Shapewear is a 21st century take on a concept dating back hundreds of years, originally epitomized by the corset, a stiff piece of underwear reinforced with wood or bone and used to give the appearance of a very small waist. The corset was later superseded by the girdle, a piece of very tight, body-shaping underwear worn from the early 1920s through to the 1960s. The word girdle today sounds rather old-fashioned and is disappearing from use in favour of more transparent terms such as body shaper, controlwear and shapewear. However, an alternative term which dates back to the 1940s but is still in contemporary use is waist cincher.

Shapewear is a 21st century take on a concept dating back hundreds of years, originally epitomized by the corset, a stiff piece of underwear reinforced with wood or bone and used to give the appearance of a very small waist. The corset was later superseded by the girdle, a piece of very tight, body-shaping underwear worn from the early 1920s through to the 1960s. The word girdle today sounds rather old-fashioned and is disappearing from use in favour of more transparent terms such as body shaper, controlwear and shapewear. However, an alternative term which dates back to the 1940s but is still in contemporary use is waist cincher.