Why Bother? Women wear girdles to make their clothes fit better, to support their backs and stomachs, and to correct what exercise and diet cannot. And there are other reasons to wear girdles. They can be very seductive and even lovely garments. Having been worn by so many glamorous women in the most glamorous years of the twentieth century, they are certainly as worthy of a place in the pantheon of lingerie as garter belts, slips, and teddies. I Thought Girdles Went Out Years Ago! Not only are girdles still made and sold, they are even enjoying something of a revival. As a retailer wrote recently, "The owner of my corset shop says the girdle business is the best it's been in decades, and growing. For years she did well enough with bras for the under-forty set, but now it's both bras and girdles. The owner thinks Madonna is the woman of the hour because she introduced the young to the girdle as a fashion statement. It's no longer such a dirty word! Apparently a lot of very young ladies of all sizes are getting into real boned and zippered girdles." Body Briefer , or Corsolette Corset shop owners are on the front lines of this issue. They report that the girdle business is booming and younger women are returning to them for a variety of reasons: they want to look nice, they've had a baby, they've gained a little weight, they have back problems, there's a return to dressing up, retro is in vogue and in all the fashion magazines, and so on. Retailers are convinced that the girdle is back big time. It's hard to say whether this is marketing-speak, but it is true that shapewear like the hipslip are popular with younger women.