2-2. Problems With Presently- Owned Girdles
While satisfaction with presently-owned girdles seems to be more prevalent than dissatisfaction, there are nevertheless certain features of girdles which are subjected to relatively widespread criticism. The features most often criticized by girdle wearers are discomfort, the inability to match a girdle to unusual figure needs, and problems with seams and bindings.
Discomfort
A sizable group of women indicated that they are always quite uncomfortable in a girdle. These women never forget that they are wearing a girdle and will usually remove it as soon as possible. The following comment best illustrates this attitude:
- "I admire those girls who don't need to wear a girdle and do it just for support. I'm so uncomfortable in it that the minute I get home, it comes off first and when I go out, it's the last thing to go on. I feel terribly confined."
Although one might assume that the discomfort originates from a girdle that is too tight, few women cited tight girdles as the major reason for their discomfort. Instead, criticism focused on construction features of the girdles, such as rolling waistbands, digging bones and stays, irritating fabrics (mainly rubber or backing), chafing bands and lace and seams which rub the body. Difficulty with one or more of these features played a major role in propelling women to seek new types or brands of girdles.
While many women (especially obese and unusually-shaped ones) appear to have accepted uncomfortable girdles as a "fact of life," women who are usually comfortable in a girdle refuse to accept an uncomfortable one. The major exception to this generalization comes when a woman wishes to fit into a particularly fancy or "slinky" dress for a very special occasion, when she will suffer in silence with a girdle that is too tight. However, only a small proportion of the women seemed willing to tolerate extreme discomfort. The majority felt it preferable to look a little worse but feel much better.
Unusual Figure Needs
Among many women, dissatisfaction with presently-owned girdles accompanied a poor figure with one or more marked figure faults, such as a short waist, extreme height, very large derriere and overly prominent thighs.
The lack of complaints from obese women was fascinating. Apparently, these women rely completely on the fitter's judgment and refrain from criticizing their girdles. This lack of complaints should not be taken as an accolade to the fitter's skill, however, but as an underlying embarrassment and reluctance to complain about the girdle. Obese women tended to feel guilty and disturbed about their figures and were generally reluctant to criticize anything in this area.
Girdles were generally criticized in the light of the previously cited figure faults. Women with these problems apparently find it difficult to obtain a girdle that fits properly and still gives them adequate comfort and appearance improvement:
- "I'm short-waisted and the waistband of a girdle always rolls down and makes a double thickness.
- "They just don't give tall girls enough selection. There is very little imagination in the tall girl fashions. And they are usually very expensive."
Seams And Bindings
Seams and bindings are viewed paradoxically by girdle wearers. On one hand, they are seen as the things that give the girdle its shape and hold it together. On the other hand, they are seen as nuisances which rub the skin, show through the clothes and unravel in the wash.
Although women indicate they would very much like to rid girdles of seams and bindings, they can't imagine a girdle without them being any good. The problems presented by seams and bindings to women are thought of as insolvable. Heavy and strong stitching shows through clothes and irritates the skin. Weak and dainty stitching will unravel and shorten the life of the girdle (this feeling is especially strong among the more economy-minded women).
Although spandex is generally considered to be acceptable and desirable, some women seem to have problems with it. The major complaints were that it rips too easily and that it turns yellow after repeated launderings. However, even assuming these shortcomings are true, women overlook them because they want the lightness and comfort of spandex.
Continue to How Girdles Are Seen By Women
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Originally Posted April 20, 1997