Below are the genuine articles. One does not come across these very often since rubber naturally degrades in sunlight and in contact with any oils including perspiration.

Whilst compiling the fascinating recollections of the famous Spencer corsetiere, Alison Perry, she made a response to a question about rubber corsetry. I have copied the response since it inspired me to add an extra page to this site.  

Rubber corsetry was rarely referred to as such. "Reducing garments' were the euphemism of the day. From the earliest days of the invention of latex, the term rubber has had so many connotations. Indeed, the word itself has such totally different interpretations on both sides of the Atlantic that a newcomer to the country can inadvertently make the most ghastly mistakes. 'Perfolastic' and 'Nemolastic' were but two euphemisms in an industry of euphemisms. Eventually, even the word 'girdle' would vanish from the marketers lexicon.

One of the first on the 'reducing' band-wagon was one 'Dr. Jeanne Walters'.

This precursor of the girdle must have been a heavy and sweaty affair, however, it persisted from Charneaux in the 1920's, through the massively popular Playtex and the traditional Alstons, to pass into obscurity and the fetish world in the late 1980's. Just when it seemed to have died, the Latin American market chose to take up the challenge to perspire for fashion and a whole new range of these garments became available in South America. For such a fundamentally uncomfortable garment to survive so long has taken all the persuasive powers of the marketing departments. I sometimes feel that the so-called 'spin doctors' of the modern political genre were novices beside the marketers and the saleswomen of the corset companies!

The History of the Rubber Reducing Corset

I believe the rubber foundation garment proper (as opposed to a curiosity or medical appliance) started in the late 1920's or early 1930’s with the famous Charneaux corset, constructed from perforated rubber; the perforations allowing both breathing of the skin and varying the elasticity of the rubber itself. However, I have heard the following story from the same period. For sure, the rubber girdle and corset were invented during this time. Irene Castle and her husband were stage performers who were the toast of cafe society in the Paris of the 1920’s. They had a style on stage that reflected none of the stiffness and posed formality that stage performances previously had. When asked how she accomplished the fluid movements of the tango, Irene Castle told the press she credited the corset made for her by the top fashion designer of the time, Paul Poiret. When Poiret was queried, he merely said that he'd made Irene's corset of surgical rubber, glued and stitched to conform to the typical corset pattern of the day, but without any boning. Thus was the first rubber girdle born.

This lovely advert shows the Charneaux styles available in 1936. They have been rendered in black so as to illustrate the patterns of perforations, which were critical to the elasticity (not to mention hygiene) of the garment.

This is an amazing example of 'what lies beneath' advertising from Warners (?) in the late 1920's. It showed all the athletic activities that one might attempt in your new-fangled rubber corsets. Quite a stout matron is shown sitting, standing up, touching her toes and finally mounting a saddle . It's a shame she couldn't have ridden off into the sunset!

Alfred Hitchcock's "39 Steps" (1935) shows two travelling salesman admiring the latest in corsetry. The rubber Charneaux girdle. "Put a pretty young girl inside these, and she needn't be ashamed to go anywhere". Notice the intricate pattern of perforations and the crude attachment of the suspenders before latex molded suspenders were perfected (Playtex 1950).  

The rubber corset, brassiere and girdle became very popular since it was a revolutionary departure from the rigid restrictions of one's corseted Mother and represented a whole new concept of freedom. Of course the marketing department capitalised on this.

At some point, the word 'rubber' must have been perceived in a negative way, since a number of euphemisms start to appear in the advertising literature. 'Slymlastick' was a trade name, but the product looks awfully like good old perforated latex to me. The most lasting and endearing euphemism was the 'reduction' garment. Rubber or latex need not be mentioned, and the mere suggestion that the garment not just squeezed one into a new shape, but actually caused you to shed pounds was a huge attraction. Not that the latter claim is entirely false. Wearing one of these garments in any warm surroundings encourages copious perspiration.

In 1935, the word latex was perfectly acceptable to Sears' customers, but the reducing aspect was strongly advertised. These garments are rather elegant with the brassieres' cups faced in satin. They were marketed by Sears under the title 'famous Gale scientific support'. Note the cluster-lacing on the corset in the middle.

At least the straightforward Twilfit, who still manufacture corsets in Britain today, referred to both Latex and rubber in the text. No coy references to reduction or 'wonder materials'. If a woman wanted to sweat it out she wore rubber. No beating about the bush from Twilfit in 1939. I think the zenith of pre-war rubber corsetry is revealed in the pages of the Sears Catalog(ue) from 1938/9 (right). Two pages and goodness knows how many square yards of perforated rubber, laced, strapped and buckled into every conceivable combination. The Ministry of War (or whatever the equivalent might have been in the various countries) was, however, well aware that rubber was more urgently required for the war effort and rather than the support of some matron's abdomen. Rubber corsetry would never recover from this blow.

I know there are students of social history that can expound at great length on the inter-relationship between the tension of a woman's corset and the state of the world's politics, however, one of the side effects of the Second World War was a shortage of rubber, the use of which was reserved for military purposes. 

Several companies went out of business during the war, but others flourished. Although the hey-day of the rubber reducer had passed, it was not quite dead and achieved a surprising revival courtesy of Playtex. After the war, the famous Playtex girdle appeared, made from latex, perforated and unlined in earlier versions, lined with a bonded soft fabric in the later versions. The ‘reduction’ aspect was once again heavily advertised in the late 50’s, 60’s and even 70’s in Britain. A few companies, such as Ambrose Wilson and a few specialist manufacturers still made the old styles as well. 

Surely rubber brassieres must have been the last word in torture. I should know; I'm a well-built 42F and even with a cotton bra the underside of my breasts become uncomfortably warm. If they were surrounded by rubber I'm quite sure that perspiration would squirt straight through the perforations.

Playtex

The photographs (above left) composed by Gjon Mill are very skilfully crafted and show clearly the perforations:

As can be seen from the size labelling, these girdles were not just designed for the younger woman unless, of course, that younger women was a bit heavier than she would like and fancied that the rubber would help her lose weight.

Playtex, like so many manufacturers resorted to the before-and-after picture (below) that stretches the imagination, if not the girdle. The picture on the right shows a ghostly 'Five-pounds-thinner' girdle beneath the lady's dress.

Another commonly used ploy, was to have the elegant lady wearing the Playtex girdle whilst her frumpy friend looks on with obviously envy (above). But even Playtex didn't stop the obvious girdle line showing clearly through the elegant lady's dress.

Playtex, like many other brands, capitalised on the glamour of the airline stewardess. Whether she is hot at her tropical destination, working hard in the cabin, or on a date in the coolness of New York, she wears her Golden Playtex girdle with '7-way stretch' (whatever that means). This brings us back to the hoary old question of stewardesses and girdles. Whether girdles were mandatory or not, let us put it this way: women wear what other women wear and in the 1950s most fashionable women wore girdles. To be honest, Playtex realised that wearing raw latex next to the skin could, and indeed did, get very sweaty hence the emphasis on the 'cool' cloth lining.

Some other odd effects of wearing these girdles is recounted by Alison.

A word of warning to collectors. We have several of these girdles in the Ivy Leaf Collection, unfortunately one has become brittle with age and another split along the perforations. It was always a problem with these garments. I knew very few women who wore them, although an aunt of mine wore one in the humidity of the Far East and suffered badly from prickly heat until she reverted to a more conventional girdle. (I believe they were far more popular in the USA). Keep the girdles away from sunlight and never, ever let them get in contact with oil.

Sometimes Playtex could get the advertising wrong. Regard the lady in the above left. The intention is to show that granny, despite her years could bend down in the garden since she was modern enough to wear Playtex, rather than the boned contraptions of her generation. Unfortunately, it looks like the poor lady is having a 'funny turn' as she sinks to the ground. Sometimes the heat generated by the latex girdles did have this effect! At least the before and after effort is better than its peers of the 1960's.

If you study the Playtex adverts from the 1960s, they appear very 'middle class' and proper. The following series of prints from a German Playtex advert (below) seems to typify the corsetiere's trade and the powerful advertising approach. For a start, both corsetiere and client are immaculately groomed, very middle class and, by today's standards, in no needs of foundations at all. The rubber Playtex girdle is demonstrated "An ideal material for a girdle". The girdle is fitted as only an expert corsetiere can do.

The result is an even thinner client, but more important is the last picture in this charming middle class fable. The wife, the husband and the daughter are all smiling. The wife bends from the hips showing the flexibility of the wonder-material, the husband puts away his wallet, happy with his wife's improved figure, happy that she's smiling, and happy that it wasn't too expensive. Even the little girl appreciates her mother's good humour and simply can't wait to wear a girdle herself one day. Domestic bliss. How could you not rush out and buy one?

Latterly, Playtex reverted to making more conventional garments, however, it didn't stop them from producing a range of 'rubbery smelling' foundations from a patterned material. These garments, marketed under the '18 hour' range, had quite a popular following and were still to be found on sale at the end of the 20th century. As the advertisements from the mail order catalogues show, these girdles were 'popular' in Britain, America and France.

The Playtex Brassiere  (this article has been moved since it does not directly concern rubber or latex. Oddly, for a company that more than any other associated latex and corsetry, Playtex never inflicted the rubber brassiere on a gullible female population. That was left to other manufacturers.)

Alstons

The most famous rubber corsetry company in Britain was Alstons. They supplied made-to-measure corsets from their factory in Eastbourne from their inception in 1932 until the mid 1980’s. Rubber was their specialty and they had a wide range of thicknesses, colours and patterns. Eastbourne was a brilliant location because it served the Eastbourne - Bexhill - Hastings area where the old people go to retire. The Eastbourne Hydro Hotel in the 1960s was the haunt of the aged widow tottering around in her tweeds, white frilly blouse and, of course, cocooned from neck to toe in surgical rubber corsets, surgical stockings and attended by a miasma of pungent latex - and all this in the height of summer.

Alstons' Catalogue 1952

Alstons' Catalogue 1968

One of Alstons' last advertising brochures from 1975. Wearers could elect to have single or double thickness rubber.

An immaculate example of the genre. The metal-centered suspenders, the satin seams and the perforated rubber are classic features. The black, circular label explains how the hooks-and-eyes fasten under the zipper. I would have thought that any woman graduating to this sort of foundation garment would be well versed in the procedure already.

Kleinerts

A rubber girdle for the sporting girl that can be worn under swimsuits and sports wear to achieve a trim line. There are minimal perforations other than around the crotch and I imagine that wearing this garment would have been less than comfortable.

My husband has extracted some of the text from the 'Slymlastick' advertisement above:- " --the large perforations form minute suction cups which work constantly -- gently but persuasively eliminating fat --". Wasn't this actually the giant squid from Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues under the Sea?

Typical man; no idea about corsetry. A woman must suffer to be beautiful (unfortunately). Ivy

Alison's Views on Reducing Corsets 

A number of people have enquired whether Spencer ever sold rubber corsetry. Spencer’s main product line was always custom fitted rigid corsetry, but at one stage on the late 60s they did offer a line of rubber corsets.  I don’t think they were manufactured by Spencer but I believe they were imported from an English company (Probably Alstons - Ivy).

For a short time we were given a catalogue and I offered them to my customers.  I did not sell many of them, and being a traditional corsetiere, I did not have much interest in them, but there appeared to be a small but steady demand from full figured ladies for these weight-reducing garments.

These controlling rubber garments were very pale pink rubber bonded with a covering of stretch knit cream nylon. Techniques for molding natural rubber were not generally available then, and the panels were sewn together with a fold over seam to avoid any tearing of the rubber on the inside of the garment.  The salve-edges were turned over and sewn down and over these, conventional elastic edging/piping was sewn, so there appeared to be a minimum number of seams.  When worn, these rubber girdles could almost be mistaken for the normal ones, except there was no lace or brocade, and they had a more tubular appearance (no creases).

The open bottom girdles were made up of six panels; a central back panel, two sidepieces, two front pieces and a wide tummy shaped piece.  There was a central seam connecting the two front pieces, which was covered by the stronger tummy panel from the hem to the cuff.

The panty girdle was similar except the tummy panel came to an apex at the crotch.  On the panty girdles there was a very unusual zip fastening that came up from the left inside leg cuff, around the groin and then down again on the right inside leg.

Spencer’s advertising stressed the benefits of these garments. "They slim whilst reducing excess flesh whist at work or when just relaxing at home," and, “No dieting is necessary and no tiring exercise, they work for you, all through the day”.  I always thought they were very expensive, but Spencer guaranteed results.  As I remember a discounted price was offered if you bought two, or a coordinated set, and the ease of laundry and drying was also stressed.  “Just wipe over with mild soap flakes, dry away from heat in an airy place, dust with powder, and they are always ready for your new day, each day and every day”.  The corsets were designed to give long lasting wear, and if regularly changed, washed and properly dried before being put away, would last until you slimmed enough to require your new set.

We were told to be especially careful to stress the personal hygiene aspect of the garments, as there were no ventilation holes in the back, front, or groin of these rubber girdles. They were designed to create a localized “Turkish bath effect,” and we were told to tell our customers that ventilation holes had a propensity to split or tear.

The ones I remember most were all zippered.  The high-rise girdle had an apron front, was conventionally fitted with a side zip, and the usual six elastic fabric garters were sewn on to the hem of the apron front, which had the usual triangular elastic insert in the centre.  The long-leg panty had a front zip, wide-cuff waist and wide-cuff leg bands and no garters.  The long-line bra had a front zip, wide-cuff waist band and elastic fabric bra straps that followed round the curve of the back panel like a corselet.

I never saw a one-piece corselet.  I assumed this was because a tight one piece rubber garment would be very difficult to get in and out of.  For women who required a corselet I would recommend a high-rise girdle worn with an extra long-line bra.  I this case we were told the garments should overlap by three inches or more to avoid any possibility of a gap occurring at the midriff between your bra and girdle during regular activities.  

Recollections from Eastbourne

My brief encounter with Alstons is of a quasi-professional nature – not as a customer, you understand, but as a recent graduate and aspiring copywriter in the unlikely setting of Eastbourne.  Among the many accounts that was brought to this small advertising agency, an equally small income (judging by our pay packets) was Alstons, both the retail outlet and the famous rubber reducing corsetry business – although this side of the business was already tailing off even before the advent of the Trade Descriptions Act forced the owners – two sisters, I believe, and a brother – to reconsider the ‘reducing’ aspects of their mail-order offerings. (There was a rumour circulating the ad agency that Mr Alston used on some occasions to appear in our studio to borrow a tin of Cow Gum. Why, one asks? To attach the suspenders of a particularly urgent order. But this may just have been an urban myth.)

One hot summer’s day my friend and colleague, a young, ambitious account executive, was summed to the Alstons shop to collect the garment that was to feature in a front page advertisement in the local paper.  The garment was a pink rubber corset, but what my colleague had not bargained for was that it it was already attached to an equally pink fibreglass female trunk.  Worse still, he was obliged to the carry the garment and its replica of female anatomy through the crowded holiday streets of Eastbourne – unwrapped.  It wasn’t long before his face bore the same bright pink shade of the garment he was carrying.  But worse was to come.  The garment was duly sketched by one of agency’s small team of ‘commercial artists’, and the artwork sent to the paper.  Now this was in the days when a typical advertisement would be made up, physically, of a number of discrete components – heading, illustration, logo, and so on.  So this may explain why, when the advertisement appeared in the paper, the corset was rendered upside down, with its six suspender defying gravity and pointing to the sky.  Red faces all round  this time!

A Letter on the Subject

You wrote on your website that rubber corsetry was introduced in the 1920’s. This is wrong. The famous patented "Medicated Rubber Gaments" by Dr. Jeanne P.H. Walter already came out in 1909.

http://www.retronaut.com/2011/12/reduce-your-flesh-soap-1900s/
http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/dr-walters-medicated-rubber-garments/

You wrote that from 1950’s onwards, many girdle manufacturers tried to avoid the terms 'latex' and 'rubber' because of unwanted, fetishistic connotations. That cliche was publicly unknown until at least early 1970’s. The main issue with latex girdles was that the material felt sweaty, ripped easily and decomposed into smelly pulp over time, thus with fantasy material names they wanted to suggest that their expensive premium product was better and more durable than ordinary old-fashioned rubber.
 

The Playtex Brassiere