Think you know how to take your clothes off? According to these 1930s photos, you’re probably doing it all wrong
Time uncovered a stunning series of images of burlesque stars called “How A Wife Should Undress.” The photos originally appeared in a 1937 issue of LIFE magazine.
According to LIFE, the photos were taken at a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing. Women were told that “many a marriage ends in divorce court because the wife grows sloppy and careless in the bedroom.” The best way for a woman to disrobe, according to Gilbert, was “neatly sliding her dress down over her hips and gracefully stepping out of it.”
Check the photos out below and see the full gallery on LIFE.com.
Ex-burlesque stripper June St. Clair removing stockings during a demonstration of how a woman should undress in front of her husband at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing.
Ex-burlesque stripper June St. Clair w. her right knee sexily crooked while demonstrating how a wife should teasingly remove her lingerie in front of her husband in the bedroom, during class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing.
Ex-burlesque stripper June St. Clair sexily undressing as a typical wife clumsily disrobes next to her during demonstration on how wives should undress in front of their husbands in the bedroom, for a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing.
Typical wife clumsily removing her dress after pulling it off over her head during a demonstration of how not to undress in front of your husband in the bedroom, for a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing.
