The liberty bodice (Australian and

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

), like the emancipation bodice or North American emancipation waist, was an undergarment for women and girls invented towards the end of the 19th century, as an alternative to a corset. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

they were well known for decades, with some older women still using them in the 1970s. A liberty bodice was a simply shaped sleeveless

bodice A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the ...

, often made of warm, fleecy fabric, usually with suspenders ( US garters) attached. It might be straight or slightly curvy, and sometimes had buttons to fasten on other underwear: drawers (knickers or US panties) or petticoat/

slip Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

. A

vest A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. ...

(US undershirt) might be worn underneath. 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, these bodices were originally intended to "liberate" women from the virtually universally worn, heavily boned and firmly laced corsets that were the norm of contemporary fashion. These new undergarments derived from the

Victorian dress reform Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement (also known as the rational dress movement) of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more ...

Movement, which aimed to free women from body-compressing corsetry and excessive layers of tedious, unhealthy underclothing. The concept was related to the Women's

Emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

Movement, but in practice some of the early liberty bodices in the UK were advertised for maids"Maids' Liberty Bodices", advertised in ''

the Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'', 21 November 1896 who would be freer to get on with their work without a constricting corset. Later the liberty bodice came to be thought of as something practical for a child who could be buttoned up warmly. Liberty bodices are commonly associated with R. & W. H. Symington of

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

, Leicestershire, but the name had already been used before they made their first bodice: a version for girls aged 9–13 was sold for one shilling and nine pence- halfpenny in 1908. The name has also been used for products from other manufacturers or for home-made garments.

References

Symington liberty bodices
in Leicestershire museum
London Science Museum: ''The Corset Controversy''Liberty bodice showing buttons at side for attaching other underclothes

Notes

{{Historical clothing 19th-century fashion 20th-century fashion Lingerie Women's clothing