The Other Side of Corsetry

Restriction

I've received a number of enquiries about 'severe' corsets with the recurring theme of a young woman (normally about late teenage) apparently under the strict control of her Mother having to wear unreasonably tight, long or heavily boned corsets (see below). I know of no such instances since the last war where any girl was persuaded to, or even could be persuaded to wear corsets against her wishes. Certainly, young women in those days habitually wore far stronger foundations than their peers of today and I've mentioned many times throughout these pages that corsets were worn (infrequently) by teenagers for special events even in the 1970's. However, what defines confinement is highly subjective as the following example demonstrates. A family (in the 1970's) was taking a cruise of several weeks duration. Father observed Mother unpacking and arranging their daughter's underwear, in particular a long-legged pantie-girdle of quite severe construction (something like a Spirella Coppelia 51 or perhaps the Charis panty-girdle). The Father was horrified that his daughter was confined in such things. This hardly constitutes a severe corset, although by today's standards, they possess a strength completely unknown to the average woman.

Perhaps, Doreen Caldwell who wrote the utterly charming book, 'And All was Revealed' (1981), sums it up. "It was curious that girls who appeared to us all as fearless Dianas, even Amazons, should have crushed themselves into such constricting garments." I believe that the key word here is "constricting" and that this has much to do with the fetish aspect of corsetry in general.

Perhaps the opposite is true? I've heard a couple of times, instances where the mother, grandmother, or mother-in-law was confined by a woman driven to distraction by unreasonable goading or complaining.

The closest occasion to confinement occurred during my involvement in a perfectly normal wedding. I was asked to be a bridesmaid and at a time when I normally wore a girdle, I elected to achieve a desirable shape by wearing my classic (but rarely worn) Spirella 305. My friend, at her Mother's insistence, wore a 315, the back-lacer, that came up high in the back and reached well over her hips. She looked utterly fabulous (much nicer than me). It took me ages to help my friend dress, the process being complicated by the corset and the back fastening of the dress which was covered by at least 30 buttons. There was no way that my friend could release herself from the dress and corset without help. In fact, I remember having great difficulty in removing my own dress that evening since my arms filled the sleeves so tightly that reaching behind my head to undo the zip was nigh on impossible. That simple and innocent request, so common in the 1960's, "Zip me up Darling" shows how we accepted confinement on a daily basis back then. 

Following this train of thought, consider any formal function, a wedding in the 1960's would be a good example. The bride needs bridesmaids to control the flowing train. She needs help to alight from car, even to sit down, and undressing by herself is impossible. Her mother, heroically girdled to fit a dress two sizes too small barely dares to breathe. Her feet ache in unaccustomed shoes and any attempt to sit causes her thighs to spring open alarmingly. Granny totters around, the rubber, elastic and steel contraption that is her  foundation confining her locomotion to that of a marionette. Even the gorgeous young thing in the modern twin set is reduced by her panty-girdle, pencil skirt and heels to a ludicrous mincing gait. Not one of the ladies can sit in comfort, going to the loo is a nightmare, and nobody walks in the way that nature intended. An extreme example perhaps? I don't think so, and that's why everybody stands at weddings! The St. Johns Ambulance helpers at any royal garden party, spends hours attending to blistered feet and not so long ago had to free a number of ladies from their over-tightened corsets!

Long Corsets

The effect of the above stimulants on the adolescent male can be overwhelming but I will not pursue this line of thought. Suffice it to say, that many males appear to experience this stimulant but normally the effects remains within control. The clever woman knows well how to harness this powerful force to the benefit of a strong and happy relationship.

The Forbidden Fruit

There are numerous accounts of the desire of the male to look at, touch or even wear female undergarments. As with many serious but potentially embarrassing subjects, it is common to avoid direct confrontation and to treat the subject in a humorous manner. There are many films, notably the British "Carry On" films that have the males for some (usually contrived reason) wearing female underwear. Peter Butterworth wears a Victorian corset in "Carry On Screaming", Kenneth Connor, a black corselette in "Carry On Taxi" and Bernard Bresslaw runs through a hotel in a white corselette (unbelievably) disguised as a beauty contestant in "Carry On Girls"! Apocryphal stories abound of new underwear company executives being initiated by wearing the latest girdle. I doubt if this has ever been true, certainly not for the male employees, however, it seems to make for a good joke in the gentlemen's' locker room of the golf club. The classic joke on this subject is the male golfer who is found to be wearing a girdle. "How long have you had to wear that?", his friends ask. "Ever since my wife found it in the car", he replies!

At what age this fascination begins and what triggers it is a mystery to women, and often a mystery to the men who find an irresistible attraction for female underwear. How many corsetieres receive orders whose measurements are obviously designed for a man? How many corsetieres have been approached by clients worried or disturbed by their sons' behaviour?

I knew one women who discovered that her teenage son had been trying on her girdles. In all other respects the young lad was a normal, healthy youth who played football and had many friends. He had the normal adolescent curiosities, however, in this one respect, his curiosity had been extended into reality. When challenged by his mother, the youth had become very embarrassed and defensive, and the topic became a forbidden area of conversation. The lady didn't know what action to take. Revealing her son's secret passion to her husband would have resulted in a violent scene, which could as easily exacerbate as cure the problem. Perhaps he would grow out of it? Hoping that the latter would be true, she offered one of her less favourite girdles as an olive leaf of truce. She was surprised when the garment was rejected because it didn't have any satin panels. Unfortunately, her most expensive girdle was her son's favourite. Once again, the confinement of the girdle, and the feel of heavy satin must be extremely powerful stimulants to the male.

My colleagues have suggested that an only child may be more susceptible to the emotions described above, however, there are numerous documented cases of young, adolescent males  interfering with their elder sister's underwear. The classic cartoon depicted at the top of the page is based on fact. There is a very fine dividing line between the naughty mocking of one's sister's elaborate underpinnings, and a desire to investigate those same underpinnings further. In fact, the more overt and 'macho' the mocking, the more dangerously close does the youngster stray towards that line.

Another instance that I shall recount here, for it contains all the elements that I have so far mentioned, was the extraordinary behaviour of a teenage boy who was caught by his mother wearing an incredible assortment of her, her mother's and his sister's cast-off attire. The hugely embarrassed boy was wearing no less than three satin bridesmaid's dresses, each layer secured by one of her old girdles. Underneath it all was the crushing embrace of his granny's old surgical corsets. Apparently, he had collected  a veritable wardrobe of cast off clothes and underwear from the female family members, and loved nothing better than to cocoon himself in the embrace of these quintessentially female garments. An appalling scene followed, however, the mother, recovering from her shock, returned to her son and tried to fathom his strange desires. In fact, he had as much clue as to the root cause of his compulsion as did his mother, however, he promised not to repeat his actions and ended up a happily married man with three children. The only evidence of his underlying desires, and this came from the man's wife, was that he liked her to wear satin and was disappointed when she stopped wearing a girdle in the mid-1970's. The confinement, the satin and the cocooning appear classic stimulants. Psychologists suggest that the secrecy, and a latent desire to be caught all play a part in this fantastical world.

There are many tales of boys and men, who once attired in whatever stimulates them, find it impossible to escape. It is the back zip that causes problems since most men (and many women "Would you zip me up Darling?") are not double-jointed enough to pull the zip to the top, or once zipped up to release it. The famous British comedian, Ted Ray, appeared in a situation comedy where he tried on his wife's dress and used a nail in the wall to pull the zip all the way up. Of course, the nail snagged the dress and he was left trapped on the wall until his angry wife could release her humiliated husband. A friend's son was caught in tears of shame having tried on his sister's satin party dress (satin appears once again) using a string through the zip tag. Once zipped up, the string unfortunately became undone and the wretched youth was trapped. Either he burst the zip or got caught, and either way spelt trouble!

Another recurring theme, that possibly starts pre-puberty and continues into adulthood is the fascination for women wearing some sort of uniform. However, not just any uniform as I'm sure statistics on this subject would reveal. The uniform must contain that essential ingredient, the crisp white shirt or blouse. Where does this start? Is it the adolescent views of girls, possibly sisters in their riding attire? Whatever the cause, the end result is that groups as diverse as the local gymkhana club, policewomen, WRNS officers and airline stewardesses attract an unusual amount of attention.

I was absolutely stunned once by an old woman who I had engaged in conversation at a retirement home. She said, when she learned of our interest in corsetry, "My husband used to wear my corsets."  I was stunned, and at a loss as to how to reply and I asked if he had a bad back. "No" she said quite openly "He just liked to try them on, it, you know, stimulated him." Apparently the couple had been happily married for over 50 years; her late husband was pleasant, well regarded and completely unexceptional other than for his secret desire. The woman had reacted sensibly, realising that this desire was controlled, harmless and probably good for their marriage. She simply accepted it in an era when most women would not.

Rarely does my husband receive correspondence on corsetry, however, the following tales came to light recently. Basically, the author was asking if a passion for girdles could have been started by the following episode, vividly remembered.

The lady next door is a frail, wispy 90-year-old, but 35 years ago, when I was starting university, she must have been 55. That’s amazing, that’s nearly my own age these days. My mother didn’t really like our neighbour, who she regarded as a bit ‘racy’, moreover, her daughter had recently been divorced. In those days, divorce was quite rare and confined to the stars of Hollywood, not London suburbia.

Certainly, one habit of this lady of which my mother strongly disapproved, came to light one hot afternoon in 1969. Our ancient gardener was tending the roses when he suddenly stopped still, and remained immobile gazing through the roses across the fence. My mother thought that perhaps he was ill until she followed his light of sight. There in our neighbour’s garden was Mrs. G, watering her own plants attired in long-line bra and a waist-slip. What lay beneath the slip was evidenced by the row of pantie-girdles strung on the washing-line.

My mother tut-tutted vigorously and the gardener guiltily averted his gaze; but I didn’t! I was fascinated, never having seen a woman in her underwear before. I looked forward to the hot days after that, and Mrs. G rarely disappointed!

I suspect that the gentleman was already well along the road towards his latent desires, and that some earlier episode in his early teenage would have been the trigger for his passion.

Another letter:-

I used to go out with a girl in the early 1970's whose family had fallen on hard times. I travelled over 70 miles to see her and take her to dinner. Her mother would erect a camp bed in the lounge for me to sleep in and I was allowed to use the mother's room to change into a suit in the evening. I couldn't resist seeing what my potential mother-in-law wore and was amazed at one drawer entirely stuffed full of M&S girdles. There must have been dozens! My girlfriend wore a panty-girdle and a long-line bra. I knew that because she told me. There was no way in those days that I could visit her bedroom.

and another from 1967:-

My parents had friends Woking and we visited a few times a year. Their daughter was much older than me and I had little to do with her, but one day when we arrived, her mother greeted us with an arm full of female things. I remember Mrs D. saying that she was just taking her daughter's smalls upstairs since she had just left for university. Curiosity lead me upstairs later to investigate these smalls and I remember feeling faint at the sight of some truly sturdy panty-girdles lying on the bed. Her wardrobe contained two bridesmaid dresses, one in pink and another in pale blue. The pale blue one was made of satin and I remember to this day the feel and the discrete odour of that high quality satin.

Once again, satin features and, not for the first time, the subtle odour of the material is mentioned.

Another much longer missive recalls life in Wales c. 1950:-

I was brought up in a working class family and can recall quite vividly that my mother and her sister both wore Excelsior corsetry in a pinky colour which I believe is known as `tea-rose'.  My maternal grandmother, who lived in a remote village, appeared to be a faithful mail-order customer of Ambrose Wilson.  

My mother was also on the Ambrose Wilson mailing list but on the odd occasion she would bring home an Excelsior brochure which had been loaned to her by her sister.  When it was convenient, the two ladies would discuss the pros and cons of the garments in both catalogues but Excelsior appeared to be the most favoured company.  For some reason my grandmother's purchases would also crop up in the conversation.  My mother and aunt were both of average height and build for ladies at that time but my grandmother had a much larger frame and was also a good inch or so taller.  Perhaps each company favoured the two different sizes in their own particular way. All three women wore the back laced type with keyhole type fastenings at the front.  

We lived in a two-up, two-down terraced house and for reasons which I will not go into, on two occasions I had to share my room with my aunt.  Being in my early teens and of school age I would retire to bed earlier than the rest of the household but I `refused to go to sleep for I cherished the thought of watching my aunt get undressed. She was always impeccably dressed and wore her directoire knickers over her corset.  In undressing she would undo her suspenders and remove her stockings before unfastening the clips at the front of her corset. She would then remove her corset from inside her knickers and place it on stool in the room before donning her nightie.  

The morning ritual was slightly more complex but somehow she managed to roll her corset on to her torso without lowering her knickers. She would then put on her stockings, taking great care to ensure that the seams were straight, before adusting the elasticated legs of her knickers.

I can remember quite vividly my aunt arriving at out house one autumn evening in a real fluster.  Apparently the cord had snapped in her corset and she was completely out of kilter.  My mother agreed to fix it for her and without more ado my aunt lifted her skirt to the waist, and leant against the dining table whilst my mother adjusted the lace and tied off the broken ends.  My eyes stood out like chapel hat pegs in sheer amazement!  I can still visualise the sight of my mother fumbling inside those magnificent pale blue directoire knickers!  In this strictly PC but enlightened age it is almost unbelieveable that this actually happened but it did.

Typical correspondence from men include the following revelations:-

Rather than being offended by such letters, which really are little more than harmless adolescent 'voyeurism', the information they contain is important. I selected these letters as examples where dates and ages are quoted. Specifically, a 57 year-old women binned her girdles in 1967 and a 65-year-old in 1969. A change to the traditional foundation garment was afoot as is described elsewhere in this site.

The gentleman with the girlfriend (apparently they never married) reveals social attitudes that many think passed away in the swinging 60's. Not a bit of it.

On the left we have the archetypal 1950's - 60's girdle. Was this combination of elastic, satin panels, boning and zips the garment that triggered a thousand male fantasies? Who can tell? My husband suggests that, indeed, on the east side of the Atlantic perhaps it was. On the west side, the American pantie-girdle (right) may have played more of a part. Interestingly, the British pantie-girdle that supplanted the girdle in the late 1960's, was a feeble cousin to the American version. It seems that the important ingredients were strength and confinement, but with that critical catalyst, satin.

We are always on the look-out for recollections of this bygone era. Obviously, the recollections of a corsetiere are as confidential as those of a doctor, however, from time to time, completely anonymous references can be made to episodes from the past. I received today one of the rare confidences from a Spirella corsetiere that I can relate without embarrassment towards the parties concerned. Jobs and locations have been changed, however, the descriptions are otherwise taken from the letter.

The most amazing letter that I ever received, was originally included in Ivy Leaf's Diary, however, I feel it should reside here.

As an introduction, I will mention a letter from a lady Mayoress who wrote to extol the virtues of her foundations in carrying out the rigours of her office, but a Mayor? Well, that is a different matter. This episode occurred in the late 1960's in a provincial British town where the Mayor was a well-known gentleman with a reputation as a 'ladies' man'. His wife was a client of the fitter who passed on this story to me. 

The Ladies' Man

"The Mayor's wife, a lady in her 50's, had been a regular client of mine for over two decades and every six months ordered new 'lowers' (Spirella 315's - the back lacing corset) and four matching 'uppers'. The lady was pleasant, well-mannered but unexceptional. The regular order was typical of many middle-aged, middle-class clients of that period. I often felt some sympathy for the woman since she seemed to lack the sparkle that somebody in her social position would be expected to have. The sparkle and charisma belonged to her famous, even notorious husband. 

It was in 1967 that I visited the lady at her home to fit her for another order. Unusually, she asked for the most expensive material, and requested a duplicate set in black orchid. There was also a determination in the lady that had been absent for years. She seemed to pluck up courage and asked if I could order a corset for a friend. Referrals such as this were common and most welcome, however, she indicated that the friend was unavailable, and could I order the corset from measurements supplied. I had done this in the past making sure that the customer realised that there would be no 'come back' in the event of a poor fit. She supplied the measurements and, as any corsetiere with experience could tell instantly, they were obviously male measurements!  

How often have corsetieres received measurements from a man purporting to be for his Mother. Men and women are quite different shapes. Men have virtually no hip spring and there are many other detail 'giveaways'. What to do? The lady was a valued client and had recommended me to many of her friends. While I was pondering this dilemma, she asked for the corset to made in a material as close to pink satin as the Spirella brochure would allow. Nowadays, of course, only white and flesh tones exist, but back then, a fabulous pink satin was available (I have a Spen-all in a similar material and it is truly superb - IL). 

The lady's corsets and the 'one off' pink corset were duly furnished within the month and the episode might have passed out of my mind had I not met the Mayor and his wife some months later at a charity dinner.  Amazingly, it seemed that the energy of the couple had been transferred from the Mayor to his wife. She was radiant and he seemed ill-at-ease and generally uncomfortable. I suddenly realised the truth! Whether the Mayor had a penchant for wearing lady's underwear, I doubt. Perhaps his long-suffering wife had found out a little too much about her husband's extra-marital 'Mayorial duties' and had decided to take her revenge. Not only can a good corsetiere tell male measurements from female measurements, but she can also tell when a man or a woman is wearing a corset. 

I've discussed this episode with my husband on several occasions, and he has proposed the alternative theory that the Mayor, despite his all too obvious virility, was one of those men who actually enjoyed wearing women's underwear. This facet of his nature had been better disguised than his extra-marital affairs, however, his wife had discovered the secret and had exacted  a subtle two-fold revenge.