Favorite girdles?
I barely know, because most of my life Rago and Cortland have been the only makers of truly firm girdles.Cortland is mostly knock-offs of classic models.
The ONLY time I ever wished I was around when Mom was growing up was when I found a couple of her girdles. The brand was "Young Smoothie" and the company that made it was "Strouse Adler" The factory has now been converted to luxury condos.
I was always envious of that one and wanted to try it!
Any time I see the girdle section of an old Eaton, JC Penny, Wards or Simpson-Sears catalog, I always see certain things I would, in one sense like to try on, and then in the next thought, I admire women of that era for being so strong as to do what they did, and as much of it as they did while wearing those things.
Dad tells me Mom was "According to her, wearing control briefs well before puberty." I guess the fruit falls only so far from the tree 😃
My first open-bottomed girdle was a Playtex 18 Hour with the old fabric formula( Higher rubber content) I wore it to that first middle school dance.
She once said that her first open-bottom girdle was a "Francette four panel pull on" that had one way stretch side, back and front panels.
I DO prefer open-bottom for the most part, though I find myself needing a panty girdle at times.
The one way stretch fabric of the girdle era was a satin weave. It's important to remember that satin IS a weave and not a type of fabric. Satin weave can be polyester, cotton, nylon rayon or several different blends. The satin weave in many classic girdles is a one-way stretch fabric called "Downstrech" which I don't think is made any more. Certainly not made in the heavier dinier of those times.That fabric is unique in that it actually has rubber bands in the stretch direction. They are visible when you hold the panel up to a light or when you get it wet.
In my mind the non-stretch panels, especially the front panel don't need to be a satin weave but if they are it's not a turn-off.
With no real natural waist, I find the high waist styles more comfortable and effective. I wear a girdle partly to give me a defined waist. so OK go ahead and call a high waist a preference.
I keep a couple of longline bras around for formal dress use. I don't use them for "everyday" and at least one is a discontinued model
If I am dressing up to the point of needing a longline bra you bet your ass I am at least to if not well past the level to which I would wear a girdle.
Again, I keep a couple of different lengths and stiles of corset around for dress up. I have worn them. Not routinely. The most hours I ever wore a corset was on my wedding. I still have both that corset and the one I wore under my prom dress at the end of high school.
Open-bottom girdles REQUIRE gartered stockings. At least if you are going to move at all while wearing one. If you don't you will be pulling it down every few steps. The girdle not only holds the stockings UP the stockings just as importantly hold the girdle DOWN! They both old each other in place laterally. This means that any time I wear an OBG it's gartered stockings all the way. If stockings just can't be appropriate, I have to resort to a panty girdle.nIt is also what I wear under slacks in certain situations in the times of Covid.
Corsets and girdles are part of our foreplay. It's kind of a stretch(Pardon the accidental pun) to say that they "Enhance" orgasm, but my husband does become aroused more quickly when a girdle is used in certain foreplay situations. So if we don't have much time, out they come! When he does not get off and I'm ready to go, I usually go to a corset, but I have used a girdle.
One of the first times I ever wore a satin downstrech panel control brief I caused him to have him to have the first erection I was ever aware of causing. It was late summer. Hot as hell! The school system in their infinite wisdom had decided to start school just about the time summer was getting good.
Since I had decided I was going to start the new school year wearing control briefs, I was wearing the firmest one I owned around the house just to get used to having it on. As uncomfortably hot as that got, within a week after school started I was glad I had done it!
He was sitting on the porch and saw the girdle up the loose-fitting leg of my shorts. I knew it was an erection but it was a couple of hours before I realized WHY!
Never worn more than one actual girdle at a time. If the girdle can't do the job, out comes the corset. I do have a couple of longer corsets that come down to over the hips. So, no, no layered girdles.
Having such limited experience with different models and types of girdles, I can't really say whether modern shapewear "is a girdle" All I can say is that, for those of us that don't have such a naturally good figure a classic girdle IS more effective than modern "Shapewear.
Have I tightlaced? Not in a "wear it in public" situation. A couple of those corsets I laced them all the way up in front of the mirror for a few minutes just to see if I was able to get them all the way closed. Before I had the twins I was able to get every one of them all the way laced. Since I had the twins, only the short ones, and after an enema session the Victorian, Not the longer ones!
When we were still teenagers, and had not talked about marriage, I put on a one-person fashion show of classic bras and girdles just for him! No one else around!
s