I collect old medical books, and the old OB/GYN books always have a section about maternity girdles. Those things looked and sounded dreadful.
If I’d ever gotten pregnant, I’d rather have looked like the Goodyear blimp, TYVM. I do know that some women wear abdominal support bands and find them very helpful when they have back pain.
Noooo. I won’t even wear a bra unless it’s a special occasion and even then it’s one of those thin cotton T back sports bras. Lumps be damned!
I’m older, and being former military, I’ve kept in shape. Weight lifting, aerobic exercises, stretching; so I’m fit. I stopped wearing girdles back just after the end of 'Nam because they just weren’t suitable to wear under uniforms. So I switched to pantyhose.
Let me be blunt. You will pry my control top pantyhose out of my cold dead hands. If you’re fit, a control top is a 1000% better than a girdle. You get a smooth line under slacks, skirts and dresses and none of the oh-god-I-will-die-from-sweat-in-the-tropics from a girdle. And I’ll be blunt, unless you have perfect skin (and more women do than you think), no one wants to look at your bare dry skin under a skirt. So wearing hose is my saving grace.
I did at one time buy a Spanx top to smooth my waistline to wear under a dance costume. I bought a size too small. I know that because when I tried to pull it over my head, the body of the top, smushed my arms together over my headand I couldn’t move it up or down. It also formed a tunnel so I had to lower my arms so I could see down the tunnel, to get myself to the sewing room to find some scissors so I could cut my way out of it. I wish I had video, because even stuck as I was, it was pretty funny.
I wore a girdle for a couple of months postpartum. I don’t know if wearing it did anything other than make my midsection look and feel less jiggly, but a lot of women swear compression garments help them shrink down quicker after having a baby. My belly is basically normal now after 5 months so maybe there is something to it.
Being of the male persuasion, I’ve never worn a girdle. I’m old enough to remember when the expression “my girdle is killing me!” was commonly used by women, but that was a long, long time ago.
IIRC, my wife wore some sort of shaping garment under her wedding dress, but I think that’s the only time she’s done that. (Worn a shaping garment, that is.)
I participate in a project that collects and distributes underwear to the needy, and we’ve had shapewear donated to us. No way would I wear something like that, unless I was maybe recovering from a 3rd degree burn. It looks VERY uncomfortable, and hot too.
My granny is the only person I know who wears one. I’d never heard of them before she told me. She likes it because it holds in her belly. Apparently it also helps with keeping her warm, which is a real perk where I live. It seems a weird thing to me though, having the panties part connected to the vest type upper. Too much laundry that way.
I’d love to try a proper corset. I have dreams of wearing those beautiful Victorian dresses, and they won’t look right without a corset. I wouldn’t want to wear one all the time but it would be nice for occasions. I’m sure it would look so pretty. I doubt I’ll ever get the chance anyway!
I was about to respond to Eve when something made me check the date and the last time she signed in. :smack:
I actually know several people who could have hooked her up. Laced, actually but -----
My mother used to wear a girdle back in the '50s, but not since. I honestly didn’t think they made them anymore.
I stopped wearing girdles about the time I started telling people I was not a “gal” or girl, but a grown up woman.
Of course, now I have no reason to wear them.
My grandma wore one from probably her teenage years till she was 88 and had to have stomach surgery and a colostomy. We’re convinced her using that all those years led to her having insufficient muscles to support her back without it. She hurt her back badly and went downhill from there.
I’d always worn control top pantihose with skirts or lighter trousers. When I started getting heavier and it was too hot for those, I did break down and get a girdle. It was horrible but it was what I felt I had to do. I was still in my 20s then! Over the years I have given less and less of a flip so now I just wear comfortable pants and shirts long enough to cover my butt. Deal with it. 
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