Figure 4 16. The Miracle Bra. Victoria’s Secret Catalog. Spring 1999
Related Figures (41)
Figure 3.2. BodySlimmers Hang-tag. December 2000 Figure 3.3. Hanes Her Way Hang-tag. December 2000 Tap dancing to prove her garment’s fluidity, a Warner model demonstrates the black “Veil of Youth,” a boneless Lastex net slipever which permits complete freedom of action, can be folded in a purse. what is actually being conveyed is the quintessential virtues of feminine posture—ingratiation, submissiveness, and appeasement. The picture actually seems to signify that these women are posed to appear in the manner that would suggest their acquiescence to a photographer, who is trying to depict them as “informally gathered”. The significance of this is that the caption reads, “Note the three girls sitting easily in boneless comfort” (Life 64); how- ever, they probably were never seated until the photographer asked them to do so for the photo. Thus, the creation of the image of easy comfort and free- dom of movement is one that is conjured by the photographer and the mod- els, and is represented to the reader as a freeing quality of the garment. Hav- ing said this, it seems important to note that the caption also refers to a range of model body types “from the slender type at left to the stylish stout”. This seems to signify an acceptance of a range of body types that is not evidenced in later foundationwear advertising. Figure 4.4. Bestform. Advertisement. “No Finer Fit at Any Price,” 1940s Figure 4.5. Slack-ees. Advertisement. Corset and Underwear Review Feb. 1947 Figure 4.6. Jantzen. Advertisement. “The weigh-nothing Jantzenaire” 1950s Figure 4.7. Flexees. Advertisement. “The Flexees Figure” 1950s Figure 4.8. Playtex. Advertisement. “Invisible Playtex Girdle” Seventeen Dec. 1950 Figure 4.10. DuPont’s Lycra. Advertisement. “Whatever your size” 1960s Figure 4.15. Body by Victoria. Victoria’s Secret Catalog. Spring 1999 Figure 5.1. Maidenform Bra. Advertisement. “I dreamed | went shopping” 1950 While the “I dreamed” ads provided women with new ideas of empower- ment, independence and professionalism, they did little to disrupt the ideal- ized image of woman. Stull maintains, “The campaign’s supposed exhibi- litically. In 1963 the Western theme became more youthful than classic as shown in Figure 5.2, “I dreamed I was wild in the west in my Maidenform Bra.?”” James Stull argues that, “While the dramatization of female fantasies may initially seem liberating, the content of these ads is in fact quite con- servative, even reactionary. They reflect and reinforce prevailing values, Figure 5.4 Maidenform Bra. Advertisement. “1 dreamed | walked a tightrope” 1961 not articulated only suggested. Finally, in Figure 5.5, the title reads, “ dreamed I felt free . . . really free in my Maidenform Concertina.” Here the women are literally racing through life in their girdles. It seems that this ac represents a last attempt by Maidenform to hold onto a youth market ir girdling by proffering the freedom of wearing foundationwear. The ad copy harkens back to the prescriptives of what not to wear from the Corset Con- tortionisti as it reads: Figure 6.1. Sensual Shaper’s Slip. Victo- ria’s Secret Catalog. Fall 1999 Figure 6.2. The Satin Corset. Victoria’s Secret Catalog. Fall 1999 Figure 7.1. Lord and Taylor. Advertisement. “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” March 2003 Table 7.1. _ Big Four Foundationwear Corporations and Brands The fetishized object is fashion’s ideal body, and these contemporary shapers promise to resolve the problem body—“to smooth out bulges or pro- vide an antijiggle foundation.” This Fashion 101 example underscores not only the desire for fashion’s ideal body, but the desire to solve the problem body, the flawed American woman’s body. It also illustrates the longevity of the cult of thinness and the consequent girdle resurgence in the form of con- temporary shapewear (even if there is a distancing from the g-word through the use of technological advances such as improved microfiber fabrics). Appendix A: Telephone Survey Variables and Frequencies Appendix A: Telephone Survey Variables and Frequencies Feel feminine with
