History of corsets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The corset, from the old French word cors (mini body)[1] derive from corps, derive from Latin: corbus.
Corset is a garment that girds the torso and shapes it according to the fashionable silhouette of the day. Most often it was/is a method of cinching the waist and supporting the breasts.
By the middle of the 16th century corsets were appearing as a commonly worn garment for women that was made of stiffened multiple layers of linen with a wooden busk or shaft that was inserted in a pocket at the front in order to keep the corset and figure straight. In this form, the corset survived until the end of the 18th century. Its primary purpose was to raise and flatten the breasts, tighten the midriff and only slightly narrow the waist, creating a 'V' shaped upper torso over which the outergarment would be worn. However, 'jumps' of quilted linen were also worn as outer garments without a corset that effectively created the same fashionable silhouette for informal occasions. By 1800 the corset became primarily a method of supporting the breasts as the waist was raised to just under the bust line. Corsets still slimmed the torso but this was not their primary purpose.
As the waistline gradually fell to a natural level in the 1830s the corset once again reverted to a dual purpose of supporting the breasts and narrowing the waist. The focus of the fashionable silhouette of the mid and late 19th century was an hourglass figure, achieved by reducing the thickness of the waist through corsetry. Contrary to popular myth, the corset was not as restrictive as is generally believed. Vain women tended to wear corsets tighter than necessary and buy corsets with smaller waists, but most women, although they purchased an 18 or 20 inch waisted corset left a gap at the back closure to accommodate their more realistic 22 - 26 inch waist measurements. An etiquette book near the end of the 19th century suggested the ideal waist should be twice the circumference of the neck. On average that would mean a corset reduced the figure by only an inch or two at most. Stories about women with broken ribs, having ribs removed, and causing fatal injury to themselves through tight lacing are greatly exaggerated and apocryphal.
In fact, like today, in order to achieve the hourglass figure, many women took to adding volume to their bustlines to increase the ratio of bust to waist. Also, the full skirts, crinolines and bustles of the 19th century added to the width of the hips to make the waist appear slimmer.
In the late 19th century overzealous concern about reports of tight lacing caused a movement for rational dress. Some doctors were found to support the theory that corsetry was injurious to health (particularly during pregnancy) and women who did tight lace were condemned for vanity and excoriated from the pulpit as slaves to fashion. In reality, tight corsetting was most likely the cause of indigestion and constipation but rarely the cause for a plethora of ailments associated with tight corsetting at the time ranging from hysteria to liver failure.
In 1901 a straight fronted corset was introduced which created the illusion of a slimmer waist by forcing the hips back and bust forward. This was thought to alleviate some of the pressure on the abdomen. However, by 1908 corsets began to fall from favour as the silhouette changed to a higher waistline and more naturalistic form. Early forms of brassieres were introduced and the girdle soon took the place of the corset which was more concerned with reducing the hips rather than the waist.
World War I caused a lack of steel for civilian use and the corset, which had been using steel bones in its construction since the 1860s, further declined in popularity as women took to brassieres and girdles which also used less steel in their construction.
Contents |
[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. Some form of stays was still worn by most women but these were often "short stays" (i.e. which did not extend very far below the breasts). 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 tighter in order to achieve the same effect. It is in the 1840s and 1850s that tightlacing first became a concern. The 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
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
Corsets fell from popularity during the late 1910s but forms of body shaping undergarments often called corsets continued to be worn well into the 1920s. However, these garments were better known as girdles with the express purpose of reducing the hips in size. A return to waist nipping corsets in 1939 caused a stir in fashion circles but World War 2 ended their return. In the late 1940s they were revived and were popularly known as 'Merry Widows'. In the late 1980s and 1990s, fetish wear became a fashion trend and corsets made something of a recovery, often worn as top garments rather than underwear.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- History of Unmentionables Exhibit, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- The Antique Corset Gallery
- Lara Corsets & Gowns Historic Corset Silhouettes
- Regency Reproductions Regency Corsets —
