1. You mentioned that you checked for “little boys” in the background before a fitting. According to company lore, did one of the little imps ever sneak into a session?

Yes. I know of a number of instances where youngsters were caught either eavesdropping or peeping into a fitting session. The reaction of the women present ranged from anger to amused tolerance. I have been asked whether the “little boys” were punished by being fitted with corsets, however, I know of no such case.

2. Did little girls (under 14) ever attend a session, and what were their reactions?

In the 1960’s it was common for daughters to watch their Mothers being fitted. This would be in preparation for their own fittings to come within a couple of years. It’s much the same as a Father letting his son drive the family car in the driveway of the house before being allowed on the road.

3. When teens were fitted, if it was their first girdle, did they experience “rite of passage” (“now I’m a woman”) emotions?

Very much so. For many girls, stockings, adult underwear (meaning a girdle and brassiere) and make-up were the defining moments of womanhood. Sadly many young women learnt far too late that Motherhood is the real defining moment.

4. Were there any husbands who objected to their wives’ purchases on the grounds that they thought girdles and corselets were unnecessary items?

Rarely in the 1960’s and 1970’s. These days, many men object to their wives even wearing pantie-girdles. Fortunately my husband is not one of these men.

5. Did the males (some? all?) at headquarters routinely observe models and/or visiting corsetieres in their underwear, as happened when you were modeling your maternity corselet? How blasé were they about it? (E.g., how quickly did visiting corsetieres at Spirellas who might never have “modeled” before adapt to The Male Gaze? Were there written or customary guidelines for them to observe, such as Don’t Stare (not to mention Don’t Wink!)? How blasé were the models and other undressed women there about being observed by males or being walked around the plant to be checked out—or was the latter something that rarely happened?

I never met anybody who wasn’t embarrassed the first time they appeared in public in their underwear or watched somebody else parade around undressed. Some of the photographs on my web pages show the various degrees of confidence of the amateur models. Professional models are, of course, unflappable, but even they had their ‘first time’.

6. Were (to your knowledge) many male employees embarrassed about where they worked? Did other males kid them about it? Many male employees were quite coy about their jobs.

Even when girdles and corsets were widely worn by women, there was always a smutty undertone to the expression ‘ladies underwear’ which featured strongly in many of the “Carry On” films for example.

7. Is there some way to contact former managers at your company and collect anecdotes from them? They must have a few dozen interesting tales.

I have been trying to do this for some years with limited success. So many of the Spirella employees saw nothing unusual or remotely amusing in their work. I do have a couple of interesting stories about ******** ******** and ******* *********’s daughter who were regular Spirella wearers, but such confidences cannot be aired on the Internet.

8. Did Spirella sell Merry Widows? To whom, and how satisfied were they with them?

The nearest item to a Merry Widow that Spirella sold was their Spirelette basque. It was bought by brides but was such a low volume seller that it was discontinued in the 1970’s.

9. How well did “cold calls” go—i.e., calls where you introduced yourself by saying a mutual acquaintance had given you her name? Did you get any remarkable reactions from women who refused? What happened if only a man or child was at home?

Cold calling was never as successful as a positive recommendation, or better still, an introduction. If the lady of the house was not at home, the corsetiere would simply leave her card.

10. How many customers failed to reorder, and why?

Failure to re-order, which was thankfully not common, was due mainly to the expense of the garments. Today, a Spencer corset costs about GBP 120. For a widow, that is two weeks of state pension.

11. What happened if the fit was badly off, e.g., because a novice corsetiere made a mistake. Were returns allowed?

Returns were allowed and not infrequent. Sometimes the fitter would be at fault, but often the client’s whims, or even body size, would change during the weeks it took to construct the garment.

12. Was there a repair service? What were the most common repairs needed? Were there ever amusing reasons why repairs were needed?

Repairs were carried out at the factory provided that the garment was returned in a clean and laundered condition. The most common failure was when the ends of the bones broke out of their casings. Splits in the material from wearing the corset far too tight did occur. In the 1980’s there was a disastrous batch of black orchid material which was not to specification. I tore two (very expensive) corsets of this material by the simple act of sitting down. Torn seams are very hard to repair and I only ever got one corset repaired, at my own expense I might add. Spirella discontinued all black material a few months later. It was a regrettable trend in the general decline in the choice and quality of materials.

13. How long did an average garment last? Did they outlast store-bought garments? (I read recently that European bras outlast American by 2 to 1, for some reason.) What failed first?

An average garment can last from six months to several years. The variables are regularity of wear, duration of wear, is the garment worn next to the skin, how acidic is one’s perspiration and frequency of laundering the garment. Spirella’s girdles definitely outlasted store purchased items particularly when you consider the repair service. Elastic gets worn but can be replaced.

14. What was the dropout rate for new corsetieres? Did new (or experienced) corsetieres make any embarrassing or amusing blunders?

The dropout rate was remarkably low. Many corsetieres needed the money and many saw their services as a social need. Those that did drop out found the rewards poor (by today’s standards a corsetiere earns something less than a chemist’s assistant).

15. How long did it take for first-time customers to get used to the “control” of the rigid Spencer’s? Did you have to reassure them that the garment and themselves would both get broken in over time?

The women that wore the rigid Spencers usually had been wearing all their adult lives, and so were used to the control. Certainly, a new corset will be like a new pair of shoes and it does take about a week for corset and wearer to adopt a comfortable compromise.

16. Did you need to keep back-up measuring garments, etc. in the trunk of your car (e.g., in case the customer was very fat)?

A good corsetiere would always try to gauge the size of the customer over the phone. Even on cold calls, a future appointment would normally be arranged. The measuring garments were actually very versatile and could accommodate most frames. Only once did a corsetiere of my acquaintance have to improvise with two measuring garments to circumnavigate a huge client.

17. Did you ever get a sense of the attitude of sloppy dressers of the time (e.g., like the wife in “Anatomy of a Murder”) to well-girdled women?

The attitude was one of jealousy, much in the same way that a plain woman will criticise a pretty woman for wearing too much make-up.

18. Did you ever get a sense of what the attitude of your customers was towards sloppy dressers? Did they envy them their lack of need for figure control, or look down on them as slackers, or regard them with indifference?

Indifference, unless it was a family member when pressure to ‘smarten up’ would be applied.

19. Did you ever get a sense of the attitude of your customers toward other well-groomed women? Did you sense a feeling of camaraderie? (I’m developing a theory that women wanted to look shipshape, in part, to one-up the male sex and raise women’s status collectively.) Did you ever sense a “team spirit” and an unspoken sense of feminine superiority to males in the realm of clothing, body presentation, and demeanor?

That’s a complex question that neither I, nor my husband can answer offhand. I’m not sure that I feel superior when I try to look my best, I simply feel good.

“Roger K”

“Ivy Leaf”