Posted Sept. 16, 2026

During the early formation of our country, women were roughly broken down

into two groups; straight-laced women and loose women. The meaning of these descriptions during my growing up years was passed down to me by my family and friends. 

I considered a straight-laced woman to be one of refinement, dignity and having the proper credentials. A prim and proper woman such as Miss Kitty, proprietor of the Long Branch Saloon, in the television show GUNSMOKE represented a straight-laced woman and the loose women were portrayed by the younger women working in her saloon. 

Being raised in rural Texas, my first encounter with loose women was from looking at pictures of scantily clad women in the Sears and Roebuck Catalog. In later years I was introduced to the National Geographic Magazine (this was all before Playboy Magazine of course). 

It is likely that you have another impression of the terms straight-laced and loose, but these are mine.

In the book, Big Wigs, Old Goats and Loose Women, by Sheila Williams the origination of these two terms is described as follows” To be known as a loose woman in the 18 century meant that one was not wearing her stays or French corset that was stiffened with wooden stays of whalebone. 

To wear your stays, meant that you were

“straight-laced” into a cone-shaped corset to give the erect posture necessary to good breeding and the illusion of a tiny waist. To further this illusion, milady wore “false hips” to call extra attention to her anatomy and status in life. 

A gentleman husband would have to expend quite a bit of money to purchase the necessary extra yardage to cover the false hips worn on both sides of the waist. 

Never mind that she looked like a crab when walking in the false hips and that special chairs had to be fashioned for sitting, add to that, the inconvenience of getting one’s “hips” stuck in a doorway or lodged in the door of a carriage. 

Fashion is always a hard mistress and must be indulged no matter what the discomfort. The term loose woman in those days appears to me now to have been applied to a woman married to a hard working common man who could not afford the cost of a straight-laced woman.

Another saying, “To Go he Whole Nine Yards”, can be associated with false hips.

I had always thought the saying had something to do with a person that did their best at whatever they did. As in, he went the whole nine yards and got the job done. 

My sports loving friends probably thought it was associated with rugby or football when actually the original meaning of the word was associated with women’s clothing. Ms. Williams wrote that, “Colonial cloth was shipped to the new world in bolts containing nine yards of fabric. 

Using “the whole nine yards” was a mark of extravagance”. I guess we have gotten away from ‘prim and proper now that women of all ages seem to be wearing pants with their smart phone in their hip pocket. Today’s fashion is more comfortable than wearing a cone shaped corset, but it does not give the illusion of a tiny waist.

Other sayings that may apply to this discussion could be, Dressed to the T’s, Don’t judge a book by its cover, you are the apple of my eye, pretty as a picture and Loosey goosey.

John is a local history buff and can be contacted at [email protected].

Smith can be found at the Burleson Museum and Tourist Center on Friday afternoons. The Center is located in the historic interurban depot at 124 W. Ellison St., owned by the City of Burleson, and operated by the Burleson Heritage Foundation.

BN-E