Dear Miss MacDonald,

 What an interesting and refreshing web site you have!   Refreshing because you air the subject of male disipline which is so sadly lacking in modern society. I am a 'young'  86 year old male who is still willing to learn new tricks...e.g. learning to use a computer, e-mail and the internet etc. I thought that you may be interested in hearing of my experience of being compelled to wear corsets from a young age.

From as early as I can remember I wore short trousers to just below the knee, and black stockings to just above the knee. The stockings were held up by a single susupender at the side of each leg which were then attached to a liberty bodice. When I was nine I was marched off by mother to a corset shop in the High Street where I was told that it was time I wore corsets (or 'stays' as they were then called).   Of course my protests fell on deaf ears as I was ushered in to a fitting room where I was told to get undressed, so that I could be measured and fitted.

Several types of boys' corsets were shown to us and the merits of each explained.   To my further consternation mother chose very heavily boned, pink brocade corsets, which boasted six wide suspenders, a full length busk fastening at the front, back lacing which came down right over my buttocks and the top right up into my armpits with shoulder straps to pull my shoulders back. It was to be a long time before I was able to put the corset on by myself each morning, needing Mother's help to fasten the busk and to fasten the  two back suspenders, due to the fact that I could no longer bend at the waist and reach them with both hands. It was to be these two back suspenders which were to add so much to the overall discomfort of the corset, as they always seemed to coincide with the edge of the wooden seat of the school desk, causing them to dig firmly into the backs of my thighs.

School hours seemed to be endless as I constantly shuffled in an endeavour to get comfortable, and find relief which never seemed to come.     In reality one must have become adjusted to them in time, but when new corsets had to be worn the whole process began again until they were 'broken in'.

I had to wear this type of corset throughout my schooldays, but when I left school at the age of 15 I was finally allowed to wear long trousers. Gone were the stockings and susupenders (except for the gents' suspenders I now wore below each knee to hold up my socks).   Also gone were the shoulder straps, and the corsets no longer came down over my buttocks, but just nicely over my hips and up to the lower chest high above the waist. They were still firmly boned, with busk and back lacing, but were an altogether more acceptable affair. This type I still wear to this day.

Although I would not have agreed at the time, I believe that corsets were very good for me and would not now have wanted to be without them. My two brothers were subject to the same discipline, as were my our twin cousins in Scotland, who both wore corsets beneath their kilts. Although corsets for boys were in decline in the 1920s, I was by no means the only boy in my class to wear them.

I am in no doubt at all that the only way to ensure the better appearance and good posture in a growing boy is to apply corsets, and even more important is the discipline which they provide, and which could be used to such advantage in these days. I therefore concur wholeheartedly with Jeff who wrote in your March issue.    Corsets should be a basic and essential item of every boy's underwear. Corsets for men and boys can still be readily obtained from several makers made to measure (see Long Island Staylace Association) or individual web sites...or ready to wear from Axfords of Brighton.
Yours most sincerely,

George B.

For corsets of the very highest quality, the Long Island Staylace Association is unbeatable. I strongly recommend them. It is a great pity that the days when boys wore firm corsets, and stockings and suspenders - and nicely starched pinafores - are gone. They certainly improved boys' behaviour, and respect for girls. The first set of corsets that Mr B. describes do sound a bit uncomfortable, but I am sure full length corsets would be made more comfortably if they were still manufactured today. Girls' clothing does not have to be uncomfortable; indeed part of the security and happiness of petticoating is the greater comfort of female underwear and dresses.

Boys still wore short trousers and long socks held up with garters regularly in British countries until well into the 1980s at least. Hopefully, 'petticoat' styles will return one day.
Susan