History of corsets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Corsets have been worn in Europe since the 16th century. As Western nations spread over the globe, so did corsets, attaining the peak of their popularity in the late 19th century. Fashion then turned against the corset. They are currently worn mainly by historical re-enactors, fetishists, and people with medical problems requiring back support.
Just as fashions in clothing changed over the centuries, so too did fashions in corsets.
Corsets were first worn during the 16th century, and remained a feature of fashionable dress until the French Revolution (1789). These corsets were mainly designed to turn the torso into the fashionable cylindrical shape, although they narrowed the waist as well. They had shoulder straps; they ended at the waist; they flattened the bust, and in so doing, pushed the breasts up. The emphasis of the corset was less on the smallness of the waist than on the contrast between the rigid flatness of the bodice front and the curving tops of the breasts peeking over the top of the corset. There are no records of tightlacers at this time.
The corset then went into eclipse. Fashion embraced the Empire silhouette: a Greco-Roman style, with the scanty skirts gathered under the bosom and the waist de-emphasised, and dresses sewn from thin muslins rather than the heavy brocades and satins of aristocratic high fashion.
The reign of the Empire waist was short. In the 1830s, shoulders widened (with puffy gigot sleeves or flounces), skirts widened (layers of stiffened petticoats), and the waist narrowed and migrated towards its "natural" position. By the 1850s, exaggerated shoulders were out of fashion and waistlines were cinched at the natural waist, above a wide skirt. Fashion had achieved what we now tend to remember as the Victorian silhouette.
In the 1830s, the artificially inflated shoulders and skirts made the intervening waist look narrow, even with the corset laced only moderately. When the exaggerated shoulders disappeared, the waist itself had to be cinched tightly in order to achieve the same effect. It is in the 1840s and 1850s that tightlacing is first recorded. It was ordinary fashion taken to an extreme.
As it was accepted that a corseted waist was the ideal, it is hard to define tightlacing strictly, or to say what proportion of Victorian women practised it. We cannot take today's waist measurements as a guide, since:
- Women's bodies have increased in size since the nineteenth century, so waist measurements that seem small today might not have been considered so by Victorians. [citation needed]
As corset wearing was the norm in the nineteenth century, it is likely that women tolerated proportionally greater reductions as a matter of course, without thinking of themselves as tightlacers. [citation needed]
We can guess that young and fashionable women were most likely to tightlace, especially for balls, fashionable gatherings, and like occasions for display. Older, poorer, and primmer women would have laced moderately – just enough to be decent.
The Victorian and Edwardian corset differed from earlier corsets in numerous ways. The corset no longer ended at the waist, but flared out and ended several inches below the waist. The corset was exaggeratedly curvaceous rather than cylindrical. It was also much sturdier in construction, thanks to improvements in technology. Spiral steel stays curved with the figure, rather than dictating a cylindrical silhouette. While many corsets were still sewn by hand to the wearer's measurements, there was also a thriving market in cheaper mass-produced corsets.
In the late years of the Victorian era, medical reports and rumors claimed that tightlacing was fatally detrimental to health (see Victorian dress reform).[citation needed] Women who suffered to achieve small waists were also condemned for their vanity and excoriated from the pulpit as slaves to fashion. It was frequently claimed that too small a waist was actually ugly, rather than beautiful.[citation needed] Dress reformers exhorted women to abandon the tyranny of stays and free their waists for work and healthy exercise.
Despite the efforts of dress reformers to eliminate the corset, and despite medical and clerical warnings, women persisted in tightlacing as long as it was fashionable. In the early 1900s, the small corseted waist began to fall out of fashion. The feminist and dress reform movements had made practical clothing acceptable for work or exercise. The rise of the Artistic Dress movement made loose clothing and the natural waist fashionable even for evening wear. Couturiers like Fortuny and Poiret designed exotic, alluring costumes in pleated or draped silks, calculated to reveal slim, youthful bodies. If one didn't have such a body, new undergarments, the brassiere and the girdle, promised to give the illusion of one.
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[edit] 16th to late 18th centuries
The earliest corsets were called "payre of bodies" and were usually worn with a farthingale that held out the skirts in a stiff cone. The payre of bodies, later called stays, turned the upper torso into a matching cone or cylinder. They had shoulder straps and ended in flaps at the waist. They flattened the bust, and in so doing, pushed the breasts up. The emphasis of the stays was less on the smallness of the waist than on the contrast between the rigid flatness of the bodice front and the curving tops of the breasts peeking over the top of the corset.
 Henry III of France and the Princess Margaret of Lorraine |
 Stays circa 1720 |
[edit] Late 18th to early 19th centuries
Stays became much less constricting with the advent of the high-waisted empire style (around 1796) which de-emphasized the natural waist, and so made body-shaping to achieve a narrow hips unnecessary. Some form of stays was still worn by most women (except during the extremes of the late 1790's Parisian high Greek look), but these were often "short stays" (i.e. which did not extend very far below the breasts), and/or without boning, and/or front-fastening. By contrast, corsets intended to exert serious body-shaping force (as in the Victorian era) were "long" (extending down to and beyond the natural waist), laced in back, and stiffened with boning.
 Regency short stays circa 1810 |
 Short stays circa 1803 |
[edit] Transition to the Victorian
When the waistline returned to its natural position during the 1830s, the corset reappeared. However, it had changed its shape to the hourglass silhouette that is even now considered typical both for corsets and for Victorian fashion. At the same time, the term corset was first used for this garment in English. In the 1830s, the artificially inflated shoulders and skirts made the intervening waist look narrow, even with the corset laced only moderately.
[edit] The Victorian corset
When the exaggerated shoulders disappeared, the waist itself had to be cinched tightly in order to achieve the same effect. It is in the 1840s and 1850s that tightlacing is first recorded. It was ordinary fashion taken to an extreme. The Victorian and Edwardian corset differed from the earlier stays in numerous ways. The corset no longer ended at the hips, but flared out and ended several inches below the waist. The corset was exaggeratedly curvaceous rather than funnel-shaped. Spiral steel stays curved with the figure. While many corsets were still sewn by hand to the wearer's measurements, there was also a thriving market in cheaper mass-produced corsets.
 1859 corset with built-in partial crinoline |
 1869 corset |
 1878 corset |
 1890 corset |
[edit] The Edwardian corset
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The straight-front corset, also known as the swan-bill corset, the S-bend corset or the health corset, was worn from circa 1900 to the early 1910s. Its name is derived from the very rigid, straight busk inserted in the center front of the corset. This corset forced the torso forward and made the hips protrude.
The straight-front corset was popularised by Inez Gaches-Sarraute, a corsetiere with a degree in medicine. It was intended to be less injurious to wearers' health than other corsets in that it exerted less pressure on the stomach area. However, any benefits to the stomach were more than counterbalanced by the unnatural posture that it forced upon its wearer.
 Camille Clifford in an S-curve corset |
 Perfect Health Corset |
[edit] The corset falls from favor
The corset continued to be fashionable 1908-24 and 1936-60, and enjoyed its greatest popularity in 1918. Its demise must be considered in the context of both the great bustles of 1886 to the thigh-length dresses of 1928.
The corset formed the basis of fine clothing but the use of fabric decreased with society's economical growth, rendering the corset obsolete.
The final disappearance of the corset in the 1960s is due to the increased use of panty hoses which do not require the use of a suspender belt. Its decrease is not connected to either the dress reform movement or the feminist movement.
Corsets were no longer fashionable, but some men still felt that they were sexy. Corsets entered the underworld of the fetish, along with items such as bondage gear and vinyl catsuits. In the 1980s and 1990s, fetish wear became a fashion trend and corsets made something of a recovery. They are often worn as top garments rather than underwear. However, most corset wearers own a bustier or two for evening wear; they do not tightlace. Historical re-enactors also wear corsets, but few tightlace.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- History of Unmentionables Exhibit, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- The Antique Corset Gallery
- Lara Corsets & Gowns — Historic Corset Silhouettes
