Examination of a Canard
Well, there it was in black and white, in a magazine clipping from 1964. Even the ad-men who were paid to sell girdles worked under the assumption, "Guys hate the things."
It's a tenacious belief, and it pops up everywhere. Back in the early Seventies, the author of a popular book on backpacking tossed in this irrelevant bit of doggerel:All men who explore deplore,
That frustrating hurdle, the girdle.Twenty years later, a Washington Post writer felt confident in blithely beginning an article:
One thing is for certain. No man, anywhere, has ever told his wife or girlfriend, "I'd love to see how you look in a girdle."
Gosh- they seem so certain. Surely they must be right.
For years, cultural messages like these convinced me that I was the only man on earth who took delight in the sight of a beautiful woman, gracefully girdled.
Then, in the mid-nineties, I found my way into the Usenet group, alt.clothing.lingerie. It didn't take long to find out there are plenty of other girdle fanciers around. Baby Boomers like me, cherishing fond memories of the miniskirt era... elder statesmen remembering rubber-girdled girls who waited on the Home Front ... young fellows weaned on Madonna. Tradesmen and professionals, students and professors, management and shop-floor. Orioles fans and Dodger fans, and even a few who cheer for those losers in Atlanta.
A bunch of healthy, red-blooded guys who get a charge out of a girl in a girdle.
You got a problem with that, Bud?
-Virginian
From Phil-
You ask whether or not men like girdles? I didn't at first, but I sure do now. My wife has always preferred stockings and suspenders to pantyhose. The first girdle she wore was one she borrowed from her mother. She had a slinky black dress that needed some sort of foundation underneath. The girdle that my mother-in-law supplied was an old-fashioned one, side fastening, quite heavily boned, and with six suspenders. At first I though it looked rather frumpy and was not very keen. My wife rather liked the feel and the look, and she gradually acquired the habit of wearing girdles on a daily basis. She normally wears step-in, open bottomed girdles, panty girdles or pantsliners on the rare occasions she wears trousers, and more firmly boned girdles with evening wear. I've grown to like very much the feel and look of girdles - to me there is nothing more chic.
From Wally-
I love to see women wear girdles. They look better and give a woman a very lovely gait when walking. Almost every woman looks better wearing a properly fitted foundation garment. This is true under formal gowns as well as blue jeans. I also prefer hose to panty hose. Hope that others agree with me.
Remembering back to the eighth grade, it was the tradition that the students leaving that grade for high school would leave a will for the underclassmen. With certainty, one of the girls who was known for wearing girdles would leave her girdles to an underclassman (or perhaps I should say underclasswoman).
At dances, the boys would always speculate which girls were wearing girdles, since at this time not all girls did. The boys could usually tell when they put their arm around the girl when dancing or by moving in close enough to rub against them to see if the hips were will contained.
At that time, the joke about girls in girdles was, "So round, so firm, so fully packed," based on a Lucky Strike cigarette commercial at the time. Also at that time, there was the saying that "Boys don't jump hurdles for girls who wear girdles" or was it "Boys jump hurdles for girls who wear girdles?" One does forget after 45 years.
I remember that for dress-up occasions and sometimes at school many girls really looked good when wearing girdles under their pencil-slim skirts. A common attire was a slim skirt and a sweater. It was during this era that Janzen was marketing a sweater suit or sweater dress, which was a knitted skirt with matching sweater. The top and bottom could be purchased separately allowing girls to choose the best fit, both top and bottom. These skirts demanded a girdle be worn, or else it looked like two puppies playing under a blanket. It was definitely a uni-buttock era as opposed to the current bi-buttock style. A smooth hipline and controlled buttock and tummy was highly desirable and a girdle helped achieve both.
In the 1950's a girdle was almost always an open-bottom girdle as opposed to a panty girdle. There was no need to say open-bottom girdle, it was assumed as proved by the advertisements of that era. I don't think the term open-bottom ever appeared in a 50's advertisement. The panty girdle did not really take off until the late 50's as I recall.
From Greger-
I've died and gone to heaven. I sat and read the story about the girl in the blue girdle and VERY fond memories flooded back into my head. I'm 44 so I grew up in the same time span and fell in love with ALL foundation garments along the way. I've been searching the net for just such a site as yours and I want to pass along my sincerest congratulations for a job well done.
From Dave-
I was very pleased to see your website creation. I have been lurking on acl since April. I thought Suzanne's posts were an expression of every girdle fantasy I've ever had. I'm very lucky because I have a wife who puts up with my fetish, but she is too young to have worn a girdle as a regular course of events during the fifties and sixties. I guess the real people to tell us how it was are our mothers. I have a good relationship with mom but I'm not going to ask her to tell me about the details of girdle-wearing even though I wish I could. Suzanne seemed to bridge that gap between the generation that did wear girdles and the one that might wear them if the man played his cards carefully.
From Tim-
I certainly don't hate seeing a woman wearing an elegant girdle! I am 46, so I grew up with sisters that accepted girdles as part of their rite of passage in the 60s, but that never had the sensual overtones that a girdle holds for me now. When in my late 20s, I had an older lover for almost a year who was an incredibly elegant and sensual lady -- and a girdle and stocking wearer. That really hooked me, not in the least because Bonnie didn't "need" to wear a girdle, she did because she considered it to be part of proper dressing, and as she admitted to me later, she loved the constricted feel of a "proper" girdle. Her favorite style was something called an Always 21. These were so stiff they would practically stand by themselves, so tight they had to be closed with a zipper -- overall, VERY firm and controlling. I loved to watch Bonnie dressing in her elegant finery; I throughly enjoyed the look of Bonnie wearing that girdle beneath her sleek silk dress, and I moreover loved to caress her sleekly encased derriere and play with her stocking tops. Those girdles helped create a throughly sensual experience for both of us. I came into the relationship with more a fondness for pretty women in corsets, and I bought Bonnie a few that she wore for some special occasions to please me, but she never enjoyed her tight corsets as much as we both enjoyed her elegant girdles!
We parted ways a few years ago because of business-initiated moves, so we are down to just exchanging Christmas cards now. That annual card from Bonnie inspires a fond recollection of her wonderful elegance and her individual fashion statement that was so so sensual for us both.
From Cozey-
I've been a girdle lover for about ten years. I got turned on to the erotic qualities of girdles and foundation wear a few years ago after sending away for some of Pamela Peterson's photos. I've been a devoted fan of girdle eroticism ever since. I even own some of my own now. I really love the way they hug my body. My wife knows of my interests and tries neither to encourage or discourage me. I feel lucky that she accepts me the way I am. Having worn them herself in the 50's and 60's, she has no interest in wearing them now.
From The Guvnor-
I am thoroughly enjoying your pics and articles. I have long had a girdle fetish since I can remember when my neighbor took me into a department store dressing room when I was a little kid (1963?) and she was wearing a white panty girdle with stockings. However, I can't get my wife to wear one. She says that it's uncomfortable and weird, and wouldn't be caught dead in public with one on. She says that other men DO NOT consider girdles as sexy. What can I do?
Note: there are some excellent sugggestions on how to approach this issue contained in Suzanne's The Romance and Glamour of Girdles, or you might look at the discussion, Honey, Would You Put On a Girdle For Me?
From Sunsoul-
When I was sixteen (1963) every self-respecting, well-dressed girl in my high school wore a girdle of some kind - mostly long-leg panty-girdles. Probably these were more comfortable under any kind of clothing and certainly because they were more in fashion more than the open style.
Cars and indulgent parents allowed a lot of freedom in those years which, you need to recall, were pre-pill. Girdles stayed on in the upper-middle neighbourhood I lived in. And panty-girdles were "unopenable" at that time (not true now, thankfully). I know for a fact that this was their appeal for a lot of mothers sending their young things out on late Saturday night dates. And maybe for their daughters to some extent because it tended to put a limit on what could happen.
So for me, and possibly many men who were teenagers in the sixties, there is a strong association between the intense, sexually charged experiences of that age and the lingerie of the time. And girdles were everywhere in advertising. It was obviously very big business until the latter 60's. Open a Vogue or Bazaar and you would find a least fifteen full-page ads for the big brand names and many more for lesser known brands. Maybe one quarter of the ads. The Sunday New York Times Mag. was like a black-and-white version of Playboy except the models were half-clothed in lycra - a condition that has come to be valued as "erotic" more recently.
That was conservative Canada and the USA. I remember very well, at the tender age of 19, walking down the Paris Metro tunnels for the first time. They were lined solid with eight-foot-high ads for girdles and bras. One ad would be repeated like a giant poster series for 80 feet or so. Definitely imprinting for an impressionable young male mind.
I wonder about whether the new fashion for girdles will generate the sane kinds of attachment for men in their teens or twenties. It's possible but my guess is that it is not likely. Teenagers would have to get serious about wearing girdles again and I don't think that will happen.
One last, key point while I'm on this roll. I'm suprised that no one has mentioned it yet because it's kind of important. But I guess it's only a reflection of the appealing modesty of this group. I will stick my neck out in the interest of general knowledge. Many of the more "original" styles are now made with very discreet, strategically located, fold-over openings. This is not a trivial point, I think you'll agree. Ask most any guy who likes garter-belts and stockings (most any guy in other words) and you will find, I bet, that many enjoy her wearing these "all the way". One of the best things about the genre, frankly. Who wants to say, "Hold it!", and bother with the distraction of rolling out of a brand new girdle when instead it can be enjoyed by all concerned? The mistaken assumption that this interruption is still necessary (as it in fact pretty much was for panty-girdles of the sixties) is probably the source of much historic girdle unpopularity and rightly so. So, for obvious reasons, I recommend the more original" product with this essential revision. I am told by reliable sources that this major design improvement can facilitate a new and sensational dimension to that most classic of experiences with your SO.
From Dave W.-
Gee ..... my sister used to wear Playtex pantie girdles, as did some girlfriends, dammit! They looked terribly uncomfortable and not at all sexy .... looked like thin rubber with little holes so that the skin could breath. They squeezed a woman's naturally luscious derriere into what in years to come was described as the " Monobuttock". Blah !!!!!
See? There's room for minority opinions at The Girdle Zone- Virginian
From Bunyip Bluegum-
Part of the fascination was the forbidden nature of the subject. Film 'Undercover Story' on the life of Fred Burley, founder (?) of Berlei, has a scene in which the mayor of a country town in OZ in the 30's opens a touring exhibition in a train and sees a girdle on a plaster model. Comments, "Dammit; do you know that's the first time I have ever seen one of those things?" And this is not quite so impossible as it sounds; one of the reasons ladies had seperate dressingrooms was so they could get dressed/undressed out of sight of their husbands. And of course prewar the corsetry salons were guarded by dragons whose icy breath would slay any man foolish enough to try to gain a glimpse at about 30 paces.
Other half is the deeply embedded sado-masochistic tendency in both sexes; there is something abhorrently fascinating about mutilation of the human body, ranging all the way from the comparatively innocent attraction of the artificially shaped breast all the way through the sadistic pictures depicting the sufferings of the (esp. female) saints, to the horrors of Dachau/Siberia/Balkans...
In the 40's (when I was adolescent) women wore skirts & stockings, and the vast majority wore girdles to hold them up. Skirts were long, and just occasionally, if you were very lucky, you would get a glimpse of stocking top. Admittedly the type of woman most likely to let you see her stocking top was also the type least likely to appeal, but, attractive or not, stocking tops were considered exceedingly erotic. Similarly if your girl let your hands wander there was great excitement in getting you hands past the protection of her stockings to the bare flesh above.
Came the swinging 60's, and skirts crept up, AND UP. The (open) girdle disappeared, replaced by the far more modest, and elegant, panty girdle. Strangely, although this was nearely as effective as a chastity belt, it retained its sexual appeal. I suppose in part this was because it was still modified the shape, so fitted into the continuum. For a few months men were in heaven, then the dreaded panty hose appeared, girdles were consigned to the dustbin, and life, for the girdle lover, has never been the same since.
This feeling is by no means universal; many men hated girdles, and many are turned on by pantyhose, but I think much of the dislike of pantyhose comes from their generally unattractive briefs, with often wrinkly seams, and part from the removal of the mystery associated with girdles, suspenders, and the whole complex box of tricks. And, speaking personally, a lot of the pleasure of a girdle, or well made control brief pantyhose, comes from the smooth firm feel (especially if the lady is wearing a slip). Most lace is scratchy, and just doesn't feel nearly as nice, and (at least for me) underwear is generally felt, rather than admired visually. Scratchy lace briefs, and rough or sticky feeling pantyhose just don't have the same class; however pretty they may be.
From Roy-
I like the sleekness and firmness that a girdle gives a woman's body. Not that I consider this better than other forms of dress or undress, but it has a quality that I find attractive. I also like the subtle change in carriage and demeanor in a woman who is wearing a girdle. I thought my attraction to girdled women might be a bit strange until I got involved in the discussion Suzanne was leading on acl, and found out there were other men who shared the attraction and that there were women who thought it was quite alright.
From Dick-
I went to an all-boys school, so had no female classmates. In my school years I was sexually fairly immature, so I had little opportunity to find out what my dates wore underneath their skirts. The first powerful memory was of seeing advertisements for girdles in my mother's magazines. They seemed such unlikely items of clothing - why did women wear them? This was the start of the fascination. Did real women wear them? What did they really look like? What did they feel like?
When I started university one of my earliest memories was of a female student walking ahead of me across the quadrangle. As she passed through a gap between two buildings a gust of wind caught her skirt and blew it high around her waist. She was wearing a long leg panty girdle and this confirmed that they were worn by ordinary women, perhaps even by most women.
As I dated more, I found that I was aroused more by a girl in a girdle, and that I took more pleasure in petting. Since puberty I have regarded the girdle, especially the panty girdle, as the most erotic of female clothing. The most pleasurable of sensations took place on those all too infrequent occasions when my partner was wearing a panty girdle. The thrill of the gentle exploration of the different textures of the stocking, the suspenders, the bare flesh between the girdle leg and the stockings, and the girdle itself, culminating with the caressing of the moist mysterious area at the top of the legs, protected by the smooth firm material of the girdle was just such an exquisite sensation that, while I remained a virgin, I regarded it as the ultimate pleasure. There was something deliciously enticing, yet impenetrable, which I think added to the sensation
.I have always been most uncomfortable about this attraction, to the extent that I have felt shame and guilt. I grew up virtually an only child - my brother is nine years older than me - in a household where sex was never mentioned, nudity was not practiced, and underclothes were definitely "unmentionables". I learned that girdles (and bras, but never as strongly) were secret to women, they were part of the unmentionable rites of being a woman (like menstruation and childbirth), they were alien to men. Therefore to be attracted to them, to fantasise about them, to want to see them, to see women in them, to touch them, was wrong, unmanly, shameful. I have never mentioned my attraction to anyone until I read the articles in the ACL page. Now perhaps I can learn to accept it, and so reduce my sense of guilt.
From Steve-
I find the girdles very sexy, I'm 57 yrs of age and I grew up up when the rubber/latex girdles were in style, these were the most sexiest of all of the girdles, why I find girdles to be sexy, I don't know.
From Wally-
I thought you might be interested in more of my experiences in the fifties. I started dating Darlene in my senior year in high school. Her mother was a very proper woman whom I never saw in slacks in the two plus years that I went with Darlene. She always wore a dress and her makeup was always flawless. She was a very handsome woman. Her carriage was always straight and her posture was excellent. I don't think I ever saw her slouch. When she sat her posture was always straight and very lady like. Darlene told me that on some occasions, she had to assist her mother with her corset sometimes when her mother was dressing for church. I think her mother was always, and I mean always, well girdled!
I was amused in reading Suzanne's account of her mother's insistence that she wear a girdle on dates and when going out for almost any occasion. I was going out with Darlene and we had planned to go to an amusement park. She was wearing a sun type of dress with a full skirt with low heeled shoes. Just as we were going out the door, her mother called her back and said something to her that I didn't hear. I was concerned that perhaps we wouldn't be able to go out for some reason. Darlene came over and said she had to go upstairs for a minute and left me waiting. She returned in less than five minutes, now wearing hose, and we were off the to park. I asked here what the delay was. She replied that her mother insisted that she go up and put on a girdle before going out. Not wanting to make a scene, she went upstairs and put on the girdle and the requisite hosiery.
At that time there was not too many panty girdles being worn, so the effectiveness of a girdle as a chastity device was somewhat minimal. I must admit, that on occasion when we went to a drive-in movie in the summer. After getting parked and settled, Darlene would go to the rest room, remove her girdle and hose, and return to the car to watch the movie -- really we watched the movie -- well, most of it. We never had sexual intercourse but did get involved in heavy petting, kissing, necking or whatever you wish to call it. I will talk about this in a future letter. When the movie was over, Darlene went back to the rest room and donned her girdle and hose for the trip home. The only problem was that Darlene often had trouble getting the girdle and hose back on. On a warm humid evening she was usually damp with perspiration, so the girdle was also somewhat damp making it difficult to pull it on not to mention the initial unpleasant, clammy feeling. How nice to be young with rushing hormones!
From Frank J.-
Ditto, ditto, ditto. I wonder if the generation now growing up will have an equivalent to the girdle? It seems unlikely. The description of the effect of those ads and catalog photos is right on target - it's kind of creepy, really. If I go to a new town, my first thought is to find an antique bookstore, and you know why. My mind is programmed to look for girdle ads.
My wife is somewhat sympathetic - but only to a point. She doesn't go along with my collecting ads and pictures. If I didn't feel hesitant about it, I'd have a dozen videos or more, too. I once bought an 8-mm movie and projector (about $70 in 1983 money) just because there was a girdle in the movie for a minute or so.
I remember a girl named Nancy who worked at the grocery store where I worked when I was 15-16. She was a checkout clerk, a couple of years older than I, and always wore a big open-bottom girdle (I call them 'straight' girdles). We took breaks together and went to the back where the sugar was kept, and kind of flirted. She wore petti-pants over her girdle, so I never really got to see it, but I felt it many times. What a sensation!
At that time I thought the split-crotch versions were odd, but now that I am married, I appreciate them with a deep, grateful enthusiasm. For there is nothing better, to me, than making love to my wife while she is wearing a long-leg girdle with stockings hooked up to it.
Unfortunately, the really fine girdles of the past are no more. There are a few very, very nice ones, like the Smoothie Classique, with its soft pink-buff fabric and its little touches of lace. Now and then one sees a nice one in a Roaman's catalog or something similar. But girdles have gone off in a direction that leaves us older guys wistfully longing for an earlier time. I fear that in the coming years, we will see the demise of panels and satin, powernet and lace.
I hope I'm wrong about that. It's just that the younger men - and women - do not have much of a frame of reference to connect them to the styles we love. To them, a girdle might just be another butt booster or a pair of bike pants.
I hope someone will collect all the old girdle negatives he can find and publish a really comprehensive pictorial on this garment. Where are the out-take negatives from those '60's ads? What about the originals of all those retouched photos - like the pink "Sears Has Gone Wild" ad that was so lovely in March, 1969?
Ah, me. Girdles are so delicious to me, and yet to most people they are just a curiosity. I feel like the elevator operator in Brave New World, shouting, "Roof! Roof! Oh, roof!" How can the majority of men be so crazy as to stare at magazine after magazine featuring the same basic scenario with the same shapes and the same poses? Don't they know about girdles?
From Junior-
It's especially discouraging to have a kink that's so out-of-step with the times. Have you ever looked over at "alt.pantyhose"? There's a bunch of guys who get their jollies when they see a woman in pantyhose. God! They probably have no idea how lucky they are. The object of their fascination is all around them, and their interest is even moderately socially acceptable! I mean, no one is going to laugh if some guy says, "You know what really turns me on? A nice pair of legs in high heels and sheer black pantyhose." All the other guys in the room are going to say, "Hum boy, sure know what you're talking about there!"
Then- picture it- I pipe up and say, "Not me. What drives me up the wall is a nice pair of legs in a short skirt with just a little bit of panty girdle peeking out from under her hem. You know, lace on the cuffs and all?" Everybody goes, "Huh?" and one guy says, "You know, I always knew you were strange," and everybody laughs their butts off.
I mean, think about it. Gays and Lesbians have annual pride parades, tranvestites hold conventions, sado-masochists have clubs where they give demonstrations of the safe way to beat your partner, even pedophiles have a national organization. Everybody is out in the open! Yet, I think most guys would rather confess that they stole from the church collection plate than that they have an underwear fetish. You say, "I'm a child molester, but I can't help it because I had a rough childhood myself," and everyone says, "Oh, you poor baby!" You say, "I'm a happily married man. I don't mess around, I don't bother anyone else, I just like to stroke my wife's fanny while she's wearing a girdle," and it's, "You are one weird puppy! You steal laundry off clotheslines, too?"
In this supposedly tolerant day and age, there are still some groups it's okay to laugh at.
And not only is this interest considered strange, but it's so rare that one even encounters the item in question. So you walk around frustrated, knowing that you don't even have a chance of glimpsing the thing you find so exciting. Aaaargh! If people were able to pick out their fetish objects, I'd definitely recommend that they stick to items in common use. Lots less heartburn that way.
Do I sound bitter?
Junior- hang in there! We know how you feel, but believe me, you're not nearly as alone as you think. Take a look around The Girdle Zone, and you'll see plenty of guys who feel the way you do about girdles, and even women who are glad their men feel that way! Keep in touch with us, okay?
-Virginian
From RC-
I am 41 years old and as long as I can remember I have thought there was nothing sexier than a beautiful woman encased in a high-waist, long-leg panty girdle. Happily, I am married to a beautiful, full-figured woman who absolutely loves to wear a girdle. Much to my delight, she wears one almost constantly. I love patting her tummy or backside while she is wearing a silky satiny dress over a tight girdle. Feeling the girdle snugly containing her is a fantastic turn-on.
I have given a lot of thought to why I find girdles so sexy. I am convinced that in large measure it relates to the tightness of the garment. The idea that a beautiful woman's most intimate regions are being squeezed and reshaped by the girdle is, I think, a big part of the attraction. The notion that the girdle makes the wearer more "womanlike" is also a factor. To most men, a small waist, a flat stomach and a tight derriere are sexually appealing.
For me, the higher the waist and the longer the legs of a woman's girdle, the sexier she looks. I wonder if this is the case for other men. I also think longline bras are attractive when worn in conjunction with a girdle but I find corsolettes less desirable--perhaps because they offer less control.
In any event, I am glad that girdles have made a comeback and I am delighted that I am married to a beautiful woman who is a dedicated girdle wearer.
From Wally-
In my last e-mail, I was talking about my experiences with my fiancee, Darlene.
About forty years ago to the day Darlene wanted to wear a particularly fitted suit and a new knit dress she had bought. At her mother's urging or insistence and my full support, her mother scheduled an appointment with a Spencer Corsetierre.
I don't know if Spencer is still in business, but they generally sold to (I think the proper expression is) matronly women. Their garments were basically corsets or girdles with firm control and structure. Not usually the thing an eighteen-year-old young woman would wear. Every garment was custom made. Darlene made an appointment to be fitted. I asked her how this was done, and she said the fitter used a fitting girdle. From what Darlene said, it allowed the fitter to adjust the fit by straps, laces, or panels. I don't know any more than that. Perhaps some others can tell me or describe what a fitting girdle is.
The girdle was ready to be picked up two or three weeks later. It was very expensive ($45.00) at the time. It was a high-waisted garment with a side zipper (similar to the Promise by Poirette garment) and gave her a wonderful look. Her hips and tummy were firmly -- no, very firmly controlled. The waist was nipped in and the girdle extended to just under her bra. She said that It also was longer than other girdles she had worn. I asked her how it felt, and she said that it felt good, but that it was going to some getting used to as it had boning from top to bottom at the front. She did say that long side zipper made it easy to put the girdle on.
When she wore that high-waisted girdle her posture was always better. The fit of the girdle was eased somewhat at the top and bottom so there was no girdle bulge at the top or the bottom. It was so long that she may have had to buy hosiery that was a little shorter than she normally wore or had to roll the top of the hose, but I don't remember for sure. It's been a long time ago.
I do remember that putting my hand on her hips or buttocks left no doubt that she was wearing a finely fitted firm control garment.
Darlene had two brothers, who would call her Myrtle. I asked her why and she said that they were teasing her about wearing a girdle. The whole story was that she was teased because of the rhyme, "Myrtle's snug as a turtle in her girdle."
In the spring of 1956, Darlene became ill and died four weeks to the day from a rare blood disease. It was hard for me to take. Her mother had her buried in the suit with girdle, hose, and probably high heels.
I went into the military service after she died as I didn't quite know what to do with myself.
After my discharge from the military, I met a wonderful woman who is now my wife. We will celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary this year. When we first got married, she had purchased two all-in-ones for her trousseau. One was beige to go with her wedding dress, and the other was black. The black one could be worn strapless and was made of a heavy elastic material with satin panels. She needed help to get into that garment and I was only too happy to help her.
Several months after we were married, she purchased a long-leg panty girdle. There seemed nothing special about the girdle until she put it on and then walked to the closet. She stopped short and we both laughed. When she walked there was a whistling or whipping sound from her thighs rubbing together. The girdle fabric rubbing against each other caused them to make more noise that a new corduroy fabric. I forget what she did to conceal this noise when she walked except she probably wore the girdle under slacks. Has this ever happened to anyone else?
Because of some health problems, my wife no longer wears girdles very often. :-( I am afraid that the wonderful days of women in girdles may be past, but there will always be a few who appreciate the look, feel, and effect of wearing girdles.
From Al-
I am a girdle lover from way back since I was 12-13. I used to love to go shopping with my mother to department stores and wait for her to pick out a dress, while she was trying them on I would go to the underwear section and look at the styles of girdles they had there. Often there would be piles of them all over. I felt like I was in seventh heaven and try to hide my blushing face and erection. It was wonderful seeing them there.
I have aged a lot since then but I still have a true love of girdles and always will. My wife wears them occassionally, and I enjoy watching her get in one. She knows it and sometimes puts on a show for me.
I hope that the girdle is on a come back and that more woman will be wearing one. There are sexy woman out there who wear girdles and there are many men who adore them. So gentlemen, get your engines going and enjoy all of the woman out there who are willing to wear a girdle proudly.
From Anonymous-
A warning to conservative readers: this next entry is more explicit than the typical Zona item.
When I met a girl in the late 60's at a campground we had a long conversation as to what turned us on. I told Nancy that I had a long term girdle fetish. She didn't seem too interested, and I kinda forgot about the conversation.
A couple of months later, I was invited to her house. We were going to a movie that night, and she came out of her bathroom in a nice short dress that I had given her earlier. Her bra strap was showing, so I asked her why she was wearing a bra. She replied "So my tits don't fall out of this dress."
I told her I'd like to cop a feel, and she stepped up to me. I put my right hand behind her back and felt the outlines of a bra, and I casually put my left hand on her ass. I felt the taught material under her slip and said "Hey! you're wearing a girdle!"
"Yeah" she said, "just to turn you on. Wanna see it?"
With my breath coming in short gasps, I kneeled down and she lifted up her dress. There, at face level I came into contact with her half slip. I raised her slip a little at a time, exposing coffee-colored stockings with dark tops held up by four silver garters hung on white elastic garter straps. As the curtain raised, she showed me the hem of her open-bottom white girdle. I remeber the gentle tug on her stockings. The girdle has a satin panel in front with a delicate floral design on it and a zipper on the side. I ran my hands over the front panel and asked her to turn around. As I ran my hands over her ass I nearly lost it.
We went out to dinner and the movies. It was all I could do to just stay present with the erotic gift she was giving me. She encouraged me to play with her stocking-tops and garters in the car and at the movies. She spread her legs slightly in the movies to let me run my sweaty hands from her knee, over her garters, to the hem of the girdle. The softness of her skin above the stockings was exquisite.
When we got back to her house, she put on some music for us to dance to. After awhile (this is all a blur) she shrugged off her dress. Her bra was an old-style white Playtex Cross-Your-Heart number. She said to me "What do you want me to do?"
I responded, "Leave your bra and stockings and slip on. I'll remove your girdle and panties." She lifted up her slip and I got on my knees in front of her. I undid the front garters, reverentially. Then she turned and I removed the rear garters.
"You seem to know what you're doing," she laughed.
"Well, I am a mechanic," I reminded her. I unzipped the zipper and carefully, (trying to make the moment last) pulled the girdle down over her hips and let it drop to the floor. I was amazed at how light and lovely it was. Then I removed her white panties and said, "Boy, I'd like to be your garters tonight."
The rest is sexual history, but I've remembered the thrill of having her wear a girdle just for me. I treasure the memory.
From Andrew W.-
I thought I was just about the only man in the world who was "turned on" by girdles. I am most certainly NOT interested in Victorian Corsets (bondage, etc. )but since my youth (fifties\sixties) girdles have always been the thing for me.
Most of the girls I went out with in those days wore the open style girdle with suspenders and stockings and few were at all embarassed by my obsession. I did work with a girl who was quite well-built but did not wear any sort of foundation garment.
In the summer of 1961 she went home to Wadebridge in Cornwall, England on her two weeks annual holiday and had the August Bank Holiday weekend "tacked on" so that she was away for seventeen or eighteen days. Upon her return she was quite frankly fat as she had done nothing much but laze about in the sunshine and eat large quantities of food. She had in fact gained one pound in weight for every day she was away and was therefore 17/18 pounds heavier than before.
Upon her return she told me of the problems she had in getting the zip on her skirt done up and how she seemed to be bursting out af all her dresses. I told her that in my opinion she desperately needed to wear a girdle but she was most upset as she considered that I was trying to make fun of her. It appears that her mother had come to the same conclusion and had taken her to a very small drapery to purchase one.
Apparently there were only two in stock, a 36 inch hip size and a 38 inch. Margaret told the shop owner that she would have the 36, but her mother intervened and suggested that the 38 might be more appropriate in view of her increased girth. She then went into the fittting room and stripped off for measuring. Her waist was 23 ins, but her hips, far from being 36 or even 38 had spread to 41 inches. It was then that a suggestion was made that with a difference of eighteen inches between waist and hips she needed to have something made-to-measure; this was simply too much for her to bear and for the next eighteen months she resolutely refused to even consider wearing a girdle.
Then - joy of joys - in February 1963 she bought a "Berlei" girdle and the transformation was wondrous to behold. She looked absolutely superb and continued to wear it right through to the end of June when she purchased a new one. In October that year she then bought a long-leg pantie girdle to wear under trousers which was also a magnificent sight.
I lost touch soon after as I changed jobs and she went to College. I think that she emigrated to the USA and is probably a grandmother by now. I still think of her and how splendid she looked in her girdle.
From Fakir-
As a very recent veteran of Korea and attending Penn State in th elate 50's I enjoyed a fellow grad student who wore an old-fashioned open bottom girdle, probably a Warner Foundastion. That garment turned me on like nothing else, I could see the lines of it under her dresses, but it certainly was a blockade to any thing more intimate than looking. Still and all she was fun and sexy.
As to bike shorts, they're great under or over anything. I do believe that lots of stores are selling something that is a sort of cross between a bike short and a panty girdle. It's lacy around the bottom, has lycra and nylon, shiny, and very charming. Also quite arousing when worn under a short skirt or shorts. Even at this late date.
From Alan A.-
When I was 16 or so, I had a steady girlfriend. As with all of the girls at the time she always wore a girdle, and she knew that I liked girdles. So one Sunday afternoon in the summer my parents were away for the day, so I called her and told her to come over.
Well she did, and what a shock it was! She had on a black tight dress with black stockings and it was the kind that had the seamed back. She was out of this world.
Well, we sat and chatted and then the making out started. I grabbed her ass and felt a girdle on her. Well I had an instant erection, she knew it .
She said, "Undress me- I have a surprise for you."
I unzipped her dress and there she was standing there with a black bra and a black girdle . The girdle was an open-bottom with eight garters, it had a lacey front and a satiny back. It had tabs covering the metral garters. It was tight as can be and she looked sexy as can be in it.
She said that she had bought it the day before and wanted to surprise me with it. I almost melted, so for a couple of hours we had fore[play and sex.
That was my first experience with having sex with a girl wearing a girdle and stockings. We had the time of our lives that day, it was many years ago and I will never forget it. Since then I have had girdle sex many times and still enjoy it because of her. We were together for 5 years after that and then broke up. We had girdle sex a lot after that, because she knew that pleased me so.
From John B.-
Having just read most of the male contingent's lust for girdles, please allow me one more. Many of us were raised among females in girdles and the comments of all of you reflect the sexual attachment we have for the garment, whether used solely to improve the female shape or as a sexual come-on. What no one mentions are two of the other senses effected by the girdle wearing female: aroma and touch.
From the firm feeling of the garment through a dress or skirt, even more so the garter and nylon top, to when one was lucky enough to get his hands on the stretched girdle, the tactile sensation was and is exquisite. One's face against a woman's thighs, both nylon or silk and silky skin, hands under the garters and face pressed into... Couple this massive infusion of sensation with the incredible admixture of aromas: stockings, warmth of body accentuating the girdle's distinctive odor, (remind you of the wonderful, sexy vapors emanating from your mother's or sister's lingerie drawer?), with her soap, perfume and her own distinctive body smells, and it's amazing any of us survived the early years.
This is for all you doubting female readers:
In the vein of: if a implies b, b implies c, then, a implies c. Thus, if women wear well designed, well made and well fitted foundations, they feel sexier. If women feel sexier, they are sexier. Therefore, if women wear well designed lingerie etc., they are sexier.
When a woman is sexier, so is her mate. Try this. Both you and your mate will find increase stimulation and the concomitant increased sexual enjoyment.
From Thomas S.-
I think girdles and corsets are a very feminine and sensual garments, because they form a woman's body very well.
I like open-bottom girdles and corsets because they encourage women to wear stockings. (Unfortunately, many women consider pantyhose to be a functional garment ("warm in the winter"), whereas I consider them, as well as stockings as purely sensual garments.) Furthermore, open-bottoms both open and nevertheless don't allow easy access to a woman's private parts.
But I like panty girdles worn upon pantyhose as well, because they form very well a woman's body, and at the same time block the access to her private parts. But it is mandatory that panty-hose be worn over (and not under) pantyhose.
In my opinion, women wearing girdles don't only wear them to seduce their partners in a primitive way but in a sophisticated manner. I also think that those women have a certain way of looking upon themselves as feminine women, and it's part of their way of living. Girdles add an aura of sensuality.
From Alan A.-
I must confess that since I have had my girdle fetish, I thought that I was the only one in the world like that. I don't know why but I did. I remember as a youngster, I would sneak in my mothers lingerie drawer and fondle the girdles that she had there, I even on occasion took one out and slept with it all night, at the time it seemed like a pacifier to me.
Finally after about two years doing this, my father said, "Son, leave your mother's underthings alone." That is all that was said, so I guess then and there I was too embarrassed to let out my hidden secret. I kept it inside a long time and never told anyone. I don't know why, but I did.
Now when I see all that is out there to explore and enjoy if that is the word, I feel free. There are very few movies out there or magazines about girdles, I am surprised about that. I truly wish that there would be more to look at for our fetish. I have a number of girdle tapes here that I have purchased through the years, some are plain and simple and don not do much and some are more exiting. When the new Leg Show magazine comes out I always get a copy and look for girdles. Sometimes there are quite a few and sometimes nothing at all.
I remember when my girl and I would go out on a date we would usually wind up parking somewhere for a while to make out or whatever. Since she would almost always wear a girdle when we would start making out in the car, I would always grab her fanny and get a nice feel of the tight girdle that she would have on. It always gave me an instant erection. Sometimes she would wear an open-bottom with stockings and I would always run my hand up her leg and would play with the top of her stockings. Then I would unhook them from the garters one-by-one. Then I would roll the girdle up and we would have sex. Sometimes more than others she would wear a panty girdle and I would again unhook the garters and then slowly peel the girdle down and off from her. Since she always wore tight girdles it was a job getting the girdle off from her, but it was well worth the trouble doing it.
After we were finished she would struggle to put the girdle back on, which was awkward since we were in a car and there was not a lot of room. She almost always needed help in getting it back on, and I can assure you that I was always willing to help her get it back on and all hooked up. It was a great feeling. When I would drop her off I would not sleep that night thinking about what had happened that night, It was pleasurable as it could ever get. I guess that is why I am liking to the heavier kind of girdle rather than the newer more light weight ones. Mainly because that is all that I ever felt and got used to after so many years.
I have another memory for you, when my girlfriend and I went to the Senior Prom from school, she was all fancied out in a dress. After the prom we and another couple were planning on going to the beach for the rest of the night and day. She lived about a half hour away from me, and was in the opposite direction of the beach. I told her to bring a change of clothes to my house and we would go from there.
After the prom we went to my house (parents were away at the time), I changed to shorts, she was in the other bedroom, she asked me to unzip her dress. I did and she took it off right in front of me. Well, she had on a slip, and I knew she had on silk stockings, because I could hear the silk rubbing. She took off her slip and was standing in front of me with a all in one (black) with an open bottom and had 8 garters attached and holding up her stockings, it had a zip[per front to get in and out of. We kissed and made out for a little, then she said to take off her stockings so that she would not get a run in them as they were new and expensive. I had the pleasure of taking them off inch by inch. We then made out some more and I opened the zipper and peeled the all-in-one off, and then we had sex for a while.
She then went in the shower and I held the girdle and felt a nice silk back and her fragrance was all through it. I had an instant erection and needless to say we never made it to the beach that night, we went in the morning. I truly wish that they would make corsets and girdles like they used to nice and heavy and sexy looking as well. It had a little bit of lace on top of the cup area. Those were the days.
My wife has a few older girdles that she will wear when she feels that she needs a little bit more support and sex appeal. She looks great in a girdle and she knows it too!
From Frank J.-
I did have a "glimpse" story from 'way back. I was engaged to a girl who wore girdles. It was in 1967, and I was in the Marine Corps at the time. I would go home on liberty weekends and visit her. She was a little on the plump side, but just a little. Enough for her to be very pleasing to see and to touch.
One time we went for a long drive in my car. It was our wont to use such times for a certain pleasurable activity which always resulted in complete satisfaction for her (although none for me). She would say things like, "Don't worry, you'll get your share when we're married." So as I drove, her dress came up and, lo and behold, she was wearing a lovely white long-leg panty girdle. I felt it for a while as I drove, glancing at it and enjoying its unique combination of softness and firmness. Especially the softness where it is nice and warm and soft.
She asked me, "Do you want me to take my girdle off?" to which I answered, "No, I like girdles."
I remember the exact words and the exact moment so well. So, she settled down for a session of enjoyment, with her head on my lap and my hand where it belonged, until it was over and she went to sleep all wet and happy. And I continued to drive with my hand where it was, and my eye taking in the glory of it all from time to time. Until we got where we were going.
And that's that little episode. We never did get married.
As for glimpses, when I was 16 and 17 and working as a bag boy at a grocery store, I caught many a glimpse of many a girdled thigh - even so far as the crotch of the girdle - as I helped ladies get their cars loaded with their groceries. It was a job that kept my adolescent blood pumping full speed ahead, believe me. My next job was pumping gas in a gas station, and I discovered that washing windshields is a great way - or it was back in the 1960's! - to catch a little look now and then of powernet and lace, or even a little tricot. In those days the girdles came in such a wonderful variety of colors... how nice it was.
From Ron-
I, like most of the respondents, am in my 40's. I, too, am a girdle aficionado. No doubt it has to do with my formative years taking place in the '50's and '60's. I further confirm this by the fact that I am quite specific about the girdle style (love open-bottom; hate closed bottom and panty leg), material (love vintage and front satin panels), width of garter and metal fasteners. I'm also a sucker for those satin ribbons that lie over the garter. I also like garter belts, but strictly the girdle garter belts and full length ones from the '50's and '60's. I've noted, though, that no one has mentioned the sarong-style open bottom girdles. Considering that, for me, girdles enhance my wife's and my sexual experience, access is a consideration.
While I'm on the subject of sex, my wife and I have had many discussions about what sex was like in the golden years of women's undergarments. Both of us agree that there was no more exciting moment in foreplay when the hand went from stocking top to bare thigh. I also feel that one of the most erotic images is the sight of a woman adjusting the rear garter to the stocking.
Why do I love girdles? Maybe it's because my image of femininity was forged at a time when that image was shaped from the foundation up. Maybe it's because when my wife wears one it represents something special we share. Maybe it's because the image and tactile sensations make me or us young again; taking us back to a time of unbridled passion and hormonal rage. Whatever the reason, it's cheaper than a psychiatrist and a bargain at the price.
From David H-
I am so delighted to have discovered The Girdle Zone. I am a mature gentleman who believes that girdles enhance the attractiveness of women. I especially enjoy being with a woman who wears traditional open-bottom girdles for dress-up occasions. Taking a woman to a fine restaurant or the theatre when I know she is wearing a high-rise, full-control zipper open girdle is a sure indication of her good taste as well as her appreciation of the occasion. I feel that such a garment gives a woman a classic shape and the firm lower hem and garters cause her to walk in a dignified but extremely sensual manner.
The problem, of course, is the unavailability of classic open-bottom girdles in a variety of styles and colors. I have, for example, been unable to advise a friend where she might find the equivalent of Young Smoothies 14" high-rise or Crownette's 16" in black or beige. Maitresse offers a custom-made garment but my women friends tell me that the control is less than firm and that it is basically a fashion rather than foundation item. I would appreciate knowing of outlets for open-bottom girdles other than the very good ones which you already list. On another subject: some women wear panties under their open girdles but others wear panties over the girdle, complaining about the panty lines "engraved" by the girdle. Is there a consensus on this subject?
From Jake-
I have been fascinated with women's underwear since about age nine. I cut my teeth as it were with the Sears catalog and the Sunday New York Times Magazine section. I have always been attracted to elegantly dressed, graceful women and have welcomed the return of attractive fashions into the mainstream.
. My girlfriends, and now my wife, have had varying reactions to their discovery of my girdle fascination ranging from mild amusement to total disgust. Part of this was that I undoubtedly gave signals that I was interested in the garment more than the woman; suffice it to say that Suzanne's advice on "How to convince a woman to wear a girdle" would have been invaluable and would have substantially improved my relationships.
I am now in a situation where my wife of fourteen years and mother of two beautiful children is unhappy with our relationship since she does not receive the sexual interest from me that she deserves. I do not disagree with her in a way, but my apparent disinterest stems from her total rejection of my sexuality, which she treats as an incurable sickness rather than as a part of her husband she should at least attempt to understand. This is all the more frustrating since I have been willing to adapt to and be sensitive to her needs and desires.
During my childhood, I had pleasant memories of my mother and other relatives preparing to go to a "dress-up" occasion by putting on tight girdles with stockings. I was a bit of a loner in junior high, and attended a rural boarding school for high school in which T-shirts and jeans were emphasized for both sexes, even in 1964-68, although I do recall one particularly pleasant incident in which, in a van on the way back from a concert performed at a local college, I caressed an attractive classmate who was wearing a particularly appealing panty-girdle. As I recall, the two hour trip seemed only to take minutes!
I did keep up with the Sunday Times and was anxiously awaiting the day that I would attend college in New York, where I could be assured that women were the height of elegance, and their girdling would be the most fashionable. Well, by the time I started dating in earnest it was 1969 and guess what---the women I encountered whom I met while attending my college made a point of wearing old sweatshirts in an obvious reaction to the dress of their parents' generation. I would consider myself fortunate if one wore a skirt on a date.
This extreme frustration extended into graduate school. For my graduation in 1976, I was to receive an award at a formal dinner-dance in a fancy downtown hotel. In the "Golden Age", this would have been a superb opportunity to experience the power of girdling at its most intense, enhanced by the rustle of close-fitting satin gowns. Being 1976, it was close to the nadir of women's fashions (by the standards of 1957-62.
I convinced my girlfriend, who was a free-spirited part-time fashion model, to dress up for the occasion. She had dug up reasonable black formal dress from somewhere, and I helped her purchase her underwear. We decided to buy a push-up bra, matching garterbelt, and stockings. I would have preferred a good girdle, but believe it or not, purchasing these items, which are now freely available at any suburban shopping mall, was virtually impossible in those days, even in the heart of Manhattan! In any case, we did find the items, and still remember the feelings of anticipation and excitement to this day.
Despite my considerable longing, I to this day have only rarely had the experience I desire with an appropriately attired woman. Much of this has been my approach---I realize belatedly that although the garments are required, they hold no interest to me in and of themselves. Rather, it is the effect they have when worn by an attractive and elegant woman—on the woman, on myself, and on others she encounters. Though, as Suzanne remarked, the beauty of a girdled woman is "artificial" I can only say that it captures and entices something in me that could never occur from raw nakedness.
Another question is that my insistence on girdles naturally excludes many intelligent, attractive and refined women from my long-term consideration. Though unfortunate, denying my passion for girdles and the women who wear them is to ignore an inseparable part of myself. In the long run, I would hope to have a relationship in which this fascination was shared in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
From Elliot-
In 1976 the Kinks came out with a theme rock album entitled "Schoolboys in Disgrace." It is a brilliant work of English iconoclasm, whose first song, "Schooldays," contains a few lines decidedly relevant to the present forum:
"Schooldays were the happiest days of your life
But we never appreciate the good times we have
Until it's too late
Now I wish I hadn't strayed
And I'd go back if I could only find a way
Schooldays"
Ah . . . schooldays. I attended a small coed college prep school in Westchester County, New York between 1964 and 1967. How could I forget my the chagrin I felt when my father told me I would have to wear a uniform to school? I didn't realize then that there would be rather a positive side to the school uniform issue.
The girls had to wear grey skirts, white cotton blouses, red vests and grey blazers with the school monogram (I will not waste time and space describing the boys' uniforms). There was only so much studying a boy could do, only so much pot a lad could smoke. Girdle glimpsing seems now to have been a consistent, and now regretfully lost, activity.
The Academy (it has long since been bulldozered for a housing development) was small. There couldn't have been more than two dozen girls in tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades combined. However many there were, there was not a single one among them who did not wear a long-legged panty girdle, always in white. I know this because I cataloged at least one glimpse of every single on of them. I used to go through the school phone book to make sure I hadn't missed any. There were several very fat girls whose girdles you didn't really want to see -- way too much white. You wanted that demure peek, that flash of white. You got it among those peerless two dozen. Oh to see them again, to speak to them grouped en masse, to toast them with champagne, to thank them!
In the unduplicatable spring of 1967 the administration installed swings for the younger kids. A gaggle of older girls took to those swings with zest. I have since enjoyed expensive sophisticated meals al fresco in exotic locales, but a tuna fish sandwich on rye out there, with the breeze blowing in from Long Island Sound . . . ah!
I remember one girl in particular that spring. She wasn't one of the fat ones but she was nicely plump, of German background, pretty and solid. Skirts were, of course, a little shorter than they had been in '65 or '66. She sat on the stone wall in back of the school, taking in some sun on her very fair skin, her unfettered blond hair trailing with the wind behind her. She wore a relatively short panty-girdle. You saw a little here, a little there as she adjusted herself, as she spoke or made a point (she was quite a lively girl, one of the smart girls). Few visual scenes in my life remain with me with such a degree of indelibility.
My girlfriend at the time wore panty-girdles with extremely long legs. I remember at a party in Scarsdale having her sit on my lap for hours, sort of kissing, feeling the glory of every inch of that girdle. I believe I was under the delusion that night that I wanted her to take off the garment. I remember whispering to her, "I Want You!" She got upset, as if to say, "Isn't my magnificent girdle enough for you?" She got off my lap, with a sustained creak. You know the sound. Alas, if you called that "creak" the song of a lark it would be just as sweet. I recently tried to find this memorable girl on the web, to no avail despite her unusual name. She probably favors sensible cotton panties now, the type that I, when I become dictator, will make illegal.
I hated going to that school and having to wear the tie and blazer. I hated having to be good, to cut my hair, to do homework and make believe I was listening in class. I hated having to read Charles Dickens. But, astonishingly, with maturity, I have come to adore the works of Charles Dickens. As consolation, if my literary sensibilities were deficient, I am proud to relate that at least my visual and aesthetic skills were not being neglected.
"School days were the happiest days
Though at the time, they filled me with dismay
And teachers were always disobeyed
But I would go back if I could only find a way"
From Toe-
I have always been in love with girdles. Since I grew up in the sixties with two sisters girdles especially panty girdles were everywhere to be found in our home.
Dating at that time was always exciting for me . Just to see or rub your hands over that satin material was a real turn-on.
Sometimes they got in the way when trying to remove them. I dated one girl where we eliminated the problem .We removed the cotton crotch so I didn't have to remove the garment to get to the prize inside. I have to say that she turned me on more than any other women. It had to be the stockings and panty girdle left on while love making because I have dated better looking women since her.
My wife wears a girdle only on special occasions but the girdle she has is more like a shaper then a firm undergarment. If women only knew how sexy a girdle really was maybe they would wear them more.
From Bob S.-
I thought that I stood alone in my perspective regarding the seductiveness of a woman dressed in a girdle and stockings. I was astonished at the number of women and men that share my feelings on this subject. It would be nice to find a place to chat on a one to one where that was the subject of interest. My wife wears both open bottom and panty girdle styles with garters and stockings. I would be neglectful to not add that she has a very cute figure "girdled" or not "girdled".
Many people today think that only overweight women wear girdles. My wife is living testimony that thoughts like that simply are not true. I'm 45 and have been married to my wife for 24 years. We must be doing something right to still have a blazingly passionate love life together.
Men Hate Girdles? Not all men and certainly not this man!
From Thomas-
First I would like to congratulate you for the outstanding web-pages. The are informative, well done and I must admit I now do not feel so lonely about this subject. Let me share with you some of my experiences.
I grew up in Switzerland. I was the youngest of 5 children. My experiences about girdles go back to my early childhod in the early 1940's. My mother wore always a corset. I never saw her just in the corset but I could feel it on her body. It came a bit above the waist and the garters were about 5 to 6 inches above the knee. It was a corset that was laced in the back and closed in front and was well boned. She wore them until her death in the 1970's.
I do not remember what my oldest sister wore as she was 10 years older then I, but my other sister was just 1 1/2 years older than I and we had to share a bedroom.We all (boys and girls) wore union suits year-round. The ones for the boys had long legs in summer und winter and short sleeves in summer and long sleeves in winter. The ones for the girls had short legs and sleeves all year round. I mention this because I was always jealous that my sister could wear socks and skirts in summer time while I had to wear socks to my knees and knickers.
Over the union suit my sister wore, as long as I remember, kind of a bodice. It had shoulder straps, and hooks at the front for closing and was laced in the back. On the top over the breasts it kind of had two accordion cups, which I assume permitted the brests to grow. This bodice reached over the hips and ended just above the legs. It was lightly boned and had garters that could be removed during the months she did not wear stockings. I do not think it was worn very tightly, as my sister could hook it herself and I remember my mother adjusting the lacing only after laundering this bodice, in essence once a week. I do not recall my sister ever without this bodice until I was twelve and I was moved in to a separate room.
From then on I was not privileged to see what my sister wore, but from what was hanging on the laundry line I knew there were corsets and open girdles. I must admit that I was at that time not attracted to these garments and I only remember them do to the close quarters and the laundry line.
This changed in my early teens, when I started to get attracted to girls. I did not have much opportunity to date in my teens due to the fact that I was sent to an all-boy boarding school, but I started to look at advertisements and always admired the girdle and corset pages in the catalogues. I could get very excited just looking at these pages.
Once I was able to date, the girls that wore strong girdles, ideally open or with a split crotch, were a special turn-on for me.I also stopped and stared at the displays in the windows of corset shops, and missed no opportunity to figure out what kind of girdle the girls I was observing or working with were wearing.
In the early sixties I came to the USA and I was in "paradise" with all the advertisements and the fact that all girls wore girdles. I remember one evening on the subway in New York a lady came into the car. She was drunk and started to undress until she had only her Playtex rubber girdle and a bra on. A rather exciting sight. Unfortunately the police came at the next station and removed her from the train.
The decline of girdles was a sad period for me until I met my wife in the mid-1970's. I was invited by her parents to a dinner and they did not tell me that they would bring their daughter along. They came and picked me up. As I opened the car door I saw my future wife sitting in the back seat. She had a relatively short skirt on and her panty-girdle was showing. I immediately got very aroused and was glad that it was dark in the car and she could not see the bulge in my pants.
Well, it was love at first sight and we have been happily married ever since. My wife wears long-leg girdles under dresses and she always wears lightweight panty briefs. I wish I could convince her to wear stockings instead of the ugly pantyhose. I also wish she would wear some stronger girdles, as she has, due to childbirth, grown a little belly, which the light girdles do not flatten. I think I will try to convince her to change. I am definitely encouraged thanks to your web pages to talk to her more openly about girdles, and admit to her my admiration for these garments and that I love when she is wearing girdles and share with her how great she looks. Thank you for your encouragement.
From RC-
Is there a more erotic notion than the beautiful woman who wears a girdle under everything? My wife falls into this category. She wears a girdle under jeans, under shorts, under dresses and skirts. She works out in a girdle; she mows the lawn in a girdle; she watches TV in a girdle. In fact, when we are the only ones at home, her most common household attire is a long-line bra and a girdle and nothing else.
From Thomas-
When I was in my late teens, it was part of our education to attend dance school for one year. This dance school was held in a hall of an elementary school. There were two rows of benches set up at the opposite ends of the hall. I remember the benches were rather low, as they were built for younger kids. The boys had to sit in one row and the girls sat on the opposite row facing the boys.
Part of our occupation between dances was to select with whom we wanted to have the next dance. We were not permitted to pick the same girl more then once during a dance lesson.
The boys were required to wear a suit and tie and the girls had to wear a dress or skirt and blouse, and were required to wear stockings and some kind of high heels.
Due to the fact that the benches were rather low, very often the girls did not conceal their undergarments very well. We made it a sport amongst the boys to figure out what kind of girdle the girl was wearing. It was very easy to detect when a girl wore a panty girdle, as they always were rather long and therefore very easy to detect sticking out under the skirts or dresses. Open girdles or all-in-ones were somewhat more difficult to detect. We devised a way to find out, by looking for garters. If the garters were small it meant that it was a regular pull on girdle or a all-in-one. If the garters were wide and had a adjustment on it, it meant that the girl was wearing a heavier, laced girdle or all-in-one. The all-in-ones generally were also visible through the blouses or dresses.
We exchanged our observations with each other and selected the girl we wanted to dance with. When we were called to dance we raced to our pre-selected girl. While dancing, came the next "exploration and confirmation". By putting the right hand firmly in the back of the girl we were able to find out if she wore a all-in-one or a high waist girdle and if it was laced or not. By pressing our legs while dancing closely between the girlts legs we could confirm if she wore a open girdle or a panty girdle. At the end of the dance we went back to our benches and reconfirmed our previous observations and exchanged notes. This became a real sport and the boy who was able to guess right the most times became somewhat of a hero amongst us.
While learning how to dance, we also learned a lot about the underpinnings of our female partners and this made the rather dull dancing lessons much more fun.
At the end of the dance school we had a formal ball. We boys had to wear tuxedos and the girls had to wear a long or short dance dress. I remember very well, that I invited a girl to be my partner for the ball that wore an all-in-one open girdle. That evening I was more absorbed by playing with her garters and feeling the tightness of that girdle then with the actual dancing. I remember it as a very memorable evening which ended with a late night at my home, my girl not wearing her dress any more and me enjoying her gorgeous girdled figure close up for the rest of the night.
From G.L.-
When I was in highschool in the mid-late 70's, the girdle was a thing of the past, at least in the Ohio area where I lived. I have often doubted that many, or even any, of the girls I dated had ever even worn... one with the exception of one.
Isabel was a friend of my girl friend Gwen. They were sophomores and I was a senior. One day Gwen, Isabel and I were chatting and Isabel told Gwen how she was now having to wear a rigid girdle because of her posture. She then kind of parted her blouse so that we both could get a peek at the very heavy foundation garment she was wearing. It was a stiffly boned white all in one, with sewn-on satin panels. She and Gwen kind of giggled about it.
I noticed for the remainder of that year that it was visible under her clothes, especially since she sometimes would wear T-shirts. Perhaps it's just my vivid imagination, but I wondered why she actually "had to wear it." She was a very healthy, attractive and active sixteen-year old. She played on the high school volley ball team and ran track, so she couldn't have really had any physical problem that would make a doctor require such support. She had often spoke of her strict home life which was part of the reason she hung around with Gwen and me, so I always kind of imagined that her mother must have been requiring her to wear it.
I think it was this intrigue of the possibiltiy that her mother made her wear it because she perhaps "didn't sit up straight" that really drove my interest. How badly I wanted to be a "fly on the wall" at her house and see the confrontation as her mother insisted that she wear a garment that none of her friends did! How I wanted to see what the whole girdle actually looked on her!
Unfortunately I graduated and never had an opportunity to find out the truth of the matter! I do recall my mother wearing girdles when I was younger, but I think it was this interest in one of my peers having to wear one that really got me interested in girdles!
From Harley-
When I was fourteen my grandfather died. While visiting my step-grandmother-- I called her Aunt Thelma-- I was treated to a visual thrill that I can still vividly remember thirty-seven years later.
To this day I am not clear whether my very attractive and fairly young (about fifty-five) Aunt Thelma meant to provide me with visual dessert or was simply forgetful that she had house guests, including her step-grandson going through puberty.
Let me comment that I had, even at that age, been intrigued by the smooth round bottoms of a lady wearing a girdle and curious about the garter bumps that were visible through a snug, straight skirt. So when I was presented one morning with my slightly plump but very comely Aunt Thelma walking through the house in her lingerie and 3" heels I was able to compute quickly what my now saucer-sized pupils feasted on. Here she was outfitted in a pretty pink brassiere barely able to contain what I guess were 36C breasts-- the style of bra that was popular then with concentric rings on the satin cups that seemed to mold the breasts into perfect points. A foot lower came a filmy pink nylon half slip lavishly bordered with lace.
But the real jackpot was the combination of a snug girdle and sheer beige shiny nylons quite visible through the gossamer-like fabric. The stern of this fine vessel was highlighted by a diamond-like satin panel of her girdle showing against the thin slip. I could see the garters outlined as they tensely help up her hose. Aunt Thelma apparently didn't notice my dumbstruck expression, or maybe she was testing my reaction. I will never know and I had better not speculate on what could have been or this won't be printed.
Why I remember all this so vividly, and forgotten ten thousand times as much, I have no clue.
Well, guys, what do you think? Love girdles or hate them? Any idea what's behind your feelings? Send your comments and recollections to Virginian.
And ladies, if you're reading this and it provokes an opinion one way or the other, contribute to the companion discussion, You're Asking Me About Girdles? Even if it's just to say, "You try wearing one some day!"
Oh... you say you want to know how I got this way? Read The Girl in the Pale Blue Girdle and find out.
Return to Mens' Dreams
The Warner's "Delilah" ad shown here is taken from the November, 1964, Ladies Home Journal. One could write a treatise on the cultural assumptions it illustrates, especially the self-congratulatory final sentence with its notably unconventional capitalization. Maybe some day I will.
Meanwhile, contrast this 1969 Kayser ad that actually suggests men might find their offering appealing.
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Originally Posted April 20, 1997