History of corsets

Woman's corset c. 1730–1740. Silk plain weave with supplementary weft-float patterning, stiffened with baleen. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.63.24.5.

Main article: Corset

The corsets have been an important article of underclothing that has helped shape and achieve the fashions of many centuries. It has gone through many evolutions as fashion trends have changed. Women, as well as men, have for centuries used the corset as a mean to shape their bodies into, what they believed at the time, the perfect shape.

The earliest image of a corset was recorded in 2000 BC, the image is of a Crete Women, and the article of clothing that was worn was what we would perceive to be a corset, However it was worn as an outergarments. While typically the corset has been used as underclothes, there have been instances where it is used as outer garments. Corsets are still seen as outer garments in the national dress of many European countries.

The term corset was not always used; it gained popularity at the end of the 18th century as a change from the term that was most often used, stays.

The earliest form of the corset, that was used, as it is present day, was the Cottee. The Cottee was a tight elongated bodice that was worn under clothing. It was made up of stiff linen and worn under bodice, as fashion evolved, so did the Cottee; it became tighter and stiffer to better serve the fashion of the time.

Elizabethan fashion was famous for very stiff bodices, thus in the 16th century whalebones began being used in corsets for the purpose of keeping its structure. It became the staple tool in the fashion as it gave a geometrically straight line in the bodice.

They also began using an additive to the corset called the Busk, which was an artificial edge that was given to the bodice. The busk was typically made out of wood, horn, ivory, metal or whale bone, it was then carved and shaped into a thin paper knife shape and inserted into the Elizabethan bodice and was faceted and held into place by lace. The lace was used so that the Busk can easily be placed and removed and it was often used for special occasions and events. The Busk was presented to a suitor as a prize when he was interested in a female (Ewing, 1978, 29). The Busk is also credited to be the originator for all boning, the thing this becomes that bases for corsets for the next 400 years.

During the second half of the 16th century, whalebone began being used at the sides and back of the corset and it was laced up at the front. There is also examples of Iron corsets that were used in the 16th century, they resembles a piece of armor, however silk and velvet were able to be stretch over it to give a nicer appearance. Although some fashion students believe the corset was used as outerwear other believe it was just used in remedial cases.

In 1839 a Frenchman by the name of Jean Werly made a landmark in corset history when he took a patent for women corsets made on a loom. This type of corset was popular until 1890 when machine made corsets gained popularity. Before this corsets were all made by hand. Quite usually the were homemade, many magazines used to publish articles on how they were to be made.

Following the French revolution there began a decline in the use of corsets as women began wearing clothing that required little or no underclothes. It was a symbol of freedom due to the fact that small waists and corsets were something that was very often used by their oppressors. Although there was a decline the fashion was still not extinct.

In the 19th century there became a greater demand for corsets that were not as restricting or harmful. The people asked and they were given many new options. In 1884 Dr. Jaeger came up with wool sanitary corsets, they were described as flexible and elastic, thus people were not restricted like normal corsets, There were also durable and respondent to movements. Dr. Jaeger claimed that the wool had curing capabilities and that it had helped cure him of his chronic ill- health, excess of weight and indigestion Another example of a health corset was created in 1887; it was a Dermathistic corset with leather facing. It was marketed towards women who wanted better health and enjoyed a healthy living lifestyle.

16th to late 17th 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.

By the middle of the 16th century, corsets were appearing as a commonly worn garment for women. These were made of stiffened multiple layers of linen with wooden busks or shafts that were inserted in a pocket at the front in order to keep the corset and figure straight. In this form, the corset survived until about 1860.

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  Henry III of France and the Princess Margaret of Lorraine

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  Stays circa 1720

18th century

The predominant forms of stays in the 18th-century was an inverted conical shape, often worn to create a contrast between a rigid quasi-cylindrical torso above the waist and heavy full skirts below. The primary purpose of 18th century stays was to raise and shape the breasts, tighten the midriff, support the back, improve posture to help a woman stand straight, with the shoulders down and back, and only slightly narrow the waist, creating a 'V' shaped upper torso over which the outer garment would be worn. However, 'jumps' of quilted linen were also worn instead of stays for informal situations. Jumps were only partially boned, did little for one's posture, but did add some support. Both garments were considered undergarments, and would be seen only under very limited circumstances. Well-fitting 18th Century stays are quite comfortable, do not restrict breathing, and allow women to work, although they do restrict bending at the waist (forcing one to protect one's back by lifting with the legs).

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  Stays, c. 1780. Linen twill weave fabric stiffened with baleen. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.2007.211.133.

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.

By 1800 the corset had become primarily a method of supporting the breasts^{[citation needed]}, as the waist was raised to just under the bust line. Corsets still slimmed the torso but this was not their primary purpose.

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  Regency short stays circa 1810

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  Short stays circa 1803

Transition to the Victorian

When the waistline returned to its natural position during the 1830s, the corset reappeared and served dual purpose of supporting the breasts and narrowing the waist. 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.

The Victorian corset

When the exaggerated shoulders disappeared, the waist itself had to be cinched tighter in order to achieve the same effect. 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. It is in the 1840s and 1850s that tightlacing first became popular. 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.

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  1859 corset with built-in partial crinoline

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  1869 corset

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  1878 corset

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  1890 corset

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  "Perfect Health" Corset c 1890.

Late 19th century

In the late 19th century 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 lacing 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.

The Edwardian corset

1900 illustration contrasting the old Victorian corseted silhouette with the new Edwardian "S-bend" corseted silhouette

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.

The straight fronted corset was introduced to create 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.

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  A photo from Robert Wilson Shufeldt's 1908 book Studies of the human form for artists, sculptors, and scientists illustrates the narrowing of the waist achieved with a corset.

Post-Edwardian long line corset

Fashionable silhouette in 1906.

From 1908 to 1914 the length of the skirt slowly sank from waist to ankles, necessitating the lengthening of the corset at its lower edge. A new type of fashionable corset covered the thighs and changed the position of the hip, making the waist become both higher and wider. The new fashion was considered uncomfortable, cumbersome, and furthermore required the use of strips of elastic fabric.

After World War I

Shortly after the United States' entry into World War I in 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets to free up metal for war production. This step liberated some 28,000 tons of metal, enough to build two battleships. The corset, which had been made using steel stays since the 1860s, further declined in popularity as women took to brassieres and girdles which also used less steel in their construction. 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.

The development of rubberized elastic materials in 1911 helped the girdle replace the corset.

The change in the economy after World War I also changed women's role in society. In the early 20th century, a young lady would typically have started wearing a corset around age 15, and live at home until she married around age 18. After the war, more young women sought an education, and in the Western world marriage was delayed into the middle to late 20s. Only overweight or pregnant women might choose to wear a corset, typically an underbust corset.

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 II ended their return. In the late 1940s they were revived and were popularly known as 'Merry Widows'.^{[citation needed]}. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s corsets remained a new revival. In the 1990s, fetish fashion became popular and corsets made something of a recovery, often worn as top garments rather than undergarments. By 2010, the corset had recovered a new popularity in fashion.

See also

• Corset
• Corsetmaker
• Tightlacing
• Brassiere
• Corset controversy
• Girdles
• Corselettes
• corsages
• Rib removal

External links

• History of Unmentionables Exhibit, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• The Antique Corset Gallery
• Lara Corsets & Gowns Historic Corset Silhouettes
• Regency Reproductions Regency Corsets
• Fashions of the Ages Period Corset Reproductions
• Corset Guide Video Corset Guide Video