The clothing firm of R & W H Symington of Market Harborough, Leicestershire is historically associated with which undergarment?

The liberty bodice (Australian and British English), 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 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, 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. A vest (US undershirt) might be worn underneath. The bodices had no boning, unlike corsets, although some had firm cloth strapping which might encourage good posture.

Liberty bodices are commonly associated with R. & W. H. Symington of Market Harborough, 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 ninepence-halfpenny in 1908.