What do women really think of girdles these days? Has the garment actually made a return to favor? Can we cut through the media hype and get a feel for the actual state of affairs at century's end?
One place to look for enlightenment is in Usenet discussion groups such as alt.fashion and alt.wedding, places where women chat freely on topics presumed to be of little interest to men. (And where the rare trolling male with a prurient query is quickly ejected, with ears burning.) Now and then, the discussion turns to shapewear, offering the observer a chance to listen in on what might be thought of as a virtual focus group.
The discussions below cannot be considered as representing a completely random sample of contemporary women. As Internet users, the participants are quite likely younger, and somewhat more technologically sophisticated, than the population mean. More importantly, they form a self-selected sample- women who have strong enough opinions on the topic of girdles to sit down and write about them. And, as always on the Net, there is the possibility that some of the contributors may not be women at all. Nonetheless, these comments provide a valuable insight into contemporary attitudes, and some tentative conclusions may be drawn from them.
A substantial portion of the contributors seemed to look favorably on the idea of wearing a shaping garment, at least upon occasion. The practice was strongly tied to specific outfits and occasions; very few made claims of wearing a girdle regularly. In this informal era, only weddings, proms, graduations and the like are seen as justifying extra-special outfits and more-than-usual attention to appearance. At such times, the consensus seems to say, a girdle or all-in-one is worth considering if the ensemble will benefit.
This attitude is far from unanimous. A small-but-vocal contingent held firmly to the belief that a control garment is unacceptable at any time. Their comments echo rhetoric heard often in the Seventies and Eighties:
"Why should women have to wear them when men don't?"
"Learn to accept your body as is!"
...and so on. In some instances, this extreme opposition to shape modification by garment is couched in terms of shape modification through dieting and exercise, with the latter method presented as preferable.
In sum, discussions such as these add credence to the notion that the girdle is in fact making a limited resurgence. We are not likely ever to return to the times when the majority of women wore control garments the majority of the time. Yet as we approach the beginning of the new millennium, it seems that the girdle has reclaimed a position in the spectrum of womens' wardrobe choices. The niche it occupies is a specialized one, to be sure, but the legitimacy of its presence there seems no longer in serious doubt.
Virginian
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Last updated October 30, 1999