Corsetry 101: Definitions

Definitions: Accessories and Materials

Colors used for Names:

General

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This section will cover all the bits and pieces that are associated with girdles; suspenders, bones, fasteners and so on, and the materials from which they are made.

Garters
Garters

Loop of elastic used to hold up socks or stockings. (And I don't think Calvin Klein make garters -- I didn't like their underpants, but the waist elastic was useful.)

The Order of the Garter is the most senior and the oldest British Order of Chivalry and was founded by Edward III in 1348. See the Royal Website for the story behind the name.

Suspenders
Garters

Clips suspended from the girdle by short elastic loops, and clipped to the welts of stockings to hold them up. On OBGs they were usually attached permanently, while pantygirdles usually had detachable ones, as shown on the left.

This pair of words causes endless confusion between Britons and Americans talking about underwear.

The fully fashioned nylon stockings worn during the forties and early fifties had very little stretch. When they were attached to equally rigid girdles very heavy loads were imposed on the garters, especially when the wearer attempted to bend over, and the stockings were prone to slip out of the garters, to the embarrassment of the wearer.

One attempt to overcome this used a special garter, as shown in the rather poor illustration on the right, in which the tab was folded back on itself before being clipped into the garter, so that the stocking was folded over the tab. These were apparently fiddly and not very reliable, and never became popular.

Some girdles designed for the mature figure had a separate adjustable inner belt, which was often laced. Sometimes these girdles had two rows of more or less coincident garters, one attached to the inner belt, and the other to the outer girdle. It must have been a real chore to attach the stockings to these girdles.

Trolley Garters

In the first girdles, the suspenders/garters were usually attached to a simple strap, or piece of elastic, hanging from the girdle. They were usually attached by an adjustable clip, so that the rigid stockings of the day could be held at just the right height. A typical example is shown on the right.

When stretch stockings were introduced, the length of the garter became less critical, and in more recent girdles the garter was often attached to a loop of elastic forming a ‘Vee’, in such a way that the garter could slide on the Vee as the wearer walked. This arrangement, which is shown on the left, was referred to as a ‘Trolley garter’, and supposedly maintained a more even tension on the stocking. This arrangement is used in most modern girdles, but the length of the elastic, and the separation of the ends, is relatively small, so that it is doubtful if any movement takes place.

In girdles with a separate inner belt one end of the trolley garter was often attached to the inner belt, and the other to the outer girdle.

Corset Hooks
Governors

In the middle of last century it was the aim of every corsetiere to get her customers to wear either corselettes or, preferably, overlapping longline bras and high waisted girdles. The latter combination was generally easier to fit, and had somewhat greater flexibility, providing the customer with more freedom of movement, but if the bra rose up, so that the bra and girdle separated when the wearer bent over, a strip of flesh would be exposed, and would tend to pop out, so that it would be pinched between the two garments when she straightened up. To guard against this, corset hooks, which consisted of small hooks on a length of elastic, would be sewn to the bra, and matching rings would be sewn to the girdle. These would prevent the bra and girdle from separating, but at the expense of some loss of flexibility. These were also known as Governors

Suspender Belt
Garter Belt

A belt worn around the waist, carrying suspenders on lengths of elastic, to hold up the stockings. They come in a variety of lengths, and are usually fastened with hook and eye fasteners. They range from the modern extremely flimsy playwear*, of the type shown below, to last century's very sturdy garments designed to hold up fully fashioned stockings, as shown on the right, which were effectively short girdles. The length of the straps holding the suspenders is normally adjustable, making it easier to hold the stockings at the right height. Suspender belts were very popular in the middle of last century, particularly with younger women.

* Playwear: flimsy garments designed to be worn only for long enough to entice the victim into the spiders web.

On April 1, 2006 Janice Breen Burns, writing in the Melbourne Age, concluded an article entitled “Fancy panties and saucy bras are in a new phase of evolution”:

The throwbacks to evocative, historic costumery such as Trelise Cooper's or Agent Provocateur's designs are more prevalent in this season of fashion lingerie than they have ever been.

Where you should ultimately wear such fetching things (on account of how they can bunch so oddly under clothes) is debateable but the exotic bra, visible between the lapels of a tailored jacket or under a sheer blouse, is still a common fashion staple in some circles.

Recently, certain fizzy fashionistocrats such as Paris Hilton have also taken to wearing stockings and suspenders reaching a handspan below the hemline of a micro-mini skirt. That's a look.

And, prancing like Madonna in the bedroom or thereabouts for your own, or a gentleman caller's pleasure, is also a perfectly acceptable end use for an almost perfectly impractical garment.

Girdle Anchors

At least in Britain and Australia, up until the late 1950s women generally wore open bottom girdles.  As these were approximately an elastic cone worn on the hips, they had an inevitable tendency to ride up, which (with luck!) was compensated by the downward pull of the women's stockings.  Although I had never heard of them, apparently it was possible to buy "girdle anchors", which consisted of cones of elastic worn on the thigh, and hooked to the suspenders, in place of stockings. 

Again, if everything worked just right, the downward pull the anchor would balance the upward pull of the girdle, and hold it in the right place.  Apparently they were recommended by Parents Magazine, so that when a girl returned home from School or church, she could take off her expensive stockings and replace them with girdle anchors, so that she could continue to wear her girdle.

The illustration shows an example of a girdle anchor from about 1950.  It was advertised in 2007 as being something which any serious enthusiast would want to add to their collection.

Sock Suspenders/
Garters

Sock suspenders are worn around the calf of the leg to hold up men's socks. They were widely used before the days of elasticised socks, but now almost extinct. However, they are still available; this example is sold by Muldoon's Mens Wear.

Bones

Bones are inserts of some stiff material used to provide added rigidity. Corsets normally include a number of vertical bones. These are included to prevent the natural tendency of the top to slide back off the ribs, and the bottom to slide off the hips, causing it to crumple around the waist. Heavier girdles sometimes have several vertical bones for the same reason, and high waist girdles usually have several light bones in the waist to prevent it from rolling over.

The first bones were probably strips of bamboo or wood, but these were then replaced with strips of baleen, or whalebone, from the baleen whale. These whales obtain their food by passing large volumes of seawater through curtains of baleen at the back of their mouths, to filter out the minute crustaceans on which they feed.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the demand for baleen was so great that the baleen whales were almost exterminated in northern waters. The corset makers then began to experiment with steel ‘bones’, and eventually developed bones that did not rust. Steel, usually plastic covered, is still used for the heavier bones, and plastic strips are often used for lighter ones.

Spirella spiral bones

Spiral bones. Early last century the Spirella company developed a bone which was made by forming a steel spring, and then flattening it, to give a resilient relatively flexible bone. The construction of this is shown in their trademark.

Warners Sta-Flat spiral springs

In the mid-fifties the Warner Corset Company developed a new form of boning, using concentric rings of zigzag wire, to form bull's-eyes on the front and back panels of their girdles. This supposedly increased the garments flattening power, but this claim does not appear to be based on sound engineering principles. They do not seem to have become popular and soon disappeared.

Busks

Busks are rigid strips down the front of a corset. They effectively prevent the wearer from bending at the waist at all. Busks were originally of wood or ivory, and were quite straight. They could usually be readily removed, and were sometimes highly decorated. Sometimes a lady would remove her busk and present it to her admirer as a memento.

It is also been reported that ladies would sometimes remove the busk from their corset before sitting down for a meal, and place it on the table beside them, to make eating somewhat less uncomfortable.

Originally corsets were only worn by upperclass ladies, who could afford to employ maids to assist them in the tedious business of dressing, and they were usually laced at the back. Eventually (probably in the 18th century) someone realised that the process of dressing could be materially simplified if a separate fastening was provided at the front of the corset. This was achieved by dividing the busk into two, with one half carrying a row of pegs, and the other half a row of hooks which looped over the pegs.

The corsets were still laced at the back, but if they were not laced too tightly they could be removed by unhooking the front busks, without loosening the lacing, and put on again the same way. The illustration at the right shows a variety of split busks, including one adjustable version.

During the 19th century busks consisted of rigid curved metal bars, making it possible to grossly distort the shape of the body.

Breast Forms

Breast forms are moulded inserts designed to be put into a bra after mastectomy, to replace the missing breast, so that the body still has a natural appearance, and even feel. A variety of techniques have been tried to achieve a natural appearance and feeling, including padding of various materials and liquid filled plastic capsules, but today they are usually made from polyurethane foam or silicone gel.

See also padded bras.

Breast forms of various types are very popular with transvestites.

The Art of Corsetry   Ed: Bunyip Bluegum