Women and teens wore girdles and petticoats. They were so uncomfortable. They were hot. They were mandatory!

The Fifties came at the end of a long history of trying to enhance the female form to allure men. No need to say that curves were essential to getting the all important husband, thus insuring one’s economic future and fulfulling the proper career of wife and mother.

Even young girls wore petticoats, which were often starched with a mixture of sugar and water. Then they were hung to dry. Those wonderful “swing” skirts got their rhythm from layers of such petticoats.

The corsetry of previous generations was by far more restrictive. Steel and whale bones were replaced by man-made materials. Girdles became less rigid. And as for bras…some of these had more uplift than a Saturn rocket booster…

[source:fiftiesweb.com]

50s, undergarments, underwear, girdles, lingerie, bras

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Corsets are lingerie meant to cinch your waist to make it smaller and push up your breasts to make them seem bigger.

Corsets have a long history in fashion, beginning with our ancestors many years ago…

The Middle Ages
At this time there was an idea that the body was sinful and underwear something rather shameful. But at the end of the Middle Ages clothes were carefully cut and shaped to the body. It was achieved by cutting cloth on the true cross or the bias of the fabric grain. In the 13th century a corset was worn, but as in later centuries it was sometimes worn as an outer garment over robes like a waistcoat is worn. Later costume began to introduce new elements (for the sake of variety and change rather).

Iron Corsets

Spanish fashions influenced Italian and English ladies in the 16th century. An iron hinged armour like corset was worn to flatten the body. The iron corsets were exceptionally uncomfortable! They could only have been worn by Elizabethan ladies. They didn`t do any form of heavy work. Their only benefit seems to be that they produced the incredibly small waisted, elongated flat chested smooth line torso…

[source: fashion-era.com]

Corsets, History, lingerie,  Middle Ages

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The loincloth is the simplest form of underwear. It was the first undergarment worn by people. A loincloth may take three major forms:

1. The simplest is a long strip of material which is passed between the legs and then around the waist.
2.Cache-sexe is another form: a triangle of cloth is provided with strings or loops, which are used to fasten the triangle between the legs and over the genitals. There is also an alternative form. It is more skirt-like: a cloth is wrapped around the hips several times and then fastened with a girdle.

3. The loincloth may also be the only clothing worn in warmer climates, but in colder temperatures, the loincloth often forms the basis of a person’s clothing and is covered by other garments. In most ancient civilizations, this was the only undergarment available. It`s interesting to know that King Tutankhamun was buried with 145 of them.

As is known, the loincloth continues to be worn by people around the world. For example, it`s the traditional form of undergarment in many Asian societies…

[source: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com]

Underwear, history, loincloth, undergarments

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