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.
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. *
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.
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.
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.