Elegant Rage - The Evolution of Lingerie and Corsetry

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Vintage Fashion Archive.
Superb Vintage Lingerie Film from 1950's Germany celebrating the evolution of women's underwear whilst promoting the famous German brand of Felina Corsets.One of the first post modern lingerie companies in the world and one of the oldest running !

What Katie Did for Christmas !

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What Katie Did for Christmas !

If you're planning to wrap up up for winter in some luxurious vintage retro style lingerie, then isn't it time you sent that order off to Santa now !

Vintage Lingerie and Corsets

What katie Did, the reigning queen of faux-vintage undergarments and hosiery are taking orders now for Christmas, and what a feast of glamorous goodies they have on offer.

Fully Fashioned Stockings

Striking lingerie, bras, corsets,shape-wear, fully fashioned stockings and hosiery, sexy gloves and swimwear [ nothing like planning for next summer right now !] vintage make-up from Besame Cosmetics, glamorous vintage Christmas cards and so much more. Certainly enough to get any vintage girl watering at the mouth and their partners pulse rate racing !

Striptease Lingerie

Their range is quite simply unique and unbeatable. It's no wonder that they're fast becoming the underwear designers of choice by many a Hollywood actress.Highly recommended by Glamourdaze.

Vintage Make-up

You can also order from the luxurious vintage make-up range from Besame Cosmetics, beautifully presented by pin-up start Fleur de Guerre
Finally, to get you vintage style women in the mood, have a look at our video dedicated to the Age of Glamour.

Edwardian Fashion - The Gibson Girl

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Camille Clifford

Edwardian Fashion - The Gibson Girl

The Gibson Girl - became the first 20th century standard of female beauty and style, named after Charles Dana Gibson, a Life Magazine illustrator whose fanciful illustrations inadvertedly created a new idealized style of Edwardian Fashion. American women in particular, tried to emulate this look through the early Edwardian era up to the beginning of the First World War. The Gibson Girl was defined as an emancipated post Victorian era woman, who wore daringly tight corsets to create an hourglass figure.She wore her hair long, and pulled it back into an updo.

Gibson Girl

Gibson Girls

Edwardian Corsets

Corset Evolution

The wished for waist size was about 18 inches, which was attained by corsetry and much pain, cutting up to 6 inches off your natural waist size - not to mention blood supply !

Corsets were typical of the period and women wore them daily, often gradually tightening the waist cords over a period of time until she achieved her desired waist size.Camille Clifford, an actress was famous for her waist size, which closely resembled Gibsons illustrations, but it was Gibsons wife, Irene Langhorne, who is generally regarded to be the original Gibson Girl. To learn everything you need to know about Edwardian figure, we defer to the excellent Fashion Era.

Irene Langhorne - The First Gibson Girl ?

The Gibson Girl Silhouette

Gone were the bustles on the arms, Edwardian dresses were now cut to slenderize the silhouette, thin sleeves,large hips, large bust separated by an impossibly thin waist. The new straight front corsets created what was termed the S-bend, which pushed the bum back and the bosom forward.Add to that mix, the latest fashionable parasol and you were ready for the public!

Edwardian Dress - 1902

The Gibson Girl Hairstyle

The Gibson Roll or Gibson Tuck is still often seen in movies like Titanic, or any period drama from Edwardian days, in particular - Downton Abbey and the original Upstairs Downstairs. Just watching either of these two dramas will give you all the Edwardian style ideas you need. Have a look at this charming film from Youtubes Aaron1912 called Edwardian Girls and then check out how to Roll your hair like a Gibson Girl.







The Gibson girl, was essentially an american icon, and was applied to young women generally. She was known as ' the new woman' - she worked independently from men, and was usually politically active, seeking the womens vote.

Downton Abbey

 In the 1948 Vogue Magazine published an interesting retrospective on Charles Dana Gibson with a recreation of his illustration from The Weaker Sex. as photographed by Horst

copyright Glamourdaze 2011

The Corsetiere - Professional Corset and Girdle fitting

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The Corsetiere - Professional Corset and Girdle fitting in the 1930's and 1940's


Thought i'd post this interesting feature on The Corsetiere.
These corsetieres worked for the major firms that supplied conventional foundation garments to the vast majority of women for many decades in the last century.
Found these wonderful images and accounts on The Corsetiere


Here is one story from Alison

My mother was always very happy, very pleased, to be trying on her new foundations; she loved them. After fitting her, I would sit back on my stool while she looked at herself in the mirror, and she would ask me if I thought she looked good. She did look wonderful and absolutely beautiful in those white satin and brocade foundations. She always asked for ribbons adorning the suspenders and fine lace over the front panels and cups of the long-line bras she favoured so much.

These were very firm and very well boned garments; the bra cups were full coverage, the corselets were long over the thigh, and the bras were quite high backed. But they had a lovely sheen to them, and had the lace and ribbon adornments that made them so feminine; and of course, they produced such a lovely silhouette.

I was always expected to be beautifully turned out, and we would sometimes go out for lunch as a break during the course of our day, or after a morning of product reviews and preliminary measurements. I don’t think this intimacy, yet privacy, normally exists in the family today. I enjoyed these afternoons (but I didn't let on), and she knew it. My father was very proud of his wife's appearance, and his business colleagues always complimented him on how stunning she was. He loved that, so he never complained about the Spencer bills.

Occasionally her lady friends were invited for coffee at 11:30 and I would fit them too. After their first fittings, the new designs and fabrics were discussed in great detail. These were also social occasions, so whilst corsetry was discussed in great detail, decisions would also be made for which foundations would be the most suitable for a forthcoming event, where a particular suit or gown would be worn.

As you know only too well, ladies openly discussed foundations in those days. The personal matters and private aspects or complications of a particular fitting were, though, absolutely confidential, and a special trust existed between me and my mother and her friends.

When I saw an ad to be a Spencer Corsetiere, I applied. When I joined Spencer in 1953 I had to attend a training class given by our local manager. In this class we learned about the product line, how to analyze figure problems, and of course how to fit the girdles using the “Spencer method” and the measuring girdle.

Ultimately I became a "Spencer Consultant" and had a territory, and I visited ladies in their homes and fitted them with custom-made girdles and bras. I liked the job very much and I think my customers did too. All the measuring and fittings were done in someone’s home, and it was a lot more relaxing than going to a store.