Winkie and Secret Lady

I’m not entirely sure what to do with a mannequin of a woman’s hips, but I’m the owner of Secret Lady, the one on the right. Wendy, of course, has Winkie. We stumbled upon them in an antique store not far from her house in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. It wasn’t an impulsive decision. We went home and discussed it and other matters with our husbands long into the night. Wine was involved. We returned to the shop the next day and purchased them for a modest sum, then strapped them into our cars and went our separate ways. Secret Lady is now in my office in Toronto, and Winkie is among the plants in Wendy’s living room.

Wendy’s husband Liam, a naturally curious sort, did a little research. Winkie and Secret Lady were girdles and garter belts made by The Canadian Lady Corset Company, later known as Canadelle, which morphed into WonderBra. I have dim memories of my mother wearing a girdle, with complicated straps to hold up her stockings. That of course gave way to pantyhose, notably control top, which in turn evolved into what we call shape wear, the Skims and Spanx of outrageous fortune. All basically designed to keep a woman in (her) place with a minimum amount of jiggling. Despite all the bra burning of second wave feminism, jiggling is still frowned upon. If you jiggle, you are seen to be a slattern, wanton even, definitely out of control, whereas Secret Lady plays her cards close to her chest, or would if she had one.