Sort of On Topic

You can both wear them, but don't suggest other females do it!

It amazes me that anyone would like to go back to wearing girdles and corsets. Personally for me, there was nothing so uncomfortable on a nice hot, humid New York summer day as bring restricted and sweating and itching in a panty girdle. Then it became even worse because you were not even being able to wipe off the perspiration or scratch the itch.

To each his own.

Lucille

My god you and Sheena really read stuff into posts that isn't there. I was merely reflecting on how smooth figures were when stays, corsets, girdles, were in vogue. I didn't say I wanted to wear them. But you can't deny how nice and smooth the figure looked.

Dianne

Lucille wrote:

Sorry Dianne but you did say that you stopped wearing them because they became passé and that you didn't remember them being awful. For me they were absolutely dreadful and I stopped wearing a panty girdle long before it became passé. Instead I wore a stupid looking contraption called a garter belt to hold up my stockings. I remember my excitement when panty hose came out and I could get rid of those garters and all that elastic, which I have since discovered I'm allergic to.

I guess I misunderstood and I thought you meant that you didn't mind them and wouldn't mind if they returned.

Lucille

I have a corset that I wear for ren-festivals that's extremely comfortable. I tend to slouch, but the boning in the corset makes me stand/sit up straight, which obviously improves my posture, and causes me fewer back problems. I'm not accustomed to wearing it, so I'm usually happy to take it off at the end of the day, primarily because my back muscles aren't accustomed to having to do their job as intended. It may not sound logical, but after wearing the corset, instead of hurting, my back is just tired. I also have a girdle-like contraption, but I've not had the positive experiences with that. I've found that it tends to roll down at the top. (What's the point of having something suck in your tummy and midriff if it's just going to roll up around your belly button?)

Anyhow, I'm not suggesting that anyone rush out and buy either, I just thought I'd mention my positive and negative experiences with both. (Un/fortunately for me, they've both "shrunk in the wash" so I can't wear either of them at the moment.) Sarah

"Sarah C." ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

I also remember, although I never wore one myself, there were rubber girdles. The body had to be well talc-ed, then the girdle wriggled up. I can't imagine how nice wearing that in hot weather was!

There *is* that... though it's not as bad as I thought it would be before I started doing the re-enactment/acting stuff.

There *is* one advantage that gets some of us into the corsets... besides kinda needing them in the period garb though... I managed to strain a couple muscles in my back and side a couple years ago. After having to wear the stays a couple days later, I realized *just* how much they'd taken off those muscles (even though mine aren't very boned, they still act a bit like an exoskeleton, shifting how weight is "held" by the body). Ended up wearing it while at home the next few days (yeah, only at home... they look very silly under a t-shirt, trust me... and even funnier over :-) Helped a great deal... and wised up enough to start slow exercises for those muscles afterwards, to avoid doing the same stupid injury again later on.

-Liz

Lucille wrote:

*g* You *know* that's a good excuse for either making or buying new garb, don't you?

And if you do the making, you could always add a touch of blackwork around the edges of that chemise/shift :-)

-Liz

Sarah C. wrote:

...

Huh! have you checked into size FF under-wire bras? I'm soooo glad I found a great company that doesn't use wires!!!

Lisa