girdle care

Slip of a girl's blog passes along these washing instructions for your circa 1941 elastic girdles.

"soak in cold water for 20 minutes. wash in lukewarm water, scrubbing gently with a soft brush dipped in a solution of 2 tablespoons first-quality soap dissolved in a cup of hot water, then cooled. Rinse in 2 or 3 waters. Roll in a towel to remove excess water. dry away from heat."

There's a time-costly exercise in hygiene.

Corset History

An extensive museum/history of the UK corset can be found at Ivy Leaf's Tribute to the Corsetiere. It appears to be an exciting collection of corset material with links and historical graphics. Much too much material to incorporate into my current project--which is limited to 80 pages and an alphabetical listing of items.

Zona--The Girdle Zone is another good site.

The Victoria & Albert Museum includes this collection detailing the transformation of the Corset into the bustle. Shapewear from the ages.

The Long Island Staylace Association (LISA) is a regularly updated resource on all things corset. Modern and historical information and galleries that include member contributions.

And a Corset Dictionary from corsetheaven.com