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The first suggestion of comfort came in 1907 when corset-makers hit upon the idea of "anchoring" the corset to the stocking by means of the hose supporter. With little change the corset pinched and pressed its way through the War into the "corsetless era," which was not corsetless at all. It was the age of the girdle. Millions of stout women kept on buying corsets. The slimmer ones took to the girdle. When the word corset became unpopular, corset-makers shrewdly substituted the "foundation garment." At the beginning of Depression the Paris couturiers, sick of the tube dress, came to their rescue by raising the waistline, dropping the skirt. "Foundation garments" became a practical necessity. The corset-makers frankly admitted for the first time that women had not one bust but two breasts. Even then corsets were relatively clumsy affairs with elastic threads woven to stretch only in one direction. The elastic lost its snap if a corset lay on a store shelf for any length of time. Perspiration and a few washings had the same effect.
Corsets: New Style. The most historic corset year of modern times was 1931. On Oct. 1 Warner Bros., which was celebrating its 55th year, launched an advertising campaign featuring the "Youthlastic" corset which would stretch two ways and was made of Lastex. Next day, Oct. 2, the famed firm of Kops & Co. exhibited a similar garment. Few months later a third company, H. & W., brought forth another Lastex corset. Each had worked independently during the summer without knowing what the others were doing. But the combined effect was revolutionary.
Lastex and the two-way stretch are not the same thing though they were launched simultaneously. The two-way stretch is purely a matter of weaving elastic threads up & down and across the corset so that the garment "gives" with every movement of the body. Lastex, made of latex, the pure essence of rubber and tougher than its compounds, was more practical than the old rubber because it did not lose its elasticity despite long wear and frequent laundering. Thus the two-way stretch allowed corseted women to move about with freedom; the Lastex, carefully moulding the figure, kept the corset fitted snugly to the body.
Last week no depressing seasonal valleys, no troublesome style changes marred the corset curve. Warner Brothers' Chairman DeVer Howard, 65, son of the elder of the two founders, stayed in Bridgeport busily manufacturing. But proudly walking around the Warner Bros, showroom was the son of the other founder, shrewd, kindly Lucien Thompson Warner, 52, who was last year selected by his colleagues to head the committee which codified corsets, seventh industry to come under the NRA. And busy in their own showrooms chatting with buyers were the proprietors of many another corset company whose name is familiar to U. S. women—Kops, H. & W., I. Newman, Formfit, Gossard. Lily of France. All agreed that corsets this year will have few bones, that 60% will be two-way stretch, and the other 40% will go around the girths of women who are set in their ways. Only cause for excitement this year was a little flurry over the molding of the breast. Many breast lines tended to be smooth and rounded, but on the Pacific Coast the Hollywood influence was still dictating "points."