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Girdle (undergarment)
A girdle is a form-fitting foundation garment that encircles the lower torso, extending below the hips, and worn often to shape or for support. It may be worn for aesthetic or medical reasons. In sports or medical treatment, a girdle may be worn as a compression garment. This form of women's foundation replaced the corset in popularity, and was in turn to a larger extent surpassed by pantyhose in the 1960s. Evolution from the corset During the 1890s, the silhouette and use of the corset began to change. It became longer and S shaped, with more emphasis on control for the waist and the top of the thighs. The newer foundation garment extended from the waist to the hips and stomach. The term girdle began to be used to identify this type of undergarment around the time of the First World War. Around this time, rubberized elastic was introduced. Women now coaxed their bodies into two new types of foundations, the two-way stretch girdle and the cup-type brassiere, both more comfortab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corset
A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effect), or support the breasts. Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though this item was for many years an integral part of women's wardrobes. Since the late 20th century, the fashion industry has borrowed the term "corset" to refer to tops which, to varying degrees, mimic the look of traditional corsets without acting as them. While these modern corsets and corset tops often feature lacing or boning, and generally imitate a historical style of corsets, they have very little, if any, effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corsetmaker and are frequently fitted to the individual wearer. Etymology The word ''corset'' is a diminutive of the Old French word ''cors'' (meaning "body", and itsel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantyhose
Pantyhose, called sheer tights, or tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Mostly considered to be a garment for women and girls, pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advertisement of new design panties (Allen Gant's product, 'Panti-Legs') as a convenient alternative to stockings and/or control panties which, in turn, replaced girdles. Like stockings or knee highs, pantyhose are usually made of nylon, or of other fibers blended with nylon. Pantyhose are designed to: * Be attractive in appearance, * Hide physical features such as blemishes, bruises, scars, hair, spider veins, or varicose veins, * Reduce visible panty lines,Glen Raven, Inc.: Turnpage advertisement "How do gals get this sleek bell bottom look without the bumps of garters and panties?'' - ''They don't wear any. They wear Glen Raven Panti-Legs in Cantrece.", USA, 1966 and * Ease chafing between feet and footwear, or between thighs. Besides being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elastomer
An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (i.e. both viscosity and elasticity) and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of ''elastic polymer'', is often used interchangeably with rubber, although the latter is preferred when referring to vulcanisates. Each of the monomers which link to form the polymer is usually a compound of several elements among carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and silicon. Elastomers are amorphous polymers maintained above their glass transition temperature, so that considerable molecular reconformation is feasible without breaking of covalent bonds. At ambient temperatures, such rubbers are thus relatively compliant ( E ≈ 3 M Pa) and deformable. Their primary uses are for seals, adhesives and molded flexible parts. Application areas for different types of rubber are manifold and cover segments as diverse as tires, soles for shoes, and damping and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hook And Eye
A hook-and-eye closure is a simple and secure method of fastening garments together. It consists of a metal hook, commonly wire bent to shape, and an eye (or "eyelet") of the same material into which the hook fits. History The hook and eye closure has a long history and is still used today, primarily on bras. This form of fastening first appears under the name of "crochet and loop" in 14th-century England. The first reference to the modern term appears in ''Aubrey's Brief Lives'' in 1697, which describes a doublet and breeches being attached with "hook and eies". Hooks and eyes were made by hand from wire, until the town of Redditch, England, already famous for sewing needle manufacture, was the first to machine-manufacture them. In 1643 a woman in the American colony of Maryland is recorded as having paid £10 worth of tobacco for hooks and eyes. The hook and eye played an important role in women's corsetry; used in rows or as a busk, they can take the stress necessary to su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stockings
Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparency. Today, stockings are primarily worn for fashion and aesthetics, usually in association with mid-length or short skirts. History Historically, even though the word ''sock'' is at least as ancient in origin, what men normally wore were often referred to as stockings, probably especially when referring to longer hose. The word ''stock'' used to refer to the bottom "stump" part of the body, and by analogy the word was used to refer to the one-piece covering of the lower trunk and limbs of the 15th century—essentially tights consisting of the ''upper-stocks'' (later to be worn separately as knee breeches) and ''nether-stocks'' (later to be worn separately as ''stockings''). (See Hose.) Before the 1590s, stockings were made of woven cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miss America Protest
The Miss America protest was a demonstration held at the Miss America 1969 contest on September 7, 1968, attended by about 200 feminists and civil rights advocates. The feminist protest was organized by New York Radical Women and included putting symbolic feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can" on the Atlantic City boardwalk, including bras, hairspray, makeup, girdles, corsets, false eyelashes, mops, and other items. The protesters also unfurled a large banner emblazoned with "Women's Liberation" inside the contest hall, drawing worldwide media attention to the Women's Liberation Movement. Reporter Lindsy Van Gelder drew an analogy between the feminist protesters throwing bras in the trash cans and Vietnam War protesters who burned their draft cards. The bra-burning trope was permanently attached to the event and became a catch-phrase of the feminist era. Origins The New York Radical Women was a group of women that had been active in the civil rights movement, the New L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Femininity
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered feminine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent femininity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is conceptually distinct from both the female biological sex and from womanhood, as all humans can exhibit feminine and masculine traits, regardless of sex and gender. Traits traditionally cited as feminine include gracefulness, gentleness, empathy, humility, and sensitivity, though traits associated with femininity vary across societies and individuals, and are influenced by a variety of social and cultural factors. Overview and history Despite the terms ''femininity'' and ''masculinity'' being in common usage, there is little scientific agreement about what femininity and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brassiere
A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appearance of breast size and creating cleavage. Bras can also serve specific functions, such as nursing bras to facilitate breastfeeding or sports bras to minimize discomfort during exercise. A typical bra consists of a chest band that wraps around the torso, supporting two breast cups that are held in place by shoulder straps. A bra is usually closed in the back by a hook and eye fastener. However, bras are available in a large range of styles, whose designs can vary widely. Initially, the bra was exclusively an undergarment, but the sports bra has gained acceptance as outerwear, as have fashions that deliberately expose the bra straps. The bra gained widespread adoption in the early twentieth century, when it largely replaced the corse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanx
Spanx, Inc. is an American underwear maker focusing on shaping briefs and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The company manufactures mainly pantyhose and other underwear for women and, since 2010, produces male underwear as well. Spanx specializes in foundation garments intended to make people appear thinner or more shapely. History Founding Following her graduation from Florida State University (FSU) in 1993, Walt Disney World Resort employee Sara Blakely joined local stationery company Danka to sell fax machines door-to-door. In the heat and humidity of Florida, she tried unsuccessfully to find pantyhose that did not have seamed toes and that did not roll up the leg after she cut them. Investing her life-savings of $5,000, she moved to Atlanta at age 27, where she researched and developed a hosiery concept predominantly on her own. The creation of the initial product prototype was completed over the course of a year and involved Blakely, her mother, and her frien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
