Liberty bodice

It might be straight or slightly curvy, and sometimes had buttons to fasten on other underwear: drawers (knickers or US panties) or petticoat/slip.

The bodices had no boning, unlike corsets, although some had firm cloth strapping which might encourage good posture.

While some writers discuss liberty bodices as a restrictive garment imposed on children,[2] these bodices were originally intended to "liberate" women from the virtually universally worn, highly structured corsets that were the norm of contemporary fashion.

These new undergarments derived from the Victorian dress reform Movement, which aimed to free women from what they saw as body-compressing corsetry and excessive layers of underclothing.

The concept was related to the Women's Emancipation Movement,[3] but in practice some of the early liberty bodices in the UK were advertised for maids[4] who would be freer to get on with their work without a constricting corset.