symmetricals

English

Noun

symmetricals pl (plural only)

1. (historical) Padding worn by actors and other performers to expand their body shape.
   • 1942, Douglas Gilbert, Lost Chords: The Diverting Story of American Popular Songs, page 45:

     […] what were known as "symmetricals," lumps of batting strategically placed, distorting the girls' natural curves to the masculine truck-horse taste of the times.

   • 2004, Anne Alison Barnet, Extravaganza King: Robert Barnet and Boston Musical Theatre:

     The symmetricals he refers to were a false rubber “skin” that gave men a female torso or shape.

   • 2007, Grant Hayter-Menzies, Charlotte Greenwood: The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film:

     After some soulful discussions with Annabelle, Charlotte found what seemed an ideal solution: the stage padding then known as symmetricals, used not just by women but by men to fill out thin legs and upper body mass.