Friday, February 14, 2014

Friday Video: New Look Underwear, 1948

Friday, February 14, 2014

NEW LOOK UNDERWEAR


Isabella reporting,

Sitting safely in the relaxed twenty-first century, most of us tend to think of women wearing corsets as a fashion from at least a hundred years ago.

But in 1947, shortly after World War II, French designer Christian Dior launched his New Look, right, which was really an old look with new marketing. Instead of the slender, economical lines that had been in favor for the previous twenty years or so, Dior launched fashions that put an end to post-war austerity. His New Look dresses and suits features full, sweeping skirts, tiny waists, and sculptured shoulders.

Old-look bodies required some help to achieve the New Look style. As this short clip from an English newsreel shows, stylish women once again turned to heavy-duty, tight-laced corsets, plus a bit of judicious pinned-on padding, to achieve the hourglass silhouette.

Newsreel footage copyright British Pathe, 1947.

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2 comments:

GSGreatEscaper said...

Waist cinchers and Merry Widows! In the '60s, I wore the same merry widow that my mom wore at her wedding in 1953. Those were the days!

Megan Holdings said...

Thanks Isabella,

That is a good bit of interesting history!

 
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