Girdle

Girdles history

Most fashion historians agree that a girdle was invented around 1910 by the French designer Paul Poiret, to be worn with the clothing he was designing. Compared to the fashions of the period 1830-1910, Poiret's revolutionary designs placed much less emphasis on the waist, and fit much closer to the body at the hips and derriere. Poiret's revolution became permanent in the 20th century. His new understanding of the way in which women's bodies should interact with their clothing and his invention of the girdle were major reasons why the corset, which had determined the shape of women's clothing for most of the previous five centuries, went out of fashion.

Girdles were worn by most women throughout the period 1920-70. They were an important part of the fashion aesthetic of these decades. A woman needed to be smooth and sleek if she were to look her best in most of the fashions of this period.

Although girdles became the subject of jokes and the object of resentment when they went out of style in the 1970's, it is important to remember how much they were a part of the allure of the glamorous aesthetic of the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60's. Watching the films of this period, observing the way women wore their clothes and moved through space, one can see the effect of the ubiquitous girdle. The elegance of Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe (the list could go on forever) was due in part to this garment, worn universally by western women.

A glance at fashion magazines spanning these time periods also offers perspective on the way the girdle was represented as a glamorous garment. While the agenda of ads and articles in fashion magazines was, of course, to promote the wearing of the girdle, the extravagant glamour in the imagery suggests that women found it plausible to associate girdles with perfumes, lipstick, slips, stockings, and all of the other accoutrements of femininity and beauty. Imagine New York nightclubs, and Paris in the springtime.