Hourglass corset (Fakir Musafar)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The modern hourglass corset is an invention of Fakir Musafar.

It is one of the most common styles of corsets made today, and is often used for post-pregnancy waist training.

The name 'hourglass' comes from the shape it gives to the wearer's figure, rather like an hourglass—the waist is small, with the ribcage tapering sharply to the waist and the hips flaring outwards (wide shoulders, wide ribcage, narrow waist, wide hips). Some dislike the shape, claiming that the nipped-in waist looks unnatural, and that with the aim of getting the smallest waist possible, an hourglass figure can look like "pillow being cinched in by a belt" [1].

The hourglass corset is associated with very small waists. However, it is likely that hourglass corsets were not laced as tightly as the straight-fronted corsets fashionable at the beginning of the twentieth century

[edit] Pipe-stem waist

Some hourglass corsets may have had a pipe-stem waist; however, these have never been common, as the added pressure that they place on the ribcage can be uncomfortable.

A pipe-stem waist is a silhouette given by wearing a certain kind of corset. The corset is designed so that the circumference of the waist is extended for a distance above the natural waistline. This can put considerable pressure on the lower ribs as they are pressed inwards.

Short pipe-stem waists are most often found on hourglass corsets; however, they have never been common, and reports of nineteenth century pipe-stem waists on corsets—which often cite a height of up to 15cm (6 inches)—are likely to be sexual fantasy, rather than reality, due to the difficulty and discomfort in wearing a corset with a pipe-stem waist.

[edit] External links

• Wasp Creations' page on corset silhouettes - this page gives a clear idea of what a pipe-stem waist looks like.