Girdle Comfort, Discomfort, Solutions

Definition: A girdle is a piece of functional underwear, and, as such, should be comfortable all day, every day. If your girdle is uncomfortable after 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours, then there is a problem. This section describes some of those problems and offers suggestions as to what you can do to resolve them. The actual alterations that are prescribed are found in the Alterations section.

Leg Creep

The legs on most long leg girdles creep up, especially while sitting, squatting, or getting in and out of vehicles. This is quite a nuisance to some folks, causing them to have to tug and pull the legs down throughout the day. But for men, there is an additional bit of discomfort, i.e. when the legs creep up, the crotch area decreases, putting an uncomfortable pressure on the genitals.

The reason for leg creep is simple. When you sit, squat, or just bend your knees, your backside will stretch from 3 to 5 inches or more. If the material is not capable of stretching this distance, the legs will creep up and the waistband will creep down.

The manufacturer of this garment understood the problem quite well and clearly did something about it. The legs on this girdle are very long, and the split on the backside allows excellent stretch capabilities. I was unable to identify the producer of this girdle, but a visitor from Zimbabwe, Africa contributed the following.

"The image, which you say you have not been able to identify, is of the Maidenform Concertina - I have the same image in my collection but with a little bit of text. Apparently it came in more than a dozen styles - priced from $5.95 to $15.00. The model shown was 10 bucks. The patent was dated 1964."—— Thank you sir.


Bicycle-short designers found solutions to the creeping problem years ago. Here's what they did:

  1. Lengthened the legs so that they end where the quadriceps muscle tapers.
  2. Made the shorts higher in the waist, which provides more material to stretch vertically in the rear.
  3. Added an elastic band at the bottom for better gripping.
  4. Tapered the legs at the bottom for better gripping.

Solutions for girdle creep that you can try:

    1. Add a 4" elastic cuff to the legs of the girdle. This was contributed by Bill E. at the Girdles and More Form. It has one drawback, i.e. you will not be able to wear the girdle with short shorts.
    2. Choose a higher waist girdle, i.e. one that is at least 2 inches higher than the natural waistline. This puts more material on the backside that can stretch further.
    3. Add a gripper elastic band at the bottom of the legs for better friction. Unfortunately, gripper elastic only comes in a lace band at this time (October, 2004), but this may change in the future.
    4. Taper the bottoms of the legs.
    5. Conversely, you could let the legs stretch out by themselves, or you can add a gusset in each to enlarge them. In this case, the legs will most definitely creep up, but then they will return to their normal position as soon as you stand up. This then would be very similar to boxer shorts.

The solution for leg creep is a tough nut to crack. Even if you employ ALL of the solutions above, some girdles will still creep. The reason for this is that the material on the backside is not stretchy enough to accommodate body stretch and the gripper around the thighs is not strong enough to hold the girdle down. This is a design issue that manufacturers need to address. Girdles need to have a separate panel on the backside with a material that stretches vertically, and the legs need to come down lower with a better gripping elastic. Girdles that are completely made of a stiff fabric are most prone to leg creep, and they are the most difficult to deal with.


Crotch Discomfort

If your crotch is not comfortable, you may not be able to wear the girdle all day; in fact, it may ruin your day. Crotch discomfort is subtle and progressive; in other words, it does not usually attack you first thing in the morning but only after you have been wearing a girdle a few hours.

Here are a few reasons for crotch discomfort and what you can do about them;

  • The girdle is pulled up too high. Perhaps the girdle is not as tall as you think, and you are trying to wear it in the upper position, when, in reality, it should be worn in the lower position.
  • When you sit in a car, bend over, kneel, or squat, the legs may rise, putting gradual, subtle tension on the crotch area. See the Leg Creep section above for solutions.
  • Genitals or pubic hair get caught in the folds of the split crotch. Wear briefs under the girdle or have the split crotch sewn together.
  • Please review the other section on Crotch Concerns and Comfort.

Waistband Roll or Compression

Waistband roll or waistband compression is very uncomfortable. When the waistband rolls or compresses, it becomes a rubber band. It becomes narrower and denser and produces a corresponding increase in tension per square inch of body.

Waistband roll can occur for several reasons.

    1. If the waistband is too tight, it may roll.
    2. If there is no waistband or it is very narrow, it may roll.
    3. If the girdle is not worn exactly on the Lower Position or the Upper Position but somewhere in between, it may roll. This is exactly what happend to one reader. He solved the problem by pulling the girdle up higher so that the lower edge of the waistband sat right on the natural waist line.

    No
    Roll
    Roll
    Starting
    Roll
    Complete
    Solutions:
    1. Let out the waist by installing a gusset.
    2. Purchase your girdles with a 2 to 3 inch waistband or have one installed. Be aware that when you add a wider waistband, you will be increasing the tension, and you will need to install a gusset.
    3. Wear the girdle as previously discussed, exactly on the Lower Position or the Upper Position, but not between.
    4. Add bones to the waistband or to the top of the girdle if there is no waistband.

Dunlop's Disease

Actually, "Dunlop's Disease" is just a southern play on words. In the South, when a man's belly is so large that it precedes him, it is often said that his belly "done lops over his belt".

Similarly, when skin lops over the edge of the girdle, for the sake of brevity we'll call it Dunlop's disease. This can be quite uncomfortable after a period of time. The girdle on the left is obviously too tight, causing skin and fat to hang over the edge. On the right, the problem is relieved by installing a gusset.

 


Stitching Discomfort

Heavy stitching inside the girdle can produce discomfort.

Several years ago, I purchased a very stout girdle from Sears (#24308). It felt great while in the store, so I continued to wear it for the rest of the day. A couple hours after my purchase, I felt a dull pain under the garment. As time passed, the pain increased and continued to amplify until I was forced to remove the girdle. Rolling the culprit down, I noticed deep, red impressions in my skin immediately under the stitched seams. Thinking this had to be the problem, I took the girdle off, turned it inside out and put it back on. Viola! Problem solved. I was able to continue wearing the garment for several additional hours with no discomfort at all. As long as I was able to keep the stitching away from my skin, everything was just fine.

Let it be said, that most girdles will NOT produce the pain as described above, but some do; and they need to be dealt with, or they will be relegated to the bottom drawer.

Solutions:

  • Wear a liner under the girdle ( perhaps the most practical solution). This is discussed at length in section Under-Girdle Underwear.
  • Wear the girdle inside out.

Belly Roll Blues

Generally, when you sit down wearing a HWLLPG, the waistband will push up on your abdomen and create a roll of skin or flab just over your girdle top and under your breasts. Although this condition is not a major pain, it is annoying.

The problem is easily resolved by grabbing the top of the girdle through your shirt and pulling it up and over the belly roll. You might be thinking that this is embarrassing, but it is not. The action can be done quite quickly and discretely. No one has ever caught me doing this that I know of, and if they have, they never mentioned it. I know of no other solutions for this problem.

 

Waistband Compression While Sitting or Driving

A girdle that seems to fit properly while standing, often becomes one's personal enemy while sitting, and especially while driving a vehicle. The reason for this is simple: your chest expands an inch or two when you sit down. The more hunched over you are, the more it expands. The more it expands, the more pressure you will feel from the waistband. This problem is especially prevalent if you are wearing the girdle in the Upper Position.

Solutions:

  • Purchase a girdle using your exact natural waistline. It should feel fine at the waist, but the tummy area might not be acceptable. You will probably need to have it "taken in".
  • If you purchased a girdle at a size or two less than your natural waistline, but you like the way it feels across your hips and belly, employ a seamstress to install a gusset or two at the back of the girdle.
  • When you are purchasing a girdle at a corsetier, insist upon comfort in the waistband area. Give it a sitting test, then a standing test, then a squatting test; but by all means, test the girdle in many positions, and focus on comfort in the waistband.

On a personal note. In the summer of 2000, I purchased two HWLLPG girdles from Arlene's Corsetry near Boston. I tried them both on in the store while in a standing position (I did not sit). I wore one out of the store thinking that it would be OK for the rest of the day. Later, after sitting a couple of hours in an airplane and in airport waiting areas, it became uncomfortably clear that I had made a big mistake. The waistband was too tight and seemed to get tighter and tighter as the day went on. I became extremely uncomfortable, and eventually I had to take the girdle off. Lessons learned: I should have tested the girdle in various sitting or bending positions, and I should NOT have worn the garment out of the shop.