Getting the Curves

[Mica]

Pinup is about curves and especially that hourglass figure that, alas, nature did not give me.  I'm short waisted and was recently annoyed that a corset didn't give me enough of an hourglass look, although I pulled it pretty tight in back.  Has anybody ever had to deal with this?  I thought of padding my hips just a bit, but I didn't get any further than that thought to figuring out a solution.  I've got the backside curve, but I was wondering if it was possible just to exaggerate the hip curve so it looks better from the front.  (Umm, we pad the bras, so why not the hips too?)  Any thoughts, tips, or costuming/wardrobe tricks?

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

They absolutely picked girls who had the right shape, just like they do today, but I read an interview with a photographer once, I can't for the life of me remember his name, and he said that he shot for the Sears catalog and numerous different companies, and that even under swim suits and slips they wore waist clinchers. For two piece suits he said they would have to find the "perfect figure", and that they might use the same girl over and over for different companies because she had it.

 

Also, remember that just because they didn't have photoshop doesn't mean they didn't have tricks up their sleeves. Even back then the had secrets they could use.

[Mica]

Roxy, that's interesting.  I read somewhere that the Ford modeling agency picked Marilyn Monroe for her measurements (which were considered ideal), among other things about her.

 

I was looking up info on Bunny Yeager and kept surfing until I go to this Playboy list of all its centerfolds (or Playmates) for 1956.  They weren't all tall, but all of them had consistent bust/hip to waist ratios.  The difference between the bust/hips and the waist was about 10 inches, with the bust & hip being about the same.  Here's the link--note they don't list weight or bra cup size:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Winters#December

 

**NOTE:  Lisa Winters was one of the Playboy models that Yeager discovered according to the wiki article.

 

I could have gone all the way through the rest of the 50s, 60s, etc and looked at the numbers to see if/how the ratio changed, but I'm a bit too tired & lazy for that right now, so I skipped to the Playboy Playmate measurements for 2011 and the bust size has gone supersize!  The measurements are more interesting if you look at the Playmates' height, cup size, and weight--the girls get very thin and busty, which isn't a shocker, but as a researcher I like having the numbers to back up the shift from 1950s hourglass figure to the 2011 "thin & busty" look.  Here's the link: 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Playboy_Playmates_of_2011

 

And with that, I'm going to go get some ice cream for dinner.  ;)  I still want to know all their 1950s secrets!  I think one of them was to suck in their stomachs during bare-midriff shots.  Seems like pinups did that then, but models don't today.  I see the same "sucked in" look on dancers on old 1950s-1960s bellydance music albums.

 

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

I love the 50's idea of the "perfect 10". Ten inches between your waist to bust/hips measurements. I have a few finishing school books from the 50s and all of them talk about the 10 inch difference. I have a serious obsession with measurements, don't care what someone weighs, all I wanna know is the measurements. Here's my collection of a few of my favorite bombshell measurements:

Marilyn Monroe's measurements were:
Height: 5 feet, 5½ inches
Weight: 118 pounds
Bust: 35inches
Waist: 22inches
Hips: 35inches
That is similar to about a size 4 today. Even near the end of her career, when she was "fat", her measurements were
Bust:37 inches
Waist: 23 inches
Hips: 36 inches

Mae West
Measurements: 5' 1" 36-26-36 (in 1933), 38-24-38 (fitting by designer Edith Head), 39-27-39 (self-described in 1956),

Jayne Mansfield
Known for having one of the most sensational hourglass figures ever. 5' 6¼"  40D-17-36.

Jane Russell
With measurements of 38D-24-36 and standing 5'7"

Rita Hayworth
5' 6" Measurements: 36.5-C-24-36 (at peak of WW-II pin-up fame), 35-25-35 (in 1953 at 120 lbs.)

Sophia Loren
Measurements: 38C-24-38 (self-described - 1955, and from Edith Head- 1957), 36D-24-37 3/4 (at age 50 - 1985)

[Gel]

You can always try these. They are adhesive - but won't support themselves.

http://www.hourglassfigure.co.uk/padded-panties-and-hips-51-c.asp

http://www.lingerie-shapewear.co.uk/silicone-hip-enhancers-large-57...

Geraldine

[Mica]

Thanks Roxy & Gel!  I think I'm either going to suck in my waist by two inches or pad the bust and hips by two...measurements are good to keep in mind b/c sometimes you know something looks "off" but it's not clear what it is until you measure.  

:)

Mica

[GlassCannon]

I dunno, on the wikipedia link for the 2011 playmates (so far), there's a lot of 25" waists and 35" hips, and all of the 2011 Playmates fall within a 9"-11" difference range.  So I don't think we can look at just measurements to see how things have changed since the days of the girdle.

 

Me personally, my ungirdled measurements are 39"-29"-40", with a (natural) 30G or 28J bra size, depending on the brand.  Cup sizes have gone up in the last 30 years, while band sizes have stayed the same or even gone down a bit, but that's mostly to do with added hormones in our food.  In the corset I'm currently sewing, fully tightened my measurements shift to 40"-27"-40", and that may shift even more once I get the real grommets in and the corset breaks in a little.

 

So I'm a pretty extreme hourglass naturally, but I still don't have the 50s "nipped-in" waist look, if I wear modern underwear.  My torso is basically straight up and down, which I think is very common in modern shapes, even among Playmates.  We focus much more now on "long and lean".  I think the exercises that women do these days -- pilates, stairmaster, crunches, etc -- has changed the look of the body, especially from the front.  If a woman works out and is lean these days, she probably has a smooth torso, narrow hips, but large buttocks muscles.  The 10" difference between waist and hip is more visible viewed from the side, rather than from the front as with 1950s silhouettes.  

 

But of course, it really all does come back to the underwear.  As others have noted here, girls would start wearing girdles and long-line bras by the age of 14, and wear them every day through adulthood.  Believe it or not, that does have an effect on how and where the body stores fat.  Many women today have a divot around mid-hip, where low-rise pants, underwear, etc all hit, and have hit since their teenage years.  When all pants, skirts, swimsuits, girdles, bras, etc, instead focus on pulling in the natural waist, of course that will end up subtly shaping the body itself over time.  

 

I ran across a blog entry awhile back from a fellow pinup girl, who commented that after wearing a long-line bra and girdle that both stopped at her waist all day, and then changing into a retro bikini for a photoshoot, she had that line that you see at the waists of so many pinups from the 40s and 50s.  Imagine how it would be, then, if you wore long-line bras and girdles every day.

[WhatIf]

I'm pretty sure it's the widest part of your hips/butt.

Felicia Fatale said:

Do you take the hip measurement over the hip bones or over the butt?

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

http://www.thechicfashionista.com/body-measurements.html

Felicia Fatale said:

Do you take the hip measurement over the hip bones or over the butt?

[Rooster Q. Redghost]

Very curious as to how others achieve this myself. What types of padding are you thinking?

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

If you go back and read the last two pages, there are a ton of tips and tricks.

Rooster Q. Redghost said:

Very curious as to how others achieve this myself. What types of padding are you thinking?

[Tina G]

What a great idea! I will remember this tip for future use just in case...I'm really lucky that I have an hourglass figure naturally which is one reason why I love retro pin up so much! But if I need to give someone else advice I know just what to say!

Roxy Tart {PL Team / Madam} said:

This is the thread that will tell you all about the undergarments that you need to get the look. http://www.pinuplifestyle.com/forum/topics/binding-undergarments However, if you need more padding.... just follow the women that use it all the time, and better then anyone else. Drag Queens! Those men use padding to give their bodies amazing womanly curves!

 

http://www.lovemybubbles.com/hip-pads-foam.shtml

 

http://www.thefantasygirl.com/

 

[Cherrie A. Dorable]

Hi!

 

I didn't have time to read all the replies, so I'm not sure if anyone talked about this...

 

So, I would go with the corset. What kind of corset did you try on? It's better to get made-to-measure corsets, because professionals make the waist to the right place, just under the last ribs and so that it's really fit for you and makes the waist really small. It costs money of course, but also the quality is way better, my ready-made corset ripped in just a couple of months. So it is very important to really make the corset waist SMALL as you possibly can take, so that when you put it on, waist is tightened to the minimum size possible and bottom and top of the corset isn't cinching almost at all. :) It might take few days to warm the corset and make it feel comfy but really worth it. Start by half an hour per day, then hour per day, then two hours etc. and soon you don't even notice it. :) Corset doesn't hurt when it fits.

 

The ready made corsets' curve is usually very subtle so it is easy for everybody to weart, but also it doesn't give you curves but in worst cases only squeezes your body look like you're wearing sausage skin or some sort of waist band. Also I prefer waist high corsets so that it end just under your breasts, that is so much easier and versatile to wear than full bust high corset.

 

And sorry about my English, I'm not native as you might notice. :)