Did Your Mum Make You Wear A Liberty Bodice?
Did any of you wear a liberty bodice when you were little? I saw this little cabinet at Quarriers
Village - advertising liberty bodices from "Libertyland" Market
Harborough. It brought back a few
memories.
A liberty bodice was like a vest but made out of a soft,
warm fabric. My mum made me wear one
during the winter when I was very young.
I suppose in the days before central heating we needed all the warmth we
could get.
When I think about it - this was my winter school gear when
I was about 5 years old - pants and woolly tights, vest, liberty bodice, full
length petticoat, school blouse and skirt then a cardigan! If I was going outside, then this ensemble
was topped off with a school blazer and trench-coat! How on earth was I able to move???? Getting ready for PE (gym) must have been
awful - although when I think about it
we didn't have PE kit in primary school, we just pranced about in our
uniform. No wonder! Teachers would have had to spend an entire
morning waiting for the little girls to
divest themselves of all their layers!
Discovered that liberty bodices (sometimes called
"emancipation bodices") were introduced when flapper gals abandoned
their corsets and freed themselves from the tyranny of restricting
clothing. Although given what I had to
wear when I was little, I'm not sure my Mum got the message!
Love, Liz
Comments
x
Claire xxx
Love from Mum
xx
June
I missed out on actually wearing one, but I do own a childs one complete with the paper labels - it looks as though it would have been VERY snug! I didn't escape the vest though ;o)
Rose H
x
Love those little drawers. Think of all the things you could put in them
Anne xx
Thank you for sharing.
Oh and yes, I too did gym in my underwear with the obligatory navy blue knickers.
Also at Primary School, we had no uniforms for PE, just plimsolls and we girls had to tuck our skirts/dresses into the legs of our pants to keep them out of the way - can you imagine anyone doing that now? Secondary school was not much better - black satin knickers with buttoned sides and blue airtex shirts - Ah - those were the days !!!!
Hope you enjoy your Monday!
Maureen
Best wishes
Jenny
Caro
Our bodices were very thick and padded, with rubber buttons. The buttons were rubber so that the garment could safely go through the mangle without damage.
Bruce (b.1942)
I then went to an all girls secondary school and we had the navy blue knickers as part of the P.E. uniform, short sleeve mustard yellow polo shirts and short wrap around navy blue skirts. It was freezing playing netball outside in the winter and I would have been really grateful for a liberty bodice and woolly vest!
Then there was the best part of the uniform - not. That "oh so wonderful" fashion must have for every 1960/70's teenager, the hooded gabardine mac. How I detested that monstrosity. I was born in late 1955.
Great in Winter but cumbersome in Summer.
Rather embaressing for a boy.
Regards Crossley
I remember the buttons and straps.
Felicity
Never did use the buttons & used to wonder what they were for.😂