1926

In 1926 Bondi was the scene of a women’s body measurement study by the corsetry company Berlei, which led to the ‘five Australian figure type’ classification.

Bondi featured in the 1926 anthropometric study of 6,000 Australian women aged between 15 and 65 by the undergarment design firm Berlei. It distilled the women’s measurements into a five ‘figure type indicator board’ - Sway Back, Hip, Average, Abdomen, and Short Below Waist – then sent it to retailers to help them classify women’s figures. The boards were first produced in the late 1920s and were still in use in the 1960s.

The study was a collaboration with physiologists in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney who undertook the National Census of Women’s Measurements by analysing 23 measurements from each woman. Women at Bondi were measured at a special tent erected on the beach over the summer of 1926-27. Measurements were also taken at factories, seaside resorts and Turkish baths.

Over the next decade fashion moved from made-to-order corsets to the Five Australian Figure Types, which revolutionised the production of foundation wear.

 A company executive described the corsetry work in 1955: ‘It is like building a bridge … there are strains … and stresses. And you’ve got to know just where they come, otherwise your bridge - or your foundation garment - soon collapses.’

In 2003, surf brand Rip Curl undertook an anthropometric survey, measured 2300 females aged 12 to 24 over 12 days at Bondi and other beaches and shopping centres. It implemented new size standards after analysing the data and reported an 86% increase in sales that season, attributed to a better-fitting product.

Berlei began in 1912 with a small shop called Unique Corsets Limited founded by Fred Burley and his brother, Arthur. In 1917 they adopted the more French-sounding surname of Berlei. In 1969, the firm was sold to Dunlop Australia and, soon after, was bought by the Hestia company. 

Image courtesy the collections of the State Library of New South Wales.