Dress The Journal of the Costume Society of America

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Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery and , 1935–1950

Jane Farrell-Beck

To cite this article: Jane Farrell-Beck (2011) Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery Bras and Girdles, 1935–1950, Dress, 37:1, 23-38, DOI: 10.1179/036121112X13099651318584 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1179/036121112X13099651318584

Published online: 18 Jul 2013.

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Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery Bras and Girdles, –

Jane Farrell-Beck Jane Farrell-Beck is a retired professor from Iowa State University. She has published several articles in DRESS and elsewhere. She is co-author with Colleen Gau of Uplift: the in America (Penn, 2002), and with Jean Parsons of 20th-Century Dress in the United States (Fairchild, 2007).

Using government regulations, trade journals, consumer advertising, and dated examples of bras and girdles in museum collections, the writer traces the technical and stylistic innovations made by American bra and manufacturers from 1935 through 1950. During the periods 1935–1941 and 1947–1950, innovations centered on creating appealing products. Lastex and nylon helped make foundation garments lighter weight and easier to care for, while shaping the figure. When critical components became scarce or unavailable during 1942–1946, producers developed creative ways to make garments as comfortable as possible within allowable quantities of elastic and even found substitutes for metal fastenings. Wartime brought restrictions on advertising, and challenged companies to rationalize their product lines and standardize some components of bras and girdles. The resulting efficiencies prepared U.S. manufacturers to compete effectively in the post-war boom.

Keywords Bras, Girdles, Depression, World War II, Post–World War II

 In 1934, the abbreviated term “bra” began to replace “brassiere” in  ’ , underfashions, technical innovations, economic conditions, common use, so I will use this short form throughout the paper. However, including bras and girdles, reflect societal government regulations, the roles of women in the trade, bandeaux were the conditions at the time of their production and in society, and — not least — the styling of abbreviated styles that stopped just below the breast and “bras” reached use.¹ These foundation garments manifest outer apparel. During the challenging, more than two inches below the cup. © Costume Society of America  DOI ./X 24 n  volume 37, 2011

 Jane Farrell-Beck and Colleen Gau, tumultuous s and s, American bra 1935–1941: Late Depression and Uplift: The Bra in America (Philadelphia: University of and girdle manufacturers stayed afloat by Defense Buildup Pennsylvania Press, 2002). experimenting with new materials, styles, and Unemployment, very severe in –,  Evidence for the changes in products new business methods, thereby emerging as abated slightly during –, and affected and processes comes from strong enterprises, nationally and government regulations, trade manufacturing jobs for men more than office journals, consumer advertising, and internationally, during the postwar boom. and service jobs — where women dated examples of girdles and bras in In this paper, which is a development from museum collections. predominated.⁵ The federal program of the my previous work,² I will examine the Works Progress Administration offered jobs  L-85 governed the style features permissible in women’s adaptive designs as well as new to some people, but the private economy in manufactured outerwear: dresses, manufacturing and business practices of bra the U.S. started to revive when England and suits, and coats. The closing date of the Order comes from Jonathan and girdle makers through three periods: the other Allies began to receive supplies and Walford, Forties Fashion (New York: later Depression years and defense buildup, armaments under the aegis of the Lend Lease Thames & Hudson, 2008), 78–79. –; the war years and immediate Act. The terms of the act were devised to  David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: aftermath, –; and the incipient The American People in Depression placate American isolationists, while allowing and War, 1929–1945 (New York: postwar boom, –.³ These dates cash-strapped nations to defer payment until Oxford University Press, 1999), 777. bracket the focal period of World War II and victory was achieved. A later writer observed  William Klingaman, Our Lives in a allow me to utilize a treasure trove of that “. . . as late as , the nation [United World on the (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988), 72. precisely dated foundations in the States] had more people employed in making Munsingwear Collection at the Minnesota knit underwear than in the aircraft industry,”  Klingaman, Our Lives in a World, 71–72. Historical Society. so little were Americans prepared or willing to Product innovators in the first and third confront European aggressors.⁶ After a decade  Lois Gordon and Alan Gordon, American Chronicle (New Haven, CT: periods aimed to create foundations that of economic hardship, newly prosperous Yale University Press, 1999), 333, 391. would appeal to women. In the middle period, citizens also resisted the idea of converting innovation demanded improvization in the civilian industry to military products.⁷ By absence of desired materials and fastenings. , however, the United States began to Inventive designers rose to the challenges of stockpile materiél (military supplies and L- (spring –January ), the equipment), recognizing the likelihood of restrictive wartime order for foundation going to war against the Axis powers. Jobs garments, but they demonstrated greater became more plentiful, with unemployment creativity before L- took effect and after its dropping from . percent in  to . suspension. Just as product development percent in .⁸ The August  Atlantic evolved, business practices adjusted, first to Charter framed by President Franklin financial stringency in the late s, then to Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston federal mandates and contracts during and Churchill precipitated a major reorganization immediately after the war, and finally to the of the preparedness program. By herculean challenges of transition to a peacetime efforts, the U.S. began to close the gap in economy. Naturally, the pace of fashion weapons with its adversaries. change in womenswear either slowed or Fashion continued to change, undeterred stimulated rapid production of new styles of by tight budgets and rattling sabers. bras and girdles. Wartime regulation L- Throughout the s, dress silhouettes (March , –October , ), governing gradually became fuller in the bust, slimmer outerwear, had a stifling effect, whereas the and higher in the waist, and gently curved  New Look from Christian Dior and elongated in the hips. Although encouraged the proliferation of styles in curvaceous, the ideal figure for an adult foundations.⁴ woman was trim, likened in one Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 25

figure 1 Example of “scissors” silhouette. Dry Goods Journal, January 1939, front cover.

advertisement to a closed pair of scissors . Slim skirts shared the limelight with  Formfit advertisement, Vogue, (figure 1).⁹ Shoulders became wider in the mid- draped or gathered styles, some even evoking October 15, 1939, 110. to late s, aided first by drapery and then the of the late nineteenth century.  Maiden Form Mirror (sic) January 1934, 2. The name Maiden Form was by aggressive padding. From  onward, Sportswear began to include women’s casual eventually changed to dress contours outlined each breast instead of pants, called “slacks,” worn mainly for active after a major ad campaign in 1949–1950. simply bridging the or pushing the sports, gardening, and the most informal breasts above the top of the , as typified social events.  “Stores Plot Corset Sales Curve,” Business Week, September 23, 1939, earlier periods.¹⁰ An effort to introduce Bras and girdles had established their 30, 32. cinched waists and full hips in autumn  usefulness in women’s wardrobes by the never gained momentum and was eventually mid-s, except for impoverished women or halted by the war.¹¹ Hemlines rose gradually those living in remote areas. Older women from mid-calf in  to just over the knee in used rigid or corselettes. Conversely, 26 n  volume 37, 2011

 Jane Farrell-Beck and Carol L. Hall, young women readily accepted the new types corsets totaled . million, with an “Adolescent Consumers of Foundations, 1920s–1950s,” DRESS of supportive . Breast anticipated ten percent increase in .¹⁵ At 31 (2004): 49–56. supporters had been produced as early as the the heart of this marketing miracle was  Farrell-Beck and Gau, Uplift, 73, 81. s and had assumed a recognizable form Lastex, an extruded rubber latex yarn covered by the s. This was about the time when by mercerized cotton, which was brought to  “The Corset,” Fortune, March 1938, 98. flexible girdles came on the market to appeal market in November . Two-way stretch  “Rubberless Girdle?” Business Week, September 19, 1942, 60. to young or slim women who did not require was born in knitted versions from Warner the support of a heavy corset.¹² and in woven fabrics used by Kops Brothers.¹⁶  “Rubberless Girdle?”, 58. Lastex had an active following by the mid-1930s. In keeping with the prevailing mid-s Lastex was the component of choice in Dry Goods Merchants’ Trade Journal, silhouette, girdles featured rising and modern foundations until wartime conditions November 1931, 76. Natural rubber had been used in girdles during the narrowing waistlines and fairly slim hips. curtailed supplies of rubber latex. Lastex 1910s and 1920s. Corselettes combining bra and girdle became washed easily and had a longer service life  “Defense Program Challenge to increasingly fitted, narrowing in the waistline than rubber, which deteriorated within a Fashion,” Corset and Underwear Review, October 1941, 49. and curving noticeably in the bust. Panty matter of months. However, Lastex lacked the girdles came on the scene in , appealing durability of the heavy woven cottons used in  Heidi L. Boehlke, “Ruth M. Kapinas, Munsingwear’s Forgotten to younger women. of this era conventional corsets, so women needed to ‘Foundettes Designer,’” DRESS 20 generally had a lyre-shaped outline, and were replace Lastex girdles frequently — to the (1993): 45–52. hinged to clamp, rather than holding the hose gratification of the manufacturers and  “All Nylon ,” Business Week, with a button and metal loop (figure 2). The retailers. Makers had to adapt their January 18, 1941, 44–45. occasional button had a central metal piece in machinery to deal with the new foundation the rubber knob. A few panty-girdles had materials, but had fewer difficulties in removable garters or special leg bands to hold handling Lastex than they had experienced the garment down when the wearer went bare- with natural rubber. Unfortunately, the legged or wore short socks, but many women availability of latex and other preferred under slacks. Although materials dwindled as the United States some girdles were hardly more than inched closer to war.¹⁷ belts at about eight inches long, most styles Bras as well as girdles used Lastex, were ten-, twelve-, fourteen-, and sixteen-inch especially in the back bands. Warner’s  lengths, to accommodate the height of the A’Lure style consisted of pieced sections of wearer and her preferred degree of control. Lastex. Working for Munsingwear, Ruth In , bras showed a rounded or slightly Kapinas developed an uplift mechanism that pointed silhouette. Fit improved with the used tensioning of the Lastex fabric by the introduction of cup sizing in  by the breast, instead of an under-breast band.¹⁸ Camp and Formfit brands — a feature later Some Munsingwear bras had pullover adopted by Warner and other makers. Straps features, including fully elastic straps and were adjustable. By  underwires added to bands. Other styles were full-fashioned knits. the uplift, and in  stitching or inserts Nylon was introduced for in ; enhanced the effect, creating a pronounced it was adapted to girdles, bras, and corselettes point.¹³ in  and used until the passage of L- In the s, in spite of economic restrictions on materials in spring .¹⁹ hardships, fashionable girdles made with new Nylon and Lastex blends created Powernet, technology sold by the millions. More than very appealing to the junior market, and  million in girdles and corset sales were offered in brands such as Formfit, Kabo, reported in the  census.¹⁴ In , Gossard, Lilees, and Wispees. Latex film, manufacturers’ sales of bras, girdles, and trade-named , also offered figure Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 27

figure 2 Sample panty girdle with lyre-shaped garters. Vassar Girdle Company, Munsingwear, Inc. 1935. Reproduced by permission of the Minnesota Historical Society.

provisions established standards that  National Recovery Administration, Code of Fair Competition for the outlasted the original act, which was declared Corset and Brassiere Industry unconstitutional in .²¹ Economic (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1933), stringency caused tension between 1–10. manufacturers, who wanted orders placed  Kennedy, Freedom from Fear, 781. early enough to be filled at the outset of the  War Production Board, Converting selling season, and retailers who hesitated to Industry: Turning a Nation’s commit to large orders until they could see Production to War (Washington, DC: War Production Board, Division of which items proved popular. Merchandise Information, 1942), 38. managers became increasingly powerful in  For a profile of Akron, Ohio, an department stores, overruling once- armaments center that employed many women, see Sandra Stansbery independent buyers. These managers Buckland, “Fashion as a Tool of World accelerated a movement within the business War II: A Case Study Supporting the SI [Symbolic Interaction] Theory,” to aim for adequate profit on unit sales, rather and Textiles Research Journal than striving for high volume at slim profit. 18, no. 3 (2000): 140–151. Such considerations took a backseat to  Judy Barrett Litoff and David C. Smith, American Women in a World survival as the United States entered the war. at War (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1997), 167. 1942–1946: War Years and Immediate Aftermath Speaking to an early  conference titled “Converting Industry: Turning a Nation’s Production to War,” the conversion facilitator, B. T. Bonnot, said, “The whole proud structure of civilization is aflame, and to save it we must develop maximum effectiveness on all control, which was so necessary to wearing fronts now.”²² Pressure for “effectiveness” close-fitting fashions. Retail advertisements produced an explosion of new job often stressed expert fitting and superior opportunities for women, as men mobilized service, aimed at helping the customer for war.²³ In , . million women entered achieve the desired silhouette. In all materials, the work force and by the end of the war,  peach-tone and white predominated for bras percent of all women — including minority and girdles, although at least a couple of women — held paying jobs.²⁴ High wages in manufacturers offered black girdles to weapons factories drew women away from harmonize with dark-toned slips and dresses. work in apparel and Peach masked the gradual discoloration firms, which could not begin to match pay inevitable in undergarments. scales prevailing in heavy manufacturing. Manufacturing practices changed as much Faced with this problem, the Corset and as design and retailing during –. Brassiere Association exhorted its members With the inauguration of NIRA, the National to forswear “piracy,” that is, poaching workers Industrial Recovery Act, in , from each other with promises of better pay. manufacturers were required to schedule Concurrently, the foundations industry work weeks of no more than  to  hours lobbied the Office of Price Administration for and to pay minimum wages.²⁰ These permission to activate a five percent pay boost 28 n  volume 37, 2011

 “Association Takes Steps to Eliminate negotiated with unionized workers; the goal suits, cartridge belts, and — in the case of Piracy?” Corset and Underwear Review, May 1943, 52. Women with was to staunch the hemorrhage of labor from Maiden Form — carriers for pigeons.³⁰ These white-collar skills could earn decent their factories.²⁵ were still used during World War II in periods money in civil service work. Albert Parry, ed., What Women Can Do to The federal government regulated many of radio silence, as during the D-Day landings Win the War (Chicago: Consolidated aspects of business and industry to a degree in Normandy.³¹ Absorbed in fulfilling Book Publishers, Inc., 1942), 12–23. beyond even the mandates of the mid-s government orders, firms had little  Harry B. Henderson and Herman C. NIRA. The War Production Board (WPB) took productive capacity available to make Morris, War in Our Time (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., control of all strategic materials, including consumer goods such as girdles and bras. 1942), 344. steel and natural rubber, adding the synthetic There was less incentive, too, because prices  Daniel L. Jones, “Simplification of rubbers as these developed in the course of of finished goods were regulated by the Lines to Conserve Labor and Materials,” Corset and Underwear the war. Metal zippers for girdles and hooks federal Office of Price Administration (OPA, Review, March 1943, 54–55. and eyes for bras became scarce. Such active August  through May ) in  “Retrospect and Prospect,” Corset and restrictions were necessary because most order to prevent wartime profiteering, thwart Underwear Review, December 1943, metals and various chemicals were required inflation, and maintain civilian morale, while 63. for tanks, battleships, planes, guns, trucks, inducing Americans to invest in war  Joseph R. Bowen, “No ‘Heil Hysteria,’” Corset and Underwear Review, May and ammunition. In  alone, President and stamps. 1942, 61. Roosevelt ordered , tanks and Trains, trucks, and ships likewise came

 “Retrospect and Prospect,” Corset and comparable numbers of planes and warships; under government control at the start of Underwear Review, December 1943, each tank had , parts.²⁶ B- bombers, hostilities to ensure that the troops and 63. The Maiden Form Mirror, July 1945, 3. The original khaki nylon and cotton popularly called “Flying Fortresses” because of civilian government businesses were served webbing pigeon vest is in the their heavy armor, each used thousands of first.³² Receiving raw materials and shipping National Museum of American History, Costume History plates completely outlined in rivets and finished products became a chancy business Department, acc. no. 1997.0117.54. required more than , pounds of rubber.²⁷ for manufacturers, to the consternation of The blueprints are in NMAH Maidenform Archive, no. 585. The WPB gradually imposed rationing on retailers besieged by eager customers. Lacking nylon, cotton, silk, and rayon textiles, household appliances, cars, and bicycles to  “‘Brassieres’ for Pigeons Maiden Form’s Latest,” The Maiden Form variously used for uniforms, parachutes, buy, newly prosperous Americans had hoped Mirror, July 1945, 3. cordage, tents, and bagging for foodstuffs and to stock up on apparel.³³  Leo Cherne, Your Business Goes to War gunpowder.²⁸ This regime affected The slim-hipped, broad-shouldered (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942), 18. manufacturers, but only indirectly impacted silhouette prevailed from  through most consumers. Undergarment companies had to of . Skirts were only slightly below the  “Don’t Let Last Year’s Figures Fool You,” Corset and Underwear Review, apply to the WPB for authorization to buy knee and jackets could not generally exceed a December 1942, 61–63. materials, assuming these could be found. Silk length of  inches, in order to reserve  “Rubberless Girdle?”, 60. Culottes tricot and rubber practically disappeared manufacturing capacity and textile products had an upsurge in popularity with the increased riding of bicycles due to when the Japanese seized Ceylon (Sri Lanka), for uniforms and military supplies. A few soft gasoline rationing. China, and Malaya (Malaysia). English shapes were on offer, but crisply tailored  For detail on promotion of fashion manufacturers no longer exported broadcloth, apparel predominated. Slim silhouettes, and beauty in wartime, see Buckland, because they could scarcely clothe their own including tapered slacks and culottes, put a “Fashion as a Tool,” 145–149. people, although net continued to be shipped premium on firm undergarments.³⁴ According  Nell Giles, Punch In, Susie! A Woman’s through May .²⁹ Both of these textiles to Boston-area reporter Nell Giles, ordnance War Factory Diary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1943), 86–87. had been popular for bras and certain parts of workers at first wore cotton dresses on the girdles. job, and competition among younger women Faced with such shortages, many U.S. bra sharpened everyone’s appearance.³⁵ Some and girdle companies survived by securing assembly-line workers donned slacks, and government contracts to produce camouflage gradually pants and overalls became the nets, pup tents, parachutes for flares, aviation norm.³⁶ Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 29

figure 3 Nylon net bra, 1943. Munsingwear, Inc. Reproduced by permission of the Minnesota Historical Society.

During the first few months of the war the showed a strong preference for panty girdles  Women’s Wear Daily, April 30, 1942, inventory of nylon, rubber, and metals that and general acceptance of foundation 13. manufacturers had on hand proved sufficient, garments for work days. Bras were even more  “Brassieres for la Belle Poitrine,” Vogue, September 1944, 168. This and makers strove to modify foundation generally worn in munitions plants.⁴¹ Young article shows a bra with nylon styles to make thrifty use of these materials.³⁷ and fit women chose garter belts or cloth and nylon elastic. Supplies of nylon lasted a surprisingly long substituted short socks for long hosiery.  “Concern Over Cotton Situation,” time — most of the war for some producers.³⁸ The L- Limitation Order governing bras Corset and Underwear Review, October 1944, 83. Warner actually added a nylon bra to the line and girdles stipulated a maximum  square advertised in June . One of the sample  Corset and Underwear Review, inches of elastic in girdles. Tubular and panty October 1944, 83. bras in the Munsingwear Collection at styles managed to eke out narrow side panels  “War Workers Survey,” Corset and Minnesota Historical Society was a Foundette of stretchy material, including knits or nets.⁴² figure Underwear Review, September 1943, made of nylon net, labeled “” ( 3). L- prescribed a maximum of ½ inches of 61–65; “Women War Workers,” Corset and Underwear Review, October 1943, When nylon and other favored materials ran elastic in each bra strap. Front inserts and out, producers substituted acetate, cotton 63–66. Uplift bras had been popular back fasteners were limited to six square as early as the mid-1920s, but their eyelet batiste, rayon satin, and rayon crepe. use became even more general inches of elastic in bandeaux and eight square Toward the end of the war government during World War II. inches in long-line bras.⁴³ Some producers demand for  million yards of cotton duck,  Business Week, June 19, 1943, 91; made styles with even less than the permitted Mademoiselle, October 1944. coinciding with labor troubles in Southern limits, to conserve their irreplaceable fabrics. cotton mills, put cotton broadcloths and  Women’s Wear Daily, April 24, 1942, 1, poplins out of reach.³⁹ Maidenform used Manufacturers used mostly peach or white, 7, 8. Mexican cotton plaids in its  Alloette but Warner advertised “Army Tan” or “Air  A now-deceased former WAC related figure Corps Grey” in a November  issue of R.N., that her government-issued bras style ( 4, bottom).⁴⁰ were khaki color. Bertha Seifert, figure Panty girdles enjoyed great popularity a nursing magazine ( 5).⁴⁴ Bras and personal communication, March, among women members of the Land Army girdles were issued to WACS via the 2003. who wore slacks and coveralls in munitions Quartermaster’s Department, but individual  “WACS Prove Good Market,” Corset and Underwear Review, August 1943, plants or on farms. One maker reported that women also bought civilian foundations from 61, 72.  percent of its orders were for panty girdles off-base specialty shops and department in fall of , compared to a ten percent stores.⁴⁵ A Charm Magazine survey of women share in spring . Surveys of war workers in war industries showed that the vast on the West Coast, reported in fall , majority bought two or more girdles and bras 30 n  volume 37, 2011

figure 4 Mexican cotton bra (bottom), Maiden Form (sic), 1944. Nylon version of the same style bra (top), 1946. Reproduced by permission of National Museum of American History and Maidenform, Inc.

 “Battle for Girdles,” Business Week, June 19, 1943, 88, 92.

 “Synthetic Rubber and the Corset Industry,” Corset and Underwear Review, August 1943, 49–51; “Don’t Expect Improvement in the Textile Situation,” Corset and Underwear per year since products worn daily in heavy Bra and girdle fasteners posed special Review, December 1944, 81–82. working conditions wore out quickly.⁴⁶ challenges. Production of hooks and eyes,  Max Kops, Jr., “On the Threshold of a With the supply of natural rubber zippers, and snaps was severely curtailed by Difficult Year,” Corset and Underwear dwindling, textile researchers labored to make the WPB; however, zippers, called “slide Review, January 1944, 71. Covering yarns were spun over the elastic core substitutes, notably Neoprene, Butyl, and fasteners” at the time, returned to production to make them more comfortable. Buna-S. Industry and consumers fervently by late .⁵⁰ Some makers substituted tiny  Business Week, October 30, 1943, 90. hoped for workable Neoprene yarns in , pearl buttons or lacing on their foundation

 Consumer Research Bulletin, February but when these at last materialized the WPB garments.⁵¹ Companies that specialized in 1942, 12–14; “Retrospect and took control of supplies for military use, fastener components offered cloth ladders to Prospect,” Corset and Underwear figure Review, December 1943, 65. sending frustrated engineers back to replace eyes ( 7), and one design had a experimenting with Buna-S.⁴⁷ Although the non-metal hook, which could not have  “Laced Waist Bra Streamlined,” Corset and Underwear Review, May 1942, 75; Board released Neoprene for consumer sustained regular use.⁵² Bra straps had had “Buttons and Buttonholes on these products in , bottlenecks in the supply of metal adjusters since the early s, so Lightweight Fall Girdles,” Kleinert’s advertisement, Women’s Wear Daily, covering yarns prevented its wide adoption.⁴⁸ women complained bitterly in a  April 23, 1942, 18. In any event, most rubber substitutes came consumer survey about non-adjusting  Herton Company advertisement, only in dark colors and emitted unpleasant straps.⁵³ Adjustable back bands may have Corset and Underwear Review, December 1944, inside back cover; odors.⁴⁹ These stand-ins for rubber appeared actually become more prevalent during the see also L. M. Rabinowitz & Co., Inc., in surviving – sample products from war to accommodate different sizes with Corset and Underwear Review, February 1943, 95. Munsingwear, yielding a heavy, thick texture. limited elastic.⁵⁴ With almost no plastic or Even supposedly all-stretch styles had very wire available, true push-up bras were not  Corset and Underwear Review, figure November 1942, 55. little give ( 6) when compared to mid- practicable, but these were not missed s knitted girdles. The poor elasticity was because wartime dress styles showed very  Corset and Underwear Review, September 1943, 73 not just a function of deterioration with age. little front décolletage. Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 31

figure 5 Warner’s advertisement featuring colors figure 6 Panty girdle showing use of heavy for Nurses and women in Armed Services. R.N., materials immediately post-War (1946). Marvelous November 1942, 74. Reproduced by permission of Knit-to-Fit, Munsingwear, Inc. Reproduced by Warnaco. permission of the Minnesota Historical Society.

The wartime shift to institutional or  Corset and Underwear Review, patriotic advertising meant few wartime bras February 1942, 82. and girdles were shown. Securely dated  Corset and Underwear Review, March museum holdings are helpful, but sparse. A 1942, 75. handful of styling details can be perceived in  “To Simplify and Standardize Lines,” Corset and Underwear Review, the limited magazine depictions, including October 1941, 80; “This Question of the tongue-in-cheek humor of the “victory” Increasing Costs — Must Be Faced!” Corset and Underwear Review, May sign, with double-Vs under each cup in a  1941, 41–42. style from G. M. Poix Company.⁵⁵ Lovable and Eddy-Form showed V-rays and other variations on this theme (figure 8).⁵⁶ In  Warner advertised a girdle with a V of woven Lastex at the center back waist. Victory references became a wartime cliché among many industries and service companies. Trade journals reveal that bra and girdle makers pruned their consumer product lines in order to survive, and the foundations industry as a whole attempted selective standardization of fasteners and other findings.⁵⁷ Only styles that could be produced at a profit under price controls remained in production during the war. Specialized and luxury designs fell out of favor for the duration. Wholesale “price points,” meaning target prices or price ranges, dwindled from 32 n  volume 37, 2011

figure 7 Wartime bra closures from The Herton Company. Corset and Underwear Review, December 1944, inside back cover. Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 33

figure 8 Eddy-form bra connecting its styling with V-for-victory. Mademoiselle, October 1942, 166.

about  to a scant dozen distinct categories,  “How WPB’s Textile Program Affects Corset Industry: Maximum Average covering both bras and girdles, and taking the Price Order Soon,” Corset and rationalization of prices even further. Even as Underwear Review, March 1945, the war was winding down, the OPA 89–91. instituted Maximum Average Pricing in May  Leo Cherne, cited in Corset and Underwear Review, October 1941, 49.  to force producers to make low- and This speech was given during the medium-priced styles, similar to pre-war defense buildup, before the United States declared war. assortments, instead of concentrating on the  James Webb Young, Diary of an Ad high price, higher profit models.⁵⁸ Man (Chicago: Advertising Makers of bras and girdles also had to Publications, Inc., 1944), 155–156. adjust designs to accommodate fabrics that handled differently in sewing from prewar textiles. Plain shapes eased production, signaling the industry’s claim that it made no-nonsense products, not fripperies, and that it was in step with general trends toward simplification of processes in manufacturing. Companies endeavored to keep their lines free of products that performed poorly, and would come back to haunt both the particular firm and the whole industry. The general conduct of business changed drastically across all products. The federal OPA required extensive record keeping, including current inventory of materials and finished products on hand.⁵⁹ Companies that held government contracts had to manufacture to narrower tolerances — allowable deviations from a standard — more than ever before. Rare before World War II, precise technical “specifications” became standard practice in soft-goods. Producers had to organize plant layout and develop work scheduling more carefully, particularly if they were fulfilling government contracts and simultaneously making consumer products. Training new workers proved to be a continuous chore, as seamstresses often left for better wages in war industries. Relationships between manufacturers and retailers shifted during the war, when conditions tested loyalties as buyers searched out various suppliers in order to put products on their shelves.⁶⁰ Producers became reluctant to fill special orders of a few items, 34 n  volume 37, 2011

figure 9 Bestform trade ad commenting on shortage of goods. Dry Goods Journal, August 1944, 100.

 Andrew J. Haire, “The Editor Views To accommodate women with jobs, the News,” Corset and Underwear retailers extended store hours.⁶³ Some Review, November 1941, 42; July 1941, 73, 74. enterprising foundations departments even

 Jean Desmond, My Illustrious Career, sent trained fitters into munitions plants to unpublished memoir received by the help women make purchases during their lunch author June 14, 2004, 6. or break times. Alert manufacturers attached  “Sell Defense Workers This Way,” Dry informative hang-tags to their bras and girdles, Goods Journal, December 1942, 57, 62. so that saleswomen could learn the features of  Andrew J. Haire, “28 Cries for Help merchandise more easily, or customers could from Retailers,” Corset and Underwear Review, February 1944, 72, self-serve and save their precious time.⁶⁴ 73, 96. Tagging and packaging of foundations  Corset and Underwear Review, foreshadowed a standard postwar practice. November 1943, 80–81 and February 1944, 69. Maidenform Archive at the Industry leaders honed their skills in National Museum of American lobbying the federal government during , History contains numerous letters solicited from doctors and factory gathering extensive medical and industrial owners about the need for testimony on the need of working women for supportive girdles and bras. supportive bras and girdles. They succeeded  For other examples of advertising in having L- amended in late  and and retailing supporting the war, see Buckland, “Fashion as a Tool,” 143–144. revoked in January , although that did

 “Washington Wants Institutional not immediately alleviate supply problems.⁶⁵ Copy”; “Do’s and Don’ts for Advertisements centered on promoting Foundation Garment Advertisements,” Corset and both the war and individual companies, Underwear Review, July 1943, 56, 69. instead of extolling specific products.⁶⁶ The  “The Bogey of Over Buying and Over Office of War Information (OWI) pressed Selling,” Corset and Underwear advertisers to stress winning the war. Review, March 1943, 51. “M-388 Amended,” Corset and Underwear Uncertain supplies of consumer products and Review, May 1945, 90. extreme scarcity of favored materials and  Max Kops, Editorial, Corset and styles also inhibited the content of ads. What Underwear Review, April 1942, 95. could be obtained was limited in quantity and made of less-appealing materials and features compared to prewar offerings, so there was little incentive to promote a particular style.⁶⁷ Both producers and retailers steered a middle course between discouraging buying, which would bankrupt their businesses, and regarding this as offering wholesale pricing on encouraging overconsumption, which might retail quantities of goods.⁶¹ Retailers in turn cause products to disappear completely.⁶⁸ competed strenuously for a share of the Hoarding drew heavy censure, because it allocated products trickling out of the denied other customers needed goods, and factories. A trade journal cartoon showed a betokened luxury in the face of wartime delivery consisting of one-half of one bra privation and death.⁶⁹ Appeals to glamour, (figure 9). One woman who had been a common in bra and girdle ads before the war, foundations model recalled that buyers were yielded to messages about how bras and only allowed to place orders proportional to girdles supported women’s posture and their prewar volume of goods.⁶² helped improve their stamina and efficiency Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 35

at war work, volunteer activities, and waistlines and give fullness to their hips for  “Battle for Girdles,” Business Week, homemaking.⁷⁰ Tips for extending the wear New Look effects. Sometimes, just a waist June 19, 1943, 89, 92. life of foundations centered on frequent cincher sufficed to achieve the look. Having  “Rubberless Girdle?” 58. For a report of various conservation measures in laundering, owning multiple garments to permit gotten accustomed to the convenience of clothing during World War II, see Tara alternation in wear, and prompt mending slacks during the war years, women continued Maginnis, “She Saves Who Sews for Victory: Home Sewing on the rather than safety-pins.⁷¹ Retail departments to choose them for yard work, household American Home Front,” Costume 26 complemented this message with ads chores, and casual socializing, helping to (1992): 60–70. announcing their repair services, provided by extend the popularity of panty girdles.  “Battle for Girdles,” 88, 92. the store or by its wholesale vendors.⁷² Even in , wartime materials of  Bien Jolie advertisement, Corset and synthetic rubber were all that manufacturers Underwear Review, February 1946, 6.7. 1947–1950: Incipient Post-War could obtain, even though these produced  “Feminine Fashions Must Prevail,” Boom thick and unattractive girdles. Mills had Corset and Underwear Review, March 1942, 52. Once hostilities ended, women were often backlogs of orders and cotton textiles were  “Why Confidence in Corsetiere Keeps forced to leave jobs in heavy industry to make still being sent to England under the terms of Customers Coming Back,” Merchants’ room for returning veterans. However, by Lend Lease. During the war, tire makers had Trade Journal, July 1947, 99, 116. , price controls were lifted, despite federal begun to use rayon, adding to the difficulty of  “Fresh and Springy,” Mademoiselle, efforts to extend the OPA indefinitely. Prices bra and girdle makers in securing the desired March 1946, 202–203; “Upkeep and Intake,” Harper’s Bazaar, January promptly rose, but so did consumer textiles. By , however, lighter-weight 1946, 126; Corset and Underwear manufacturing, generating jobs — although nylon and Lastex powernet girdles became Review, August 1945, 101. not at wartime wage levels. Benjamin and available. “Nyralon” blended rayon with nylon.  Another advantage of nylon Johnes, makers of Bien Jolie bras, complained Often foundations were off-white or powder brassieres was exemption from post- war price controls that affected other that workers discharged from wartime blue, with rubber-button garters instead of products. “Nylon OPA Decision Expected Soon,” Corset and factories were not hurrying into civilian the lyre-shaped, hinged metal garters of Underwear Review, April 1946, 110, 145. industries, but were taking a “vacation” on prewar vintage (figure 10).⁷⁵ Pink, rose, black  J.K. Novins, “The Elastic Outlook,” unemployment benefits.⁷³ and plaid girdles and bras (from the recently Lingerie Merchandising, November As soon as L- restrictions were rescinded founded Olga Company) enhanced the variety 1945, 103, 105. in late , American designers began to of products in .⁷⁶  Life, July 22, 1946, 67–68, 70. show fuller skirts, softer shoulders, and more Bras were quicker than girdles to regain  “Paris Goes Gently Hour-Glass,” defined waistlines. These fitted silhouettes aesthetic appeal, as nylon marquisette Harper’s Bazaar, April 1935, 166. pleased the foundations makers, who recalled replaced cotton gingham in some Maiden with dread the unshaped styles Form (sic) styles (figure 4).⁷⁷ The bust was popular after World War I — styles prominent in outerwear, so bras with deeply detrimental to sales of bras and girdles.⁷⁴ By contoured cups sold well. Low cuts and May , corset and bra sales rose twenty shoulder-baring styles harmonized with the percent above May  figures, presaging an fashionable décolletages. Makers eagerly explosion in consumption in the postwar reintroduced elasticity when narrow fabrics period. The rounded, longer silhouette of  became available for consumer products.⁷⁸ gained impetus with the presentation of Wired strapless bras burst into the market in Christian Dior’s  New Look. By ,  once metals were available, making the sheath dresses and suits featured styling that fortune of the A’lene brand. Life magazine ran intensified women’s interest in girdles, a prominent story on “The Wired Bra,” especially longer-length styles with hip showing a woman swinging a golf club with control. A long, high-rise girdle paired with a no straps to tug on her shoulders.⁷⁹ Wired bra created a virtual corselette. Women bras had been offered in the mid-s, but needed new styles of girdles to nip their not in strapless styles.⁸⁰ With the full onset of 36 n  volume 37, 2011

figure 10 Postwar Lastex satin panty girdle in powder blue, Munsingwear, Inc. 1948. Reproduced by permission of the Minnesota Historical Society.

 A significant uptick in births had girdles’ continuing popularity, detachable begun as early as 1940, and was being noticed in maternity departments crotches became a big selling point for ease of well before 1946. Frank H. Kaufman, care.⁸³ One public service message did replace “Will Maternity Sales Boom or Boomerang for You?” Corset and the wartime exhortations to buy U.S. Bonds, Underwear Review, November 1942, with pleas for women to do breast self- 52, 79. examination. Some foundations departments  Pete Martin, “Her Half-Billion Dollar showed a film on the techniques and benefits Shape,” Saturday Evening Post, October 15, 1949, 28–29. He stated of this new method for early detection of that, in 1948 alone, $500 million had breast cancer. Almost as soon as Hitler, been spent on foundation garments. Mussolini, and Hirohito were defeated, cancer  Gossard advertisement, Vogue, July 1945, 30. loomed as the new enemy for Americans.

 Celebrity advertisement, Life, November 1, 1963, 88. Epilogue In the mid-s, Lastex was used creatively  Irving Kleiman, “Computer Key to Inventory Control,” Corset and in bras and girdles, with glimmerings of Underwear Review, February 1968, all-elastic shoulder straps and pull-over-the- 46–47, 88, 92, 94. Kleiman described a program run on a magnetic-tape- the Baby Boom in , maternity bra makers head styling. Shoulder-strap sliders provided based Honeywell 200 computer, did brisk business.⁸¹ Munsingwear’s extensive greater adjustability of fit and full-fashioned installed in 1965 to replace Bali’s older RAMAC computer. exactly dated records of bra and girdle style knitted bras offered a seamless look. With the adoptions reveal a dramatic acceleration in coming of wartime restrictions, experiments design output after the war. Typically  to  in elasticity halted and incipient development styles had been approved yearly from  of bra wires lost priority. Inventiveness took through ; the approvals for – manufacturers through the war years, as they were , , and , respectively. worked with available materials. When the The close management of time, labor, war ended, Lastex and underwires again came machinery, and materials required during the into the marketplace, but all-elastic straps did war prepared alert companies to exploit not appear until the early s.⁸⁴ national and international markets during the More pervasive than the changes in styles post-war boom.⁸² Exporting surged almost of bra and girdle wrought during these immediately when peace arrived. Packaging sixteen years were the changes in and hang-tags on bras and girdles, used manufacturing and merchandizing. Thirties during the war to help inexperienced clerks legislation and wartime exigencies forced assist customers, led to expanded self-service manufacturers to rationalize all aspects of in foundations departments. The decades- production to use scarce labor, equipment, long tradition of skilled fitting of bras and and materials to the maximum. Producers girdles began to decline. became accustomed to precision techniques Gone were advertising appeals to after working to government contract patriotism and conservation, to be replaced specifications. All of this exactitude bore fruit. by zestful promotion of the latest, greatest By the s, advanced companies such as girdles and bras. Many ads trumpeted the Bali were prepared to use computers to return of nylon when civilian production rose schedule work flow in their factories.⁸⁵ again. Two-way stretch was reborn, in Having fewer wholesale price points helped stronger, finer-textured girdles. In lieu of simplify the retail pricing of bras and girdles. mesh fabrics, a customer could choose Playtex Manufacturers and retailers interacted in new (latex film) girdles and bras. With panty ways, as packaging and display frames Underpinning Depression, Wartime, and Recovery 37

gradually replaced the old counters and the mother either relinquishing work or trained saleswomen. Stores continued the holding a part-time job. Sharp observers such extended hours of opening on selected as Edgar Allen, head of the National Retail evenings, and later experimented with Dry Goods Association, foresaw the post-war weekend openings. Greater access to shopping ascendancy of national brands and a surge in had helped women holding wartime jobs and buying on credit, two trends that greatly proved irresistibly convenient once peacetime outlasted the fluctuations of mid-twentieth- brought an upsurge in family formation, with century fashion. n  38 n  volume 37, 2011

Bibliography

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