Girdle

A woman's girdle (in pink), 1933.

Historically and in anthropology, the girdle can be a scanty belt-shaped textile for men or women, worn on its own, often not holding a larger garment in place, and less revealing than the loincloth^[wp], as was used by Minoan^[wp] pugilists^[wp].

Constructed of elasticized^[wp] fabric and sometimes fastened with hook and eye^[wp] closures, the modern girdle is designed to enhance a woman's figure. Most open-bottom girdles extend from the waist to the upper thighs. In the 1960s, these models fell from favor and were to a great extent replaced by panty girdles, which resemble a tight pair of athletic shorts. Both models of girdles may include suspender clips to hold up stockings^[wipi].

Girdles were considered essential garments by many women from about 1920 to the late 1960s. They created a rigid, controlled figure that was seen as eminently respectable and modest. They were also crucial to the couturier^[wp] Christian Dior's^[wp] 1947 New Look, which featured a voluminous skirt and a narrow, nipped-in waistline, also known as a wasp waist^[wp].

Later in the 1960s, the girdle was generally supplanted by the pantyhose. Pantyhose replaced girdles for many women who had used the girdle essentially as a means of holding up stockings. Those who wanted more control purchased "control top" pantyhose.

Girdles and "body shapers" are still worn by women to shape their figure with a garment. Some of these garments may incorporate a brassiere, becoming functionally equivalent to a corset. However, they do not incorporate boning and hence do not produce the constricted waistline characteristic of Victorian-era^[wp] corsets.