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Hear ye, hear ye! Professional oversharer Tori Spelling managed to talk about something that wasn’t her marriage or kids. For anyone who hasn’t kept track, Tori has a podcast called misSPELLING, in which she tells stories about her life, soon-to-be-ex husband, and kids. Her kids hate it, but Tori bravely perseveres in the name of a paycheck. On this week’s episode, Tori shared the story of her first period with the class. She was 14 years old and about to go into a pool in Las Vegas when she first got it. She was there with her mom and a friend, and when she told them both what had happened, they each had two very different reactions. Her friends suggested using a tampon so she could still swim while her mom went in the total opposite direction and found a sanitary belt for Tori to use.
Tori Spelling experienced her first period at age 14 during a month-long stay in Las Vegas — and her mom offered an interesting solution.
“We were all prepped for the pool and then it came. So, I got my period,” Tori, 51, said during the Tuesday, July 9, episode of her “Misspelling” podcast. “My mom was like, ‘OK, we have to get you something. We have to get you feminine products for this.’”
Tori recalled her friend telling her to get tampons so they could swim on the trip, but Tori’s mom, Candy Spelling, suggested “a belt” instead.
“I was like, ‘What’s a belt?’ I’m not kidding, you guys. I don’t even know if they make this anymore,” Tori continued. “It was archaic even when my mom recommended it. But it’s basically a snap-on elastic belt that you wear around your waist, and it holds the pad. … And it’s not just a pad, it’s a mega pad.”
She recalled it being “the fluffiest thing” she’s ever seen.
“It was a goddamn f—king diaper,” Tori added. “It was a motherf—king diaper. I was wearing a diaper around my waist, and it was an elastic band. You couldn’t cover it up.”
To this day, Tori has no idea how her mom found the belt during their vacation.
“My friend was hysterically laughing at me, and I was hysterically crying, because I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what am I gonna do?’” the actress recalled. “It didn’t matter if I even turned that damn bathing suit around and had the butt part in the front. You couldn’t cover this thing. And it looked like I had a penis.”
Tori referred to it as “a chastity belt, but for teens with their period.” (The actual title of said tool is a sanitary belt and was used by menstruating women before the 1970s.)
Thinking from a parent standpoint, Tori admitted it was “a good tool” to keep boys away. “No guy would ever want to go near a girl wearing that,” she added.
While she didn’t go to the pool that first day, Tori recalled “getting smart” and adjusting the belt to work for her.
“I would sneak into my parents’ room and take my dad’s razor, and I would DIY my padded belt,” she added. “I would, like, shave the pad down, and then, they forgot about it. I had a diaper on for seven days. So, as they say, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
OMG. I’m both laughing and cringing at Tori’s retelling of the story. I got embarrassed easily when I was that age, so I probably would have died if my mom made me wear that. Hell, it took me two years to work up the nerve to ask to use a tampon. Like Tori, I was also 14 when I got my period and remember being filled with dreadful anticipation for like two years leading up to getting it, especially because my girlfriends had all begun getting theirs around ages 11-12. My little sister got her period like six months after I got mine, and she’s two years younger than me, haha.
Since I got my first period in the late 1990s, I only knew about sanitary belts because I had read “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” in seventh grade, lol. Come to think of it, I learned a lot from that book. Yay, Judy Blume. <3. Anyway, I can imagine how mortified Tori was to have to wear one while in a bathing suit, especially with it being her first time getting her period in general. At least it makes for a decent story that doesn’t involve embarrassing her kids.
Photos credit: Helen LaRuse via Wikipedia, Getty and via Instagram
Isn’t Candy Spelling a conservative Catholic? I wonder if she nixed the tampon idea because she is one of those that worried about it breaking the hymen as the equivalent of losing Tori’s virginity . I remember when that urban myth was alive and well.
I’m tori’s age and this is what my mom gave me. my mom wasnt religious at all but really believed that someone who hadn’t had sex couldnt get a tampon up there or that it would hurt too much. also my mom was a bit older than the other moms in my class. luckily my school nurse gave out tampons.
I can understand Candy possibly not being OK with a tampon, especially for a first period (especially as I think that was around the time where we were hearing about toxic shock syndrome) but I’m utterly shocked that Candy even had access to a belt. I thought they were pretty much phased out by the end of the 70s. Tori would have turned 14 in 1987
That Judy Blume book is also the reason I know about sanitary belts LOL. I read it in 4th or 5th grade in the 80s and they already were out of fashion by then.
Same here! And then that’s what I was expecting, and when I got mine my mom was like LOL no.
I was 10, it sucked. Undiagnosed PCOS for decades, finally had a hysterectomy at 46, best thing ever, but a year later I still kind of forget sometimes and have anxiety about it.
Same! I remember being terrified of the belt. More afraid of the belt contraption than the actual period, and I was not about to ask my mom about it, so I just lived in fear.
Sanitary belts were hell. Now picture if you will wearing a sanitary belt with the giant pad and also garters to hold up your stockings (because pantyhose wasn’t invented yet and if you were dressing up stockings were a must). The clips on the sanitary belt were something like a square-ish paperclip and would get stuck on public hair. My mom bought giant boxes of pads and we had to use them all before she would buy tampons…
The belts were a nightmare. I also remember sanitary pad underwear, there was a clip to hook the pad onto that was placed in the front part of the underwear. I started when I was ten, so I didn’t use tampons until I was a teenager.
The choices today are fantastic.
Yeah, I think that’s what I remember as well–not the belt but the special underwear, and then they made the sticky-back pads.
This may have been a Midwestern brand, but I remember my mom bought us all (I have 3 older sisters) “Confidets” – pads that were at least 1″ thick. Confidence is having THAT under your 1970s skintight jeans!
Before my first period (mid 1970s), I remember reading magazine ads about minipads that touted “no belts, no pins” and thinking, hardware? what’s up with that? And Then I Learned …
Yes! I hated that! You could see those things through your jeans!
Holy cow! The memories! You can’t possibly be as old as I am, @janetdr.
🤣 I started at 11,so maybe not 🤣 I only wore stockings because I had older sisters, I would have skipped the whole garter stage otherwise. I do recall trying to tug down the hem of my bright yellow miniskirt so the garters would not show over the turquoise fishnets…
“Modess” was one of the brands and I’m not sure if that was who made the underwear with straps to hold the pad in place which was a great improvement.
I know about them as my mother used a belt. I remember wondering as a young girl growing up in the mid 70s/early 80s what the hell it was. So my first period at 13 it was during the summer holidays when mum was at work and I told my friend that lived upstairs what happened and she was the youngest of 3 girls so by that time she was using these thin by 80s standard pads and gave me a couple til my mum got home and could be told. I remember by this time knowing what the belt was for and thinking there ain’t no way in hell I’m wearing that and said this is the brand and type and I want them. I did have to use them in a pinch but not more than a handful of times. Thankfully she didn’t argue over the thin ones.
When my own daughter started things had moved on to super thin pads and although the maxi belt pads are still sold I can’t ever imagine her having to use them.
I got my period about six months before my big sister. @rosie Are you a lot taller than your little sister?
Even the first beltless pads were still kind of massive. I was glad I started menstruating during the era of the giant pleated baggy jeans.
I am having trouble focusing on the very relatable “first period in the 80’s” story because…what did she do to her face? She’s always looked tweaked but now it’s a cross between an alien and Janice from the muppets.
Someone said she looks like one of the characters from White Chicks
Oh dear, oh dear, now I can’t unsee that. Yeah, she’d’ve been fine just leaving her face alone, nose included.
No idea why she thinks her present looks are attractive… yikes
Probably the first time I’ve ever found Tori relatable. Sanitary belts had been phased out by the time I got my period, but it’s *such* a mom thing to just offer whatever she was used to instead of something newer like a tampon.
It reminds me of when I first needed glasses/contacts. My mom had only ever used hard contact lenses, so that’s what I had to get. My poor 12 year old eyes felt like they had rocks in them. When the eye doctor gave me soft lenses it was like a miracle.
The face? What in sam-hill-botox-hell happened to that face?
Honestly, I thought that was KimK with her blond hair. They are friends .
OMG the mom’s toxic AF. I think this is really humiliating to suggest that to your daughter.
It’s a shame Tori keeps doing the same to her children.
Her mom probably offered what she knew and what she used as a teenager. That doesn’t make her “toxic”. Now some of her later behavior is another story.
That’s what I’m thinking. Pretty sure that’s what most moms would do.
I am so lucky my mother was progressive about this stuff. She had 3 daughters (I was the youngest of 4 kids) and she set the example by using OB tampons herself when they were first introduced. My school sent me home with a sanitary belt after 5th grade health class. I threw it away. I knew I was just going to use what was sitting in the hall closet by the bathroom when I eventually got my period.
This was in the late 1970s, by the way. Thanks, Mom!
Sanitary belts etc were the worst. Houston in the summer. I’ll leave it at that.
And, yes, a mother talking about her period is as likely to humiliate her kids as talking about them. I can hear the questions now, “Did your get you a belt too?” Are you on the rag or the belt?
Really dislike these celebrities that think this info is entertaining. Just go home and wash your legs and kids.
I was given a belt as well. They did sell pads with adhesive backs, just like they do today. There was no need for the belt.
It was like I was being raised by the mother in the movie “Carrie.”
Yeah sanitary belts were yuck. I didn’t start using tampons until I went to college because my mom was a pad user and thought tampons were of the devil, lol. I remember the giant cardboard boxes that pads came in and they always seemed to be on the top shelf so I had to ask someone to get them. (I’m a shorty). I had to ask this guy one time and he was all like “What kind do you need, show me”. I was so embarrassed, lol.
I got my period once in high school PE and the teacher (female) gave me a little box with a pad and belt in it (1978-79?). I had no idea what to do with it, she had to show me. I immediately called my mom and told her to bring tampons, it was so uncomfortable. Not sure how the teacher thought I could run or play sports in that thing.
I seem to remember this was also what they had in the vending machines in the bathrooms. Pads with adhesive backs were the norm by that time, so maybe there was a government warehouse full of these antiquated things that they were trying to get rid of. LOL
My older sister and I were laughing the other day about how far pads have come. Our mother was older when she had me (I’m Gen X and started my period 2 days before my 12th birthday) so tampons weren’t even an option. Needless to say, I hated that sanitary belt!!! Although I didn’t use it for more than a few months, I was very happy when I was finally allowed to use normal (giant by today’s standards) maxi pads!
I’m solid GenX, got my period at 13 in mid-80s which was late compared to all my friends) and I think Always thin pads w/adhesive back were newish? But my mom got me some dumb thick pads and tampons and basically a “good luck”. Quickly learned to use a tampon. Also only know about belts from Judy Blume’s books.
I remember when I got my first period, early 1990s. I was hysterical for no real good reason, I had had health class, and “the talk,” so objectively I knew what was happening was normal and fine. But a 12 year old seeing all that blood? Lol oh my
So Mom was assigned to calm me down and Dad was sent out to get supplies (mom was post hysterectomy by a few years so we had no on hand supplies). Dad was fine with the assignment, until he got to the store.
See, as the youngest brother of a bunch of sisters, it wasn’t unusual for him to be sent to the store to get the lady supplies in an emergency…..in the 1950s and 60s.
The aisle no longer looked like the one he remembered, and that was pre computers or smart phones (heck, cell phones) so he had to come home and try to figure out what my mom wanted, then go back to the store and ask for more help from the employees because no longer were there belts and sanitary “napkins.”
He loved to tell that story of “My Big Trip to the Modern Lady Aisle” as he called it
🙂
I had my first period in something like 1974 and sanitary belts were out even then. I never even saw one until 1984 when they gave one to me to use with the huge pads after the birth of my son. I was like wtf.
Not sure how much of Tori’s story I believe. Her mother certainly would have known you can’t go in the pool with a sanitary pad on; Tori, at 14, should have been able to figure that one out. In any case, at 11, my mom started me with these things as well, although I don’t recall the belt going up around your waist & I vaguely recall that by my time the pads had sticky backs so they’d just stick in your underwear, no belt necessary. Hated those things. I discovered OB tampons through an ad in a fashion magazine sometime in mid high, sent for a free sample, and then that was that. My mom bought those for me instead.
Beanie,
I was thinking the same thing. If she thought that the pad was huge dry…wait til she gets out of the pool and it is soaked. WTH?
OMG this takes me back. The sanitary belt was uncomfortable and the hardware caught on things. The pads were massive, long and thick with loops at the end where they were clipped into the belt. They were uncomfortable beyond belief and frequently would move and stick in your bum crack! Then there was the problem of what to do with used ones. Public toilets always had a container for used pads and some even had a small paper bag or sheet of paper for wrapping before depositing into the container. I always used to worry about the people that had to empty those bins!
Of course none of this was talked about, a period was referred to as “the curse” and sanitary towels were packed in discrete blue or brown paper packages with as little information as possible. If you had to ask for them, you lowered your voice and asked where “the STs” were.
Luckily for our young people things have really moved on.
OMG blast from the past. I wore these too. I don’t think it had anything to do with using tampons. I think my Mom was trying to make things as easy as possible and this was all that was available at the time for pads I think. This reminds me of wearing garter belts which were the worst 🙂
Tori is the epitome of “poor little rich girl” syndrome – I hope she gets what ever help she needs because she clearly suffers from dysmorphia – She is starting to enter puppet “Madame” territory with the face work (I know i’m aging myself – you’ll just have to google it) – She needs to leave her face and body alone – she will look perfectly fine with her natural attributes
Her natural attributes are long gone.
I’m pretty sure I’m a few years older than Tori, and I’m positive my mom was older than her mom, but my mom hadn’t had belts etc for years. Why would Tori’s mom still be using that in the mid 80s? I wasn’t ready to try tampons right away, and mom said wait til I was comfortable. But we had plenty of Stay Free sticky back pads. I think I did ask her about the belt after I read Judy Blume. Pretty sure that’s when she told me we don’t use those anymore. I’ve never even seen one. Lucky me I guess.
Well I’m an old and I remember my first period with a belt and monster sanitary pad that I could barely sit on it was so uncomfortable. My next period I got tampons and never looked back. My mother was apoplectic because she insisted it would somehow destroy my virginity but I won that battle. And when I did the dirty for the first time I bled so the old wives’ tale doesn’t hold water.
Toxic mother behavior from Tori’s mother, who knew that belt would make Tori look ridiculous in front of friends. Toxic mothers love to have a reasonable excuse for humiliating their daughters. Being Tori’s first menstrual cycle would have been a great excuse.