Woman’s Figure is Her Fortune

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 April 1939, Page 8

Woman’s Figure is Her Fortune

If you’re one of those women who still imagine the advice “the corset must fit the occasion” just a bit of strategy on the part of manufacturers to sell a lot of corsets, you had better read every word of this —because it’s going to make a big difference to the way you wear your clothes this season. It is sheer optimism for any woman to expect the most of her afternoon frock over a sports girdle —or to expect the freedom she wants for sports from the foundation her afternoon frock demands. They just aren’t designed along the same lines. Different frocks for different occasions require different construction in the corset itself. . Fifteen years ago even women oi means bought corsets only twice a year —and identical models for day and evening. All very well, in those days, when a frock could hang like a sack and still be labelled chic. Today they are plastered to the waist area—and cling right to the hips. Woman has discovered that her figure’s her fortune' as much as her faceI—and 1 —and she’s out to make the most of it. You will make the most of it,-if you choose your corsets carefully—with a critical eye to the dresses you will wear them with. Many a frock advertises where the corset ends and suspenders begin. Be careful, therefore, to wear a long-line corset under anything that clings closely down the thigh, to avoid unsightly bulges of flesh. The flowing classic lines of the new evening frocks are still more exacting. You need a one-piece corselette to mould you in one liquid line from bust to thigh. And it must be soft and pliant,) otherwise the illusion of classic grace is lost. For this, all the new plastic satins and failles are perfect, and also the new ’ skintex garments featuring “fabric boning.” ’ . But because the long thigh control is ■designed for movement, not for strenuous action, the garment so essential to looking like a Venus in afternoon or evening gowns, is definitely unsuitable for sports clothes. You need a shorter garment, less restraining. The knitted stretching garments are perfect. Even heavier figures can enjoy this active freedom in the still more powerful two-way-stretch. There there is that miraculous foundation that has a smoothly sliding panel in the back, constructed on the same principle as the scales of a fish, to allow for the most vigorous action without any vestige- Of strain on shoul- ' der straps or stockings. This garment is perfect for heavy and lighter figures alike, for any occasion that demands freedom of movement. On the grounds of economy alone, there is a definite advantage in possessing what has come to be known as a “corset wardrobe.” The woman who has two or three foundations which she wears for a few hours, then rests, and which she launders frequently, will get infinitely more wear and better service than if she bought two or three garments at four-monthly intervals and wore each to death. When it comes to buying foundations this season, we find it absolutely bewildering to choose. You’ll fall in love with the new fabrics and be tempted to wear them whether they’re for your figure type or not. What you should or shouldn’t wear—whether a one-way-two-way satin or a two-way-stretch, a girdle and bras or a controlette—is a matter for an expert to decide. Try on several different styles and then be guided by the advice of the fitter. For. after all, the corsetiere in an up-to-date store is trained and experienced in diagnosing figure needs.