Figure 1.--After World War II in Britain the liberty bodice was considered very old-fashioned and pretty much dropped out of use. But it persisted in a few places. We notice for instance a vintage Vencel Liberty Bodice in 1958. It has a factory tag reading "made for all young people" (presumably including both boys and girls). This is a "slip-on" model with no front or back closure that can simply be put on like a sleeveless sweater. Rather than the traditional fleecy fabric associated with the earlier liberty bodice, this garment was made from a wool and nylon fabric known as Vencel. Place the cursor on the image for a close-up of the tag. You cn also see a close-up of the opem-weave fabric.

After World War II in Britain the liberty bodice was considered very old-fashioned and pretty much dropped out of use. But it persisted in a few places. We notice for instance a vintage Vencel Liberty Bodice in 1958. It has a factory tag reading "made for all young people" (presumably including both boys and girls). This is a "slip-on" model with no front or back closure that can simply be put on like a sleeveless sweater. Rather than the traditional fleecy fabric associated with the earlier liberty bodice, this garment was made from a wool and nylon fabric known as Vencel.

Chronology

After World War II in Britain the liberty bodice was considered very old-fashioned and pretty much dropped out of use. But it persisted in a few places. We notice for instance a vintage Vencel Liberty Bodice in 1958. It has a factory tag.

Gender

The factory tag read, "made for all young people" (presumably including both boys and girls).
Design

This is a "slip-on" model with no front or back closure that can simply be put on like a sleeveless sweater.

Material

Rather than the traditional fleecy fabric associated with the earlier liberty bodice, this garment was made from a wool and nylon fabric known as Vencel. The fabric is open-weave and designed to help the wearer maintain an even body temperature, enabling them to keep warm in winter and cool in the summer.

Popularity

Despite being launched with special packing and advertising, this particular Liberty Bodice was not very successful. According to the information given, the reason for its relative unpopularity was its higher price. The style was therefore discontinued by the manufacturer within a few years. I think that price was probably less important than the fact that the garment had mostly lost its major function as a support for stockings and underwear. (The corresponding garment in Germany, the Leibchen, continued to be worn by boys and girls up through the 1960s--even, in some cases, after tights had largely taken the place of long stockings for school wear by boys and girls.) The persistence of the Liberty Bodice as late as 1958 seems to be something of an anomaly in British fashion, but we have also found a cartoon drawing from the same period that shows a boy of about 8 attaching the garters of his Liberty Bodice to grey long stockings. This was obviously not at all common, but apparently the practice still existed in a few places. We do have a personal reminiscence from a British reader who recalls that he wore a Libery Bodice with suspenders for long stockings during the second decade of the 20th century (1915).

Construction

The Vencel Liberty Bodice has the necessary reinforcement straps over the shoulders to support stockings and underwear, but there are no visible waist buttons on the garment or tabs for garters. Presumably mothers would sew the necessary buttons on themselves. Or perhaps safety pins were used. The garters ("suspenders") would probably have been attached to sewn-on buttons or else pinned onto the reinforcement straps.

Created: 1:05 AM 9/6/2006
Last updated: 1:06 AM 9/6/2006