left) is well-known to millions, however, the back view is less well regarded. If one does, it is apparent that the corset was never Miss Loren's own, her shoulders that aided her hour-glass figure are too broad for the corset as the diverging eyelets reveal. Presumably Miss Loren wished to breathed during the scene! Nevertheless, when this film was made, many Italian women wore corsets like this, and the diplomatic gatherings and social weddings were populated by typically immaculate Italian women, all beautiful and perhaps all breathing with just a little difficulty.

 

Elsewhere in Europe during the 1960's, as traditional foundations gave way to the panty-girdle (or no foundation at all), the Italian Mama could still be relied upon to wear a good girdle or corset. Even their teenage daughters were persuaded that long-line brassieres and girdles were mandatory wear for any girl seeking to retain her morality in a world hell-bent on decadence.

 

The Italian imagination ran riot in these Berne corsets (right) from the 1950's. I suppose in a nation that is (a), very stylish, and (b), prone to, let us say, the excesses of pasta, substantial engineering is going to be required to render Mama's figure into a shape suitable for Rome's fashions. 

 

These remarkable feats of engineering were undoubtedly successful and probably widely worn in the decades post-War. Very few ever make it to auction, partly because not all women pass on such garments, but also because these garments would have been worn to destruction.

 

On a less specialized front, Italians girls were not relieved of their girdles and long-line brassieres until well after their Anglo-Saxon sisters, and like the Germans, specialised firms still manufacture traditional models in quality materials.

 

Many of these garments are referred to 'orthopedica, paramedico' and the like, but this is simply a re-emergence of the term surgical corset. Women feel better if their need to wear substantial corsetry can somehow be related to a medical affliction rather than sheer weight!

 

A very rare surviving Berne corset is shown below. This was for no overweight Mama. The scant girdle can't even fit on a size 8 mannequin!

 

 

Even CAMP sold its products in Italy. Noting the complexity of the garments above, that does not surprise me. The garment on the right is a Swiss made CAMP that was destined for, and sold in Italy. What might surprise readers is that is was for sale in the 1990's.

 

Older ladies in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and even Holland swore by their CAMPs and provided a small market for these girdles well after the majority of their sisters had moved through the panty-girdle era into the 'let it all hang out era' that we deplore today.

 

 

 

Even today, Italy, like many Latin countries, remains a bastion of traditional corsetry. Lacings are not so common, however, the products from Nuovo Clara (below) are extremely functional and well made, whilst retaining stylish and elegant touches.

 

 

Nuova Clara

I have actually purchased garments from Nuovo Clara  (2008) and it is so refreshing to see that proper corsetry is still available. - Ivy

   

Garments from Nuova Clara, Italy

 

 
"It was curious that girls who appeared to us all as fearless Dianas, even Amazons, should have crushed themselves into such constricting garments" Doreen Caldwell 1981

Even in 2006, our fearless Italian Amazons are donning their armour although, as in most advertising, the models may be somewhat younger than the target group!