# Do women still wear girdles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035 "2006-05-16T22:54:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/41 "2014-07-19T20:53:49Z")
Girdles were well on their way out of fashion starting in the late sixties but remained available. With the invention of newer, super-strong materials and less relaxed fashions (the body hugging stuff) they have made a return. But, as mentioned above, they are now called body shapers. I have one that I use to smooth my middle-age middle for two dressy outfits but that’s it. I find them too uncomfortable to wear on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/42 "2014-07-20T00:52:57Z")
> [@MaddyStrut](#): > > This thread brings back memories from my childhood of a company that had a line of girdles where you could choose to have a “shapely” rear end or a “flat” rear end. I used to laugh like crazy at those ads! Callipygean or Euclidean? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/43 "2014-07-20T21:12:08Z")
They never were shapely though, it looked like women had one big round buttock. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/45 "2017-10-06T12:56:19Z")
Do zombies wear girdles? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/46 "2017-10-06T16:37:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Do zombies wear girdles? Male ones, apparently. This was worth reviving the thread for, in my view. > [@toms\_0321\_yahoo.com](#): > > I…a bear minimum of 3 girdles… I think this is mixing up terminology a bit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/47 "2017-10-06T17:09:07Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > bulging zombie or no > > women have finally accepted gravity. > [@toms\_0321\_yahoo.com](#): > > I came up with this which you might find very helpful: [The Health Benefits from Daily Wearing a Vintage Girdle | toms0321](https://toms0321.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/the-health-benefits-from-daily-wearing-a-vintage-girdle/) Well, if American women have accepted it, American men have taken up the slack. From that link: \*LITTLE KNOWN: There is also a large misconception that wearing a girdle or a corset is just for getting all dressed up. This is not true, a girdle or a corset should be worn everyday without question even when just relaxing around your house in shorts and sweats. Going to the gym working in your garden riding your bike watching television. \* ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/48 "2017-10-06T17:36:49Z")
> [@toms\_0321\_yahoo.com](#): > > we as humans stand erect, standing erect has a very negative effect on our internal organs with time and gravity, wearing a vintage girdle everyday will give you needed control and support holding your internal organs in their normal natural position. I wish there was a simpler way for me to express via type the derisive noise I made after reading this. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/49 "2017-10-06T18:08:05Z")
I _knew_ I’d read this before. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/50 "2017-10-07T00:30:29Z")
You know what works even better than a girdle to help your posture? Abs. This crap reminds me of all those companies shilling “pain relieving back braces”. Shapewear can smooth you and decrease jiggling but there is no evidence that it has any health benefits. Just so you know, women’s organs are not always falling out of place just by their standing up. (Not to mention that if you do have a uterine or vaginal prolapse increasing abdominal pressure is not necessarily going to help). Just a few of the medical consequences of shapewear are increased acid reflux and heartburn, increased gas, more frequent urinary tract infections and numbness and tingling in the legs (meralgia paresthetica). The worst part of the post about wearing a girdle constantly is the part where he tells people to relax their muscles and let the girdle hold you up. That is a recipe for low back pain. If you don’t use your muscles they will atrophy. Much better to strengthen the core with some planks and crunches and you will be able to stand up all day without problems. Then, when you want to look especially sleek for a special occasion, you can wear your spanx as needed. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/51 "2017-10-07T01:29:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Do zombies wear girdles? Keeps those pesky parts from falling off 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mattm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@mattm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattm)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/52 "2017-10-07T04:23:31Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Sorry for the double post. **cbawlmer** , a [snood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snood_%28headgear%29) is a type of headscarf. So that’s what you call the thing [Gladys Ormphby](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0221897/) wore? ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/53 "2017-10-07T04:52:38Z")
Some women SHOULD wear them but don’t. The dress that is basically a long, stretchy t-shirt should not be worn without something. I watched a Kindergarten teacher wearing one, and when she bent over to talk to a child, I could tell exactly what kind of underwear she was wearing. I really didn’t want to know that. I began working retail and spent 8 hours a day standing on a hard floor in front of a cash register. I was miserable from back pain until I began wearing Spanx. Back pain gone. Now I always wear them under skirts. I have no illusions that they make me look better, but they do make me feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/54 "2022-09-29T19:13:50Z")
4 posts were split to a new topic: [Femmejean sock posts as Gillane\_Moxham](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/femmejean-sock-posts-as-gillane-moxham/972469) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/56 "2022-09-29T02:38:11Z")
Back in my restaurant days, I worked with a man who admitted that he wore control-top pantyhose for this very reason, and it also reduced leg discomfort for him. I also had a roommate (who worked there too) who could take off her bra without removing her shirt first. I never figured out how she did it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035/60 "2022-09-29T14:15:43Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > You know what works even better than a girdle to help your posture? Abs. Word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-still-wear-girdles/357035.md?page=2)