One of the most important things in any woman's life is to maintain a slim and youthful figure throughout it. She can do this by exercise; she can do it by diet; she can also do it by choosing and wearing the right foundation. If she's wise, she'll do all three.
So says fashion designer Ann Lambton in a multi-page advertisement that can serve as a treatise on underfashion selection- and social attitudes- in the late 1960's.
This special advertising supplement was recently discovered by an English collector. Though undated, it would appear to originate in the mid-to-late Sixties; the period just before the pantyhose revolution. Despite this timing, there is no evidence of any concern about the girdle's role; quite contrary. Miss Lambton confidently asserts, "(Modern fibres) have made discomfort, discoloration, and fading a thing of the past... just as they have made pretty and practical foundations a thing of the future."
Recent fashions news concerning the resurgence of control garments suggests that perhaps Miss Lambton was not mistaken, but that she was merely three decades ahead of herself.
Notes:
- For a closer look, click on the images.
- Readers are asked to forgive some imperfections in the images. Like the Bayeux tapestry, the originals were folded some time during their history.
- Connoisseurs will take note of the "Intrigue" crotchless long-leg panty girdles offered by Twilfit. An odd arrangement, that seems never to have caught on.
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Originally Posted April 20, 1997