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Corset come-back

(38 Posts)
DinahW Mon 23-Mar-15 13:14:17

Am I being unreasonable? Or perhaps just old and fuddy duddy?

I'm alarmed that some of my g daughters are buying or saving up to buy a corset. I thought those things went out my MY grandmother?

Like many of us here I remember the discomfort of girdles, long line bra etc of the late 1950 and 1960s. Am I the only one to have suffered agonies in a marks and spencer firm control girdle at a hot dinner dance when young?

Do we really want to go back to bones, busks and lacing?

D

jinglbellsfrocks Mon 23-Mar-15 13:20:15

I can never understand where all the flesh is supposed to go. If I try to squidge it in, it always feels as though it is trying to get out "down there! Which is worrying, to say the least. hmm

loopylou Mon 23-Mar-15 13:21:43

They'll soon find out why they went out of fashion! Basques were 'in' weren't they, but didn't stay (groan) last long?
Definitely for the younger generation me thinks......thank heavens smile

HildaW Mon 23-Mar-15 14:28:09

Was reading about this in Sunday papers....and its not about corset lookalikes....but actually squeezing-in corsets that do untold damage. Evidently its something to do with the new (much hyped) Cinderella movie. The actress is quoted as living on soup and having dreadful indigestion.

If young girls ignore all the historical evidence of organ displacement (including wombs) and poor circulation and breathing problems they will be very foolish. I had to abandon support tights (for dodgy veins) a couple of years ago because the minimal amount of pressure they afforded on my tummy, really aggravated my developing prolapse.

Hells teef! I though we had moved away from fashion that mutilated us and restricted our life styles!

janerowena Mon 23-Mar-15 14:28:58

I really hope they are just a fashion item, it's bad enough with people encouraging you to wear 'shape-forming' underwear. Has anyone ever tried to wear any on a hot day under a posh frock when you can't park in a city and are trying to find a church in high heels? My first and last time, ever. It's the equivalent of wearing a duvet under your clothes, all that nylon.

Teetime Mon 23-Mar-15 14:29:09

I read an article in The Telegraph last weekend about this saying that corsets 'are back'. I thought the women's movement fought long and hard to free women from the tyranny of garments designed by men to squeeze and supress women into unnatural forms for their delectation. Did we burn our bras for this?

janerowena Mon 23-Mar-15 14:34:17

Women seem to have split into two far more distinct camps. The very natural ones and the glamourpusses. I can't see many young girls willing to keep that fashion going for too long, once they have tried it, especially after years of wearing stretchy denim and leggings.

petallus Mon 23-Mar-15 15:00:58

I look back with fondness on my rubber Playtex girdle. I felt very 'held' when I wore it and safe from lustful male eyes looking for a jiggly bum in my clinging skirt.

You don't jiggle in a girdle.

Teetime Mon 23-Mar-15 15:14:16

Believe me I can jiggle in anything

merlotgran Mon 23-Mar-15 15:17:36

My mother used to refer to her 'foundation' garment. She had a lovely slim figure but always insisted it needed support. hmm

granjura Mon 23-Mar-15 17:43:27

If any yougnster is interested in learning about the history of corsets (oops anyone really, sorry) and all the 'technical' aspects, say students in fashoin or texitle- then a visit to Market Harborough Museum which is situated in the old Symington Corset factory is really interesting.

But not, not for me, thanks!

Coolgran65 Mon 23-Mar-15 18:42:04

I do have a stretchy all in one thing that I do on occasion wear... wedding or the like. It can't remove bulk.... but it does smooth it about and stop too much wobble. A bit of smoothing of the flab body lets a garment hang a little bit better.

janerowena made me laugh and reminded me of the time at a family get together lunch in a mid summer heatwave. I was wearing a maxi linen dress, bare legs and flat sandals looking nice and cool but underneath I was dying from the overheat of wearing an all-in-one. Into the ladies and wheeked it off and into my handbag. Of course that meant all booby support was also removed. I didn't care.

vampirequeen Mon 23-Mar-15 18:44:04

I didn't realise that basques and corsets had gone out of fashion. I just thought that the time and reason for wearing them had changed grin

Ana Mon 23-Mar-15 18:48:24

Weren't Magic Knickers all the rage a few years ago, as popularised by Trinny and Susannah? Less constricting than a corset, but good for camouflaging flab.

I suppose if young women are trying to achieve the tiny waist of the Cinderella actress, and/or Scarlett O'Hara, then a proper corset (with laces) is the only way to go.

vampirequeen Mon 23-Mar-15 19:09:37

There'll be tears before bedtime....oops back to Fifty Shades reason for wearing a corset grin

annodomini Mon 23-Mar-15 19:10:07

I know for certain that my hiatus hernia would object strongly to the constriction of a corset!

loopylou Mon 23-Mar-15 19:39:10

Is this a male-led fad?

Personally so-called shape-wear just squidges it out elsewhere, the water-wings look isn't good, believe me...........

As for shape-wear slips - I wore one once and stripped off in a layby on the way home because I hated it-I thought I'd spontaneously combust, it was so hot!

constance Mon 23-Mar-15 20:42:50

I still remember my mum's relief when she rolled off her roll-on girdle. I tried to wear some constricting pants once but lasted about two minutes before I ripped them off.
The only time to wear a corset is when you are going to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show.

CeeCee Mon 23-Mar-15 22:16:19

Several years ago we were on a touring holiday in New Zealand, I was wearing my Magic Knickers for the first time and boy were they uncomfortable, or perhaps I had just eaten too much grin. As we were leaving the restaurant DH and friend's DH went off to the Gents (as I thought) and my friend and as we made our way outside I said in a rather loud voice (too much wine) "Can't wait to get my knickers off!" Well the comments from DH and friend's DH who had followed us out are unprintable and I had to put up with them for the rest of the tour blush
Never wore them again.

rockgran Mon 23-Mar-15 22:34:41

CeeCee - Laughing out loud now!

One of the joys of being older is that I don't care that much about my midriff bulge or any other kind, come to that. Life is too short to be uncomfortable!

janerowena Mon 23-Mar-15 23:19:31

As for trying to wee in them...

There was a fashion not all that long ago for wearing corsets over the tops of clothes. I don't know about it being male-led, I always think that any drastic new fashion is led by designers wanting to make lots of money by making all of our lovely comfy clothing unfashionable overnight.

DinahW Fri 27-Mar-15 12:57:27

Thank you all for your wonderful and interesting replies. It seems we all prefer comfort over fashion!

What worries me about the corset craze today is that the "corsetted look" is the aim of girls. Like me, I'm sure many of you remember when not only was a girdle essential, but you had to have the girdle look - you know, flat tummy and a smooth tightly in held bum.....and a certain manner of walking.

Really I thought with all the freedom and informality today we did not need to go back to restricting underclothes.

D

loopylou Fri 27-Mar-15 13:25:19

grin Janer!
Nowadays I'd worry about the blubber minimal sized rolls squdging out around the edges!

janerowena Sun 29-Mar-15 17:49:10

There's that too. I looked perfect from the front for a party at xmas - then turned around and saw the bulge between the body support and my bra, pushing through the silk. shock So off it all had to come.

I need a full body support, from ankle to wrist to neck and all parts in between. Heaven only knows where my internal organs will go.

loopylou Sun 29-Mar-15 17:55:35

smile, been there, done it!
I'd probably have the misfortune to end up with everything squdging out like wearing rubber rings at the ankles, wrist and neck.....internal organs? Goodness knows.....