Above the corset, a rigid bra squeezed you in more, with tight elastic down to the waist. That was there to squeeze in what we know as the top tummy, the bulging bit of the body we most hate. If you don't believe me, look at the ads in old women's magazines. The instruments of sartorial torture are proudly displayed there.
Corsets were built into top frocks to make sure the wearer looked right, and hips were gently padded to exaggerate the waistline of dresses with full skirts. Shape was valued, you see. A little bit of soft flesh was seen as seductive, attractive, feminine when that was a good thing to be. Bear in mind here that Audrey Hepburn, who looks like a contradiction, was bulimic. Other film stars were slim in a normal kind of way, ate real food, drank real cocktails, wore corsets, and - this is important - were young. We were all slim when we were young.
Obesity campaigners tell us that two-thirds of us are overweight or obese. My guess is the rest are under 30 and have never had children. Overweight people have taken over from smokers as the whipping boys of health. Now that we've marginalised smokers to puffing their fags outside, and plan plain packaging of fags to reduce their glamour, the overweight are a natural target. Like smokers they are health risks, it may cost a lot to keep them alive and, importantly, you can see what's wrong with them because you notice that they are not Kidmans.
The health service is considering making overweight people go on forced diets before surgery, lobbyists want food they don't approve of banned from school canteens and many more must hanker to ban fast food outlets altogether.
It's true that sugary drinks are cheaper than milk at the supermarket, but water is free. What's their point?
They tell us that being overweight is linked to heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer's and cancer. It is also true that if you survive long enough, you could well get one or all of those conditions.
But is frightening people the way to go, and should the overweight - most adults, according to the current statistics - get the same censure as the obese?
As for the Queen's Birthday Honours: what a massive yawn. It's nice that good people make tons of money, or do good works, or just do well-paid jobs well, but what's the big deal? Where's the imagination? I'd give a gong to veteran protester John Minto, who I often disagree with, for devoting a lifetime to causes he firmly believes in. And I'd toss another one to his fellow leftie, Sue Bradford, who by her refusal to engage with his party (in both senses of the word) became the brave person who was neither bought, nor charmed, by His Very, Very Chubbiness the Dotcom. It was time someone did.
