In the seven decades of my life so far, what went underneath my clothing has changed almost as much as what went over it!
My interest in this topic was sparked recently when I came across an article in a September 2014 issue of Family Tree Magazine. Titled “A Briefing on Briefs,” it explored the history of underwear, going all the way back to the loincloths worn in ancient Egypt during King Tut’s time, thousands of years ago!
That article got me thinking about the MANY ways underwear has changed since I was born in the early 1950s.
As a little girl, I wore plain white cotton underpants and always a plain white, sleeveless undershirt. The undershirts were usually decorated with a little bow, adding just a touch of femininity.
The grown women I knew, including my mother, wore girdles. In the 1950s and 1960s, wearing a girdle was simply part of the expected routine for many women. These garments were designed to hold everything in place and create the fashionable hourglass figure of the day.
And getting into one was no small feat! Girdles were often made of very firm, stretchy rubberized material. Putting one on required a fair amount of hopping, jumping, wiggling, and twisting. I imagine there were plenty of women like my mother who considered getting dressed as their morning exercise!
Some girdles even had side zippers. They were all generally open at the bottom, making trips to the bathroom a little easier. Of course, underpants were worn underneath the girdle. The girdle also served another purpose: it held up a woman’s stockings, often with little garter clips attached.
Pantyhose didn’t become popular until the 1960s, eventually making the separate stockings and garter belts less necessary. It was SUCH A BIG DEAL when pantyhose arrived!
The most uncomfortable garments for me during those younger years were what my family called “stick-out slips.” Women and girls primarily wore dresses, and many dresses and skirts were made with large, built-in slips of crinoline to give them that full, flared appearance. The material was extremely scratchy and irritating against the bare skin of your legs. I hated them with a zeal!
Women and girls also wore full slips, which were silkier, softer, and more fitted. There were also half-slips, usually with an elastic waistband, worn underneath skirts and dresses. I was excited when I eventually got petti pants. This was like a half slip but with separate legs.
One problem that plagued many women was having their slip “show!” It was simply NOT acceptable for a slip to hang below the hemline of a dress. Heaven forbid that anyone should catch a glimpse of your slip! Women helped each other out by saying, “It’s snowing down South.” This would cause the “offender” to quickly adjust their slip and hem.
And, a worse scenario was to let a bra strap show or fall down your shoulder. This was just forbidden. (Yikes)
My mother came up with her own little invention for her daughters. She called it a “girl secret.” It was a long piece of elastic cord tied around the waist of the slip. If the slip was too long, you simply gathered up the excess fabric and bunched it above the cord. Voila! A properly hidden slip!
I have to give my mother credit. She may not have had a patent, but she certainly had a practical solution to one of the fashion dilemmas of that time. In fact, my beautiful mother had a solution for almost any problem. I miss her.
The main brand name for bras, girdles and slips was Playtex. In the 50’s women’s bras were more bullet shaped and mostly made without underwires. The most famous bra was the “cross your heart bra” that was promised to lift and separate.
The elderly women in my family sometimes wore a summer version of the union suit. It was a lightweight, one-piece cotton garment with short legs and an open crotch. Practicality certainly seemed to take precedence over fashion! This undergarment excluded them from needing a bra, girdle or underpants. If memory serves me right, these older women wore nylons with some type of reinforced top.
Men always wore undershirts. It was rare to see men bare chested but very normal to see a man doing his yard work in his sleeveless undershirt. A bare chest was generally considered less appropriate.
By the late 1960s, the women’s liberation movement was gaining momentum, and one of its most memorable slogans became “Burn the Bra!” Bras, girdles, and other restrictive undergarments came to symbolize the rules and expectations that women were beginning to question.
Although the bra-burning movement made headlines it never really became part of my personal experience or that of my friends. We weren’t out burning our bras but we admired those that took that lead in letting women have more freedom.
My family belonged to the Huron Valley Swim Club, which had tennis courts in addition to its swimming facilities. I took a few tennis lessons, although I have to confess that learning to play tennis wasn’t my only motivation!
What I REALLY wanted was a pair of those adorable white tennis undergarments with rows of pretty lace across the backside. They were sometimes called tennis panties or tennis bloomers. They were worn over your regular white cotton underpants, so you actually had two layers of underwear!
The short tennis skirts of the day offered an occasional peek at those fancy lace-trimmed undergarments. They were cute, feminine, and, in my young mind, absolutely essential to looking like a proper little tennis player.
