Hourglass corset (Victorian)
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For other uses, see Hourglass corset
The hourglass corset was a style of corset that was in fashion from 1830 to 1900.
Specifically the Hourglass corset by Wasp waist was very unhealthy, opposite the Hourglass corset by Wasp waist today.
- The first fashions worn with hourglass corsets, in around 1830, emphasized width - they tended to have very wide skirts, large sleeves and sloping shoulders - and these elements contrasted with the narrowed waist, making it appear smaller than it actually was. It is ironic that the hourglass corset can achieve the greatest immediate waist reduction; as it acts mainly on a short zone around the waist, rather than attempting to slim the torso around the ribs, the soft fleshy tissue can be compressed and squeezed to redistribute above and below the waistline.
As skirts and sleeves shrank, fashions began to favour a more slender, vertical look. Princess line dresses were popular in the 1880s; these were made without a horizontal waist seam and with long vertical seams running the length of the dress, with the dress fitted closely to the body. The hourglass corset changed to emphasise the long lines of the body, and their shape often attempted to slim the torso above the waist as well.
Corsets were still the norm, but they no longer had the exaggerated wide-narrow-wide silhouette of the hourglass corset; see Hourglass corset (Fakir Musafar),
