corset | clothing | Britannica.com clothing decorative art Corset, article of clothing worn to shape or constrict the waist and support the bosom, whether as a foundation garment or as outer decoration. During the early eras of corsetry, corsets—called stays before the 19th century and made stiff with heavy boning—molded a woman’s upper body into a V-shape and flattened and pushed up the breasts. Some were attached to petticoats or could be fastened to them in order to preserve a flat shape at the waist. Young children were also often fitted with corsets or stays in order to ensure straight spines and pleasing body shapes later in life. Later, as fashions changed, corsets became more hourglass-shaped to emphasize the female figure. Woman wearing corset and hoop skirt, Meissen porcelain figurine, German, 1741; in the Victoria and … Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London The first evidence of corsetlike garments can be found in the art of the Minoan civilization , which depicts women wearing metal plates that slim the waist and accentuate the bust.

Waist-shaping garments appeared sporadically in Europe during the Middle Ages , worn by members of both sexes. About the 15th century women began to wear bodices stiffened with paste, known then as a pair of bodys. In the 16th century that type of bodice became a separate article of underclothing, laced together either in front or in back and eventually supported throughout with strips of a firm material—such as wood , bone, or horn—between two layers of fabric. Corsets that were laced up the front were often covered by a decorated panel known as a stomacher that concealed the laces. The corset of 16th-century Spain was supported in the front by a vertically placed wooden or bone rod (or two, if the garment laced in the front) known as a busk, which produced a flat shape, and was reinforced elsewhere with whalebone stays. The busk became a predominant feature of later corsets, despite other changes.

Queen Elizabeth of England, showing the queen adorned in Renaissance … Carlo Bevilacqua—Scala/Art Resource, New York Similar Topics A Short History of the Corset A Short History of the Corset Definition A corset is a close-fitting piece of clothing that has been stiffened by various means in order to shape a woman's (also a man's, but rarely) torso to conform to the fashionable silhouette of the time. The term "corset" only came into use during the 19th century; before that, such a garment was usually referred to as a pair of bodies, a stiff bodice, a pair of stays or, simply, stays. In French 18th century texts (e.g. Garsault, Diderot), you can find the term corset as referring to a lightly stiffened bodice with tie-on sleeves, whereas proper stays are called corps. Renaissance and Baroque 1660s stays with sleeves The origins of the corset are unknown. From the early 16th century, corset-shaped cages of iron are preserved*, but it's almost certain that they had nothing to do with normal clothing.

Theories run from early fetish accessories to brute attempts at orthopaedics. Judging from contemporary depictions, stiffened bodices must have been worn around 1530 because the straight, conical line of the torso seen e.g. in portaits of Venetian ladies or Eleanora di Toledo could not have been achieved otherwise. The neckline is relatively high and the chest pressed flat rather than pushed up. Very few stays from the 16th and 17th century have been preserved. This may be due to the fact that until well into the 17th century, the bodice of the dress itself was stiffened so that an extra corset was unnecessary. Only towards the end of the 17th century, the shaping stays finally became a piece of cothing in its own right, independent from the dress bodice. From now on, ladies dressed not in a combination of skirt and stiff bodice, but in a combination of skirt and jacket or skirt and robe worn over a stiff bodice that had been demoted to underwear.

Link: 1640s stays at the Manchester Galleries 1770s stays (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg) 18th century In the 18th century, stays are definitely underwear. Only in case of the Robe à l'Allemande , the stiff bodice survived until about 1730, in case of the French court robe even longer. The shape of stays is not much different from that of the 17th century: Conical, pressing the breast up and together, with tabs over the hips. The tabs are formed by cuts from the lower edge up to the waistline that spread when the stays are worn, giving the hips room. They prevent the waistband of the skirt from crawling under the stays, and the waistline of the stays from digging into the flesh. There are stays that lace at the back ( Diderot calls them corps fermé, closed stays) and those that lace across a stiff stomacher in front (corps ouvert, or open stays). Examples that lace both back and front (but not over a stomacher) are quite rare.

Stays that lace in front only are even rarer and so far only known to me from the region of Southern Germany. In all these cases, spiral lacing is used. Although 18th century stays were not meant to be seen, they are often quite decorative, with finely stitched tunnels for the boning, precious silk brocade and possibly gold trim. The inside, on the other hand, usually looks downright sloppy, even in outwardly fine stays. The basic shape of stays didn't change the whole century long. Towards the end, around 1790, when dress waists begin to wander upwards, the stays become slightly shorter. Since paniers were not worn anymore, the skirt is supported by small pads sewn to the tabs. At the same time, physicians make themselves heard, warning against the harm done by tight-lacing. While lacing wasn't usually overdone as much as one century later, it often started earlier: It started with tightly wrapping babies and included children's corsets, forcing the still soft skeleton into a fashionable shape. Late Georgian From 1794, the waist moved higher and arrived just under the bust around 1796.

A new kind of corset is needed: The torso, hidden under flowing muslin, doesn't need shaping anymore. The breasts still need lifting, but they're supposed to stay apart. To achieve this, cups are employed for the first time. The busk , which in the 17th century had served to keep the front of the stays straight, now came back into use to keep the cups apart. The shape follows the natural form of the body and widens over the hips by means of triangular inserts. Since slender figures could keep the bust in shape with the help of only a firm bodice lining, it is mainly stout and over-endowed ones who wear corsets or short stays which already looked like early bras. Therefore, not many corsets from that time have been preserved. Unlike the earlier ones, they tend to be plain and functional. Maybe the fact that they contained less boning led people to refer to them by the (French) term for lightly boned bodices, corset. This is just a theory, but it would explain why the earlier term corps/stays had been replaced with corset by the 1820s.

Regency and Victorian Corsets of 1890 When the waist moves back to its natural place during the 1820s, corsets become more popular again. Until the 1840s, well-shaped figures can do without one without drawing Looks. In 1828, lacing eyelets with hammered-in metal grommets are invented (until then, eyelets had been stitched). A year later, the planchet came in: Two metal strips, one with little mushroom-shaped heads, the other with eyelets, used to close and open the corset in front without having to undo the lacing every time. This busk, as it is called in English, makes it possible to change the lacing completely: Both ends of the cord are threaded through the eyelets crosswise and knotted together at the end. At waist level, one loop is formed on either side and used to pull the lacing tight. This kind of lacing is still used today. Around the middle of the century, corsets become mandatory again. The shape is already the famous hourglass that we associate with corsets today.

While tailors still experiment with complex, strange and unusual patterns  the shape is still relatively new, after all  the look stays rather plain. From about 1860, when some patterns have caught on, more emphasis is placed on beautiful fabrics and elegant lines again. From the years around 1870-90, a large number of meticulously made corsets has been preserved, partially embroidered and with satin top fabric in various of colours. Until c. 1870, the crinoline hid anything from the waist down, so corsets ended not much below the waist. Later, dresses closely hug the figure at least in front, so corsets become longer. This development reached a peak around 1880, when the fashionable silhouette hugged the hips on all sides . The belly is tamed, but not flattened, by a new kind of busk: The pear-shaped spoon busk (see right corset in the picture above) bends inwards to compress the stomach region, then outwards over the belly, an in again over the lower abdomen. If laced tightly, a spoon busk forces the soft bits (i.e.

fat as well as inner organs) downwards  and during the 1890s, tight-lacing becomes so popular that physicians sound the alarm again. Late Victorian and Edwardian S-line corset, 1902 Their warnings were heard and a new shape of corset was invented. With its straight front, it was supposed to take pressure away from the stomach region. It ended just below the breasts to give them room. However, fashion didn't just accept the new shape, but exaggerated it so that the busk pressed the belly and hips backwards and forced the wearer into a hollow-backed posture, the so-called straight-front or S-line. This unnatural posture makes the originally well-meant corset even more uncomfortable and harmful than any before, causing much damage to the musculoskeletal system. It reaches way down around the hips and for the first time and has long elastic strips sewn to the lower edge with clips on the end to hold the stockings up. Since there still is a long shift between the corset and the stockings, the shift must be pulled and bunched up to fasten the clips to the stockings  yet another source of discomfort that may have led to the demise of first the shift, then the corset.

1914 corset The rise of women's lib, the rational dress movement and progressive designers such as Poiret saw to it that this fashion did not prevail for long: Even before the beginning of WWI, the corset has begun its downslide. Fashion now permits women to wear elegant dresses without a corset. Nevertheless, corsets were still worn for a few years more, but both the S-line and tight-lacing disappear. Elastic inserts give more room for movement  and they have to, because post-1910 corsets reach so far down that they would otherwise prevent the wearer from sitting and walking. The so-called war crinoline (1915/16) with its high waists and flared skirts made even those unnecessary. 1920s to 1950s Gidled and bra, 1939 One could say that the corsets slid downwards and became more elastic. The straight, waist-less Garçonne fashion of the 1920s favoured only lightly stiffened hip girdles partly made of elastic. They were not supposed to constrict the waist, but to control the belly and hips.

The chest was supported (and, if necessary, reduced to a boyish look) by a bra. Girdle and bra persevered through the 30s and 40s as well. It was Dior's "New Style" that put the waist back onto centre stage. His models emphasise an extremely small waist and wide hips, so that corsets, or at least a watered-down version of them, see a short-lived renaissance. In the 1950s, elastic girdles without any boning come back, only to be washed away by the flower-power 60s and 70s. Today Corsets have probably been worn for erotic purposes during all that time, even while they had been gone from fashion. Only in the 1980s, Madonna brought them back into public attention with the help of her favourite designer, Gaultier  as top garment. Her version, however, was more like a tight bodice than a proper corset. Nowadays, real corsets are only rarely worn. Sometimes a celebrity or lover of historical fashion may wear it visibly as a fashion statement, but mostly, it still is worn underneath for erotic reasons.

Whether they be waist-cinchers, under-bust, half-bust or full-bust: The basic shape is still the same as 1860-80, only that they usually don't compress the waist nearly as much. Legends Sometimes even apparently trustworthy sources spread wrong or at least highly doubtful statements about corsets. Some of them are based on wrong interpretations of contemporary sources, some on contemporary sources that exaggerate for some reason. Most legends of course are about impossibly small waists. The "oldest" and most extreme one is the one that asserts that Katerina de' Medici, Queen of France in the late 16th century, required her ladies-in-waiting to have 13 inch waists. Someone who doesn't use inches in everyday life will first try to convert that into centimetres and then start to wonder which inch they should use since there were so many different units of that name. Someone must have written about it in Katerina's time  which inch did they use? Did the author (19th century, I think) that spread this legend know or even think about the fact that there were different inches about?

Did they convert them to modern inches, and if yes: To which one? And did they have proper information about how long a contemporary inch was? That's a lot of questions already. And the 19th century author may well have invented it all, because as far as I know, no contemporary source for the statement has been found. Well, let's just say we're talking about 13 British Imperial inches. Even the most extreme modern-day exponent of tight-lacing, Cathy Jung , only manages 15 Imperial inches in an hourglass corset. With a 16th century conical corset, this would be impossible even if one takes into consideration that women used to be smaller then. The waist of Empress Sisi of Austria is sometimes given as 40 cm, sometimes as 47, and even as 50 cm. That variance alone should engender doubt. However, it is well known that she was a victim of her own vanity. Some early photographs show women  mostly actresses  with extreme waists. In some cases, the rigid, artificial-looking posture shows that this was not their normal state, i.e. maybe they laced especially tightly just for the photo.

Retouching was used extensively in those days and brought forth masters of the art. Porn photographs of the time show naked women who would not be considered slender by modern standards. Patterns of the 1880s quote waist measurements of 58-64 cm, those of the 1890s (the height of tight-lacing) 54-60 cm. With an average height of 160 cm, this seems realistic. Sometimes you find quotes from late 19th century magazines reporting that a lady died after having taken a fall in the street. A broken rib was pressed inwards by the tightly laced corset, causing it to puncture a lung or the liver. I have even seen a contemporary magazine which reported the story and therefore believed it  until I fould the same story, slightly altered, quoted from a different magazine, from a different year. I am now convinced that we're dealing with an urban legend. Another urban legend says that some fashion victims had their lower rib removed so that they might achieve a smaller waist.

In the late 19th century, when some doctors refused to believe that lethal illnesses could be caused by creatures too small to see and therefore didn't see why they should wash their hand before surgery. The survival rate was low enough that surgery was the last resort, so why should anyone undergo it unless their life was at stake? Further reading Waugh, Nora. Corsets and Crinolines. New York: Routledge, 1996. Fontanel, Béatrice: Support and Seduction: A history of corsets and bras. New York: Harry N. Adams, 1997. Junker, Almut, und Eva Stille. Dessous : Zur Geschichte der Unterwäsche 1700-1960. Frankfurt: Historisches Museum, 1991 *) In fact, I sometimes wonder whether those items are fakes, just like some chastity belts that turned out, after decades of unquestioned existence in museums, to be 19th century artifacts. The Victorians liked to push clichés about earlier, oh-so-primitive eras.

Content, layout and images of this page and any sub-page of the domains marquise.de, contouche.de, lumieres.de, manteau.de and costumebase.org are copyright (c) 1997-2016 by A. Bender. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited - exceptions see Copyright Page . The Corset Family Tree - How Corsets Work | HowStuffWorks The Corset Family Tree Hulton Archive/Imagno/ Getty Images Is your family history full of colorful characters? Maybe because of their very nature, corsets have a family history every bit as colorful. Like cousins, distant relatives don't look much alike, and the earliest ancestor of the corset could be the first rope a woman tied around her waist to accentuate her waistline. Cretan women may have been the first to wear something actually resembling a corset (in that it was a body-shaping garment), covering just the waist and hips, more than 3,000 years ago [source: Thomas ].

In the Middle Ages (more than a few years before Madonna wore fashion corsets), it became fashionable for women in the royal courts to wear what they called decorated heavy stays as outerwear, covering the bust and shaping the waist. But in general, corsets continued to be undergarments designed to shape the female form. The 18th century saw these heavy stays gradually replaced with the supposedly lighter corset. Apart from small changes in accessories, corsets didn't really evolve again until the 19th century when the hourglass figure became the epitome of fashion. Up Next 10 Fabulous Fads from the 1950s Less restrictive health corsets, made by brothers Ira DeVer and Lucien Warner, began to take off in popularity in the United States beginning around 1874. Around this same time, over-hunting of the baleen whale made the traditional whalebone increasingly expensive, and rustproof steel was introduced in 1894 [source: Time ]. Charles Dana Gibson, a Victorian artist, earned eternal fame (or infamy) in the 1890s for popularizing the S-shaped Gibson Girl with his stylized paintings of society women.

This shape altered the hourglass silhouette by pushing the rear back and the bust forward -- a very unnatural position for the spine. (We'll talk more about this iconic but short-lived fad a little later.) World War I's carnage and increased industrialization caused major social upheaval, which in turn revolutionized undergarments once again. Women became more active and many discarded their willingness to let society dictate what they wore [source: Tinkler ]. Desperate corsetieres tried to stay relevant by making flexible dance corsets during the Roaring '20s. Advertisers even renamed corsets by marketing them as girdles [source: Fields ]. Unwilling to give up their newfound freedom of movement, and sparked by huge societal changes stemming from two world wars and the Great Depression, most women abandoned restrictive corsets entirely. Bras, girdles and (eventually) elastic bodysuits filled the supporting roles that corsets once did. For the most part, corsets throughout history were everyday normal garments that, in spite of reputation, did not negatively affect the wearer. They were no more exotic or bizarre than a bra is today. But what about people who take corsetry to the limit?

Vintage Fashion Guild : Lingerie Guide : Corsets Early 19th Century - Edwardian Corsets Early 19th century - Edwardian | by admin | Lingerie Guide | Lingerie Early 19th century corsetry, 1800 – 1840 Early 19th century corsets (or stays as they were known as during this period) were long, soft and had a more natural shape. These long soft corsets reflected the fashion of the era for long flowing, very high waisted dresses made out of diaphanous materials such as fine muslins and silks. Stays were made of sateen, cotton, silk or linen and contained minimal boning. The support was achieved by quilting and/or cording (although some stays were made plain) and by a long, stiff busk which was inserted into the front slot of the stays. Busks could be made out of ivory, whalebone, kid covered steel or wood and were often given as gifts from lovers or husbands who carved love poems and pictures on them.

Most stays laced up the back and the lacing holes were either hand finished or reinforced with ivory grommets (known as French holes). Metal grommets were invented around 1828. 1800 – 1820 stays tend to have waistlines placed very high, most of the time just under the bust line. The main action of stays from this period was to support and push up the bust (stays always had shoulder straps) while at the same time flattening the stomach and minimizing the hips. This would allow the high waisted dresses of the era to fall straight down from the high empire waist without encountering any lumps and bumps! Raised bust lines and small hips still remained on corsets from 1820- 1840 but the waistline steadily dropped down to as more normal level as high waisted empire style dresses fell out of fashion and small waists begin to find favour. Mid 19th century corsetry, 1840 – 1860 This period marks the transition from soft Regency era stays to heavily boned rigid corsetry when tight lacing became popular to achieve a small waist.

Starting in the 1840’s, bodices became tighter fitting and skirts, full and bell shaped (supported by multiple petticoats and later, a cage crinoline) which made the waist look small in comparison. The quilting and trapunto work seen on old fashioned stays did not provide enough support to achieve a small waist so corsets started to include more boning to support the figure. It was not uncommon by the 1860’s for corsets to be boned with as many as 60 whalebones and some corsets of the era had over 100 bones in them! Cording was still used for support as well as cane and later on in the 1860’s, watch spring. Corsets made out of wool, sateen, silks and cottons were also popular. c. 1840 – 60 homemade linen stays. Front lacing, no boning except for strips of linen to act as support. Would have been worn by a lower class woman. An example of old fashioned stays which were still being worn during the mid 19th century. 25” waist.

Corset making was very specialized work, especially when it came to sewing the boning. Technological advances lead to the invention of the sewing machine, which started to be used in the manufacturing of corsetry during the 1850’s although some corsets from this period until the mid 1860’s are almost always hand sewn. With the mass production of corsets in factories starting in the late 1860’s, corsets started to be made in standardized waist sizes 18”- 30” (Would fit a approx. modern day Size 6 to a size 20/22). Another major innovation in 19th century corsetry was the introduction of the front fastening busk in 1848. This allowed a woman to put on her corset easily by herself and made dressing quicker. The new busk was gently curved to follow the natural posture and lines of the body for comfort rather than the stiff busk popular in the early part of the century. Early Victorian (1840’s) corsets often had shoulder straps to support the bust but as the decade progressed, these were dispensed with.

A comment made in the early 1860’s though, states that “the old fashioned stays are still too generally worn”! The new hourglass shaped corset was much shorter in comparison to the old long stays. It came up to the mid bust line and pushed and held the bust upwards though the aid of stiff boning. Corsets also had a flared abdomen and hip area to accommodate displaced flesh and fat caused by the compression of the waist. Late 19th century corsetry, 1870 – 1890 These 30 years mark when the small waisted hourglass figure and tight lacing was at it’s most extreme. Bodices became so fitted, almost to the point of being skin tight that a perfectly fitting hourglass shaped corsets was needed to create the changing fashionable silhouette. Technology and sewing machines had improved so much by this period that most corsets found from this era are of very high quality despite being factory made and machine sewn. Late 19th century corsets were commonly made out of cotton coutil, sateen, silk, satin, jean or batiste and were often beautifully decorated with flossing and lace trim around the edges of the corset.

Black, white, putty (grey) and drab (beige- brown) were mainstay colours of corsetry but this era also produced the most vibrant array of colours ever seen such as heliotrope, robin’s egg blue, yellow, pink, red and even striped corsets. Corsets were still boned with whalebone but this was becoming hard to obtain and was very expensive. Cheap, flexible watchspring was often used and whalebone substitutes such as Coraline (made from the fibers of the Mexican Ixtle plant) and Featherboning (made from chicken feathers!) were also used. Front fastening busks were now the norm and were curved to fit comfortably over the stomach. The spoon busk (shaped and curved like a spoon) was invented in the early 1870’s and stayed in continuous use until the early 1900’s as they were favoured by larger and plus sized women. While corsets of this period are often heavily boned, on average about 30 bones.

In 1868 the steam moulding process was invented and during this process, a corset would be mounted upon a hourglass shaped copper form and then starched and steamed at high temperatures to give the corset a permanent hourglass shape. As a reaction to this severe hourglass fashion, “health” corsets were introduced in the late 1870’s and 1880’s. Elastic panels were often used in corsets to alleviate some of the rigidity of a completely boned corset. Some corsets even had “ventilation” in them in the form of eyelet holes dotted throughout the corset or by making a corset out of cotton netting for summer use. Some health corsets had additional lacing on the hip/abdomen area for extra support or shoulder straps to support a large bust. These health concerns would eventually lead to the demise of the hourglass corset during the early years of the 20th century.

Corsetry, 1890 – 1900 Edwardian corsetry, 1900 – 1910 Corsets went under a major redesign during the beginning of the Edwardian era and the period saw a change in the ideal shape of a woman. Although a small waist remained popular into the early 1900’s, the fashionable silhouette had changed. The fullness of the bust developed into a full pouter pigeon chest with a small waist and full, rounded hips, this new design in corsets caused the lower back to arch. This curious shape was called the S- bend, as the curves of a lady’s figure resembled the curves of the letter “S”. Although popular in the Victorian era, the curved busk began to be thought of as unhealthy. It was thought to press down and harm the internal organs, so a perfectly straight busk came into use during the end of the 1890’s. The new straight busk did not to press against the internal organs and gave a more upright posture which opened up the diaphragm, thereby improving respiration.

The new straight fronted corset relied on clever cutting techniques rather than boning, to give the corset a shape it never had before. On these new corsets fabric which was cut on the bias and had diagonal seaming to force the torso to stand upright against the straight busk. There were deep hip gores on the corset to allow for the natural shift backwards of the hips and buttocks due to the upper half of the torso being thrust forward. By 1905, most corsets had stocking suspenders attached onto them much to the gratitude of women who had relied on garters which often came loose or cut off circulation if tied too tight. Corsets were still be boned with the traditional methods of boning, whalebone was becoming rare and very expensive. Warner’s introduced “Rust Proof” steels (which were watchspring covered in paper) and the Spirella company introduced the spiral bone which is still used today in corsetry as it is comfortable and flexible. Edwardian corsets were still made in the traditional corset fabrics such as coutil, jean, sateen and batiste but silk became more popular as corsets started be to be thought more of as lingerie rather than a utilitarian garment.

Corsets of this period could be trimmed in ribbons and bows, wide lace edging, decorative flossing. Shorter corsets made out of strips of ribbon called ribbon corsets and waist cincher corsets became popular amongst thinner women who did not need the support of traditional corset and were also a welcome alternative for wearing during sporting activities. Late Edwardian corsetry, 1910 – 1920 In 1908, Paul Poiret introduced the “Directoire” style in dress inspired by post French Revolution fashions. Fashion had swung full circle hearkening back to early Regency styles. After 100 years, high waists and long slim figures were fashionable again and corsetry had to adapt to these changes once more. 1910’s corsets still used a straight busk and had a straight front but their function was not to compress the waist to exaggerated proportions but to minimize the abdomen and hips. A very full bust was still fashionable but the waist, stomach and hip had to more or less measure the same as each other giving the wearer a sometimes top heavy appearance if she had a large bust line!

To achieve this desirable figure, corsets no longer came up to support the breasts (much to the consternation of large busted women) but ended just below the bust line. The actual waist of the corset was placed just above natural level onto the lower ribcage so that extreme waist reduction was impossible. To achieve the long lithe shape, corsets were cut longer and straighter in the body and hip than early Edwardian corsets had been. Some early long line corsets were very long, often ending at mid thigh! Due to the longer cut of the corset, great amounts of boning were not needed. The boning used had to be long and flat and on average most corsets only had about 12- 20 bones, spaced evenly around the body. Even though corsets of this period were very long, the busk and the boning did not stretch the full length of the corset to allow for ease of movement. Most 1910’s corsets are made out of coutil, white being very popular but spotted broche, damasks (both in cotton coutil and silk) were popular and would remain so into the 1920’s.

The famous corset color, Tea Rose pink, was introduced in the 1910’s as well. Trimming tends to be minimal on corsets from this time period, most only having lace trim around the top and flossing on the bone casings, being minimal or non existent. After World War One, the long line corset began grow shorter and a lighter boned model of corset would start to replace it during the end of the 1910’s and into the 1920’s. This new style of corset ended just above waist level and although it still came low down onto the hips. With the many women enduring the hardships of the First World War and later on entering the workforce, traditional heavily boned corsetry would no longer be appropriate for the changing role of woman. Written by Leila Hidic/corsetsandcrinolines.com History of the Corset Bibliography When people think of 16th century dress, the first thing that comes to mind is the corset.

The corset represents a fundamental shift in the concept of clothing and tailoring; instead of shaping clothes to the body, as had been done throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the body began to conform to the fashionable shape of the clothing worn. There are several myths about wearing corsets, many of which spring from Victorian corsetry rather than Elizabethan. In the 16th century, the corset was not meant to draw in the waist and create an hourglass figure; rather, it was designed to mold the torso into a cylindrical shape, and to flatten and raise the bustline. There is one 16th century reference to a small waist being fashionable, but on the whole it was a fashionably flat-torsoed shape, rather than a tiny waist, that the corset was designed to acheive. Another common myth revolves around the horrible discomfort of corsets. This, too, stems from the tightly-laced waists of the 19th century; the corset worn in Elizabethan England, when fitted and laced correctly, is quite comfortable.

Some well-endowed women consider then more comfortable then modern underwire bras, and many people with back problems have remarked how much a boned-tab Elizabethan corset feels like a supportive back brace. As the corset was hidden underneath the other layers of dress in the 16th century, finding out about it is difficult. Up to the 1520s, the raised and slightly rounded shape of the fashionable gown could be achieved by a well-fitted kirtle. A German woodcarving of 1520 shows a woman wearing a gown with a definite crease and fold in the fabric under the bust. In Holbein's sketches of the 1520s and his portraits of the 1530s, however, stiffening is definitely required. One possible method for creating this flattened bosom is that the Tudor bodices and stomachers were stiffened with buckram (glue-stiffened canvas) to achieve the fashionably flat shape. There is a reference in a Tudor wardrobe account to "buckram for stiffening bodices".

Looked at from a practical standpoint, however, it saves time and labor to have one stiffened undergarment to wear under several gowns then to stiffen every gown individually. Having an undergarment to take the strain of shaping the body also helps to extend the life of the outer gown. In addition, tightly-fitted and supportive undergowns worn underneath a decorative outer garments were found through Europe for the entirity of the preceding century; it is only natural that this established trend should have continued. How did the corset evolve into a separate garment? In the 15th century, a tightly-fitted kirtle worn under the outer gown was used to shape the body into the fashionable form. It's likely that it was the bodice of this kirtle which was first stiffened with buckram, and then with stiffer materials such as reed or bents, as the fashionable silhouette became flatter and flatter during the 1520s and 1530s.

During the 1530s, the decorative skirt of the kirtles worn under gowns underwent a change: instead of an entire decorated underkirtle, a separate, decorated "kirtle" skirt could be worn under the outer gown. instead. When this happened, we can theorize that the by-now-essential stiffened kirtle bodice was retained as a separate garment: the "payre of bodies", or corset as it is now known. There are also references in early 16th century Spain of a "vasquina" bodice being tied to a farthingale or stiffened skirt. Add stiffening of some kind to this separate under-bodice, and voila--a corset is born. Written References to Corsets One problem with finding written references to 16th centuries is that the term "pair of bodies" could denote both a corset and the bodice of a gown. One needs to take the context of the reference into account. If it is a "pair of bodies with sleeves", most likely it is a gown which is being discussed; if materials such as whalebone or bents are mentioned, it could concievably be a corset rather than a bodice.

If it is mentioned with petticoats or farthingales, other undergarments of the time, then chances are it is a corset rather than a bodice. In the 1550s, the first reference to a separate undergarment is found in the wardrobe accounts of Mary Tudor. Item for making of one peire of bodies of crymsen satin Item for making two pairs of bodies for petticoats of crymsen satin Item for making a pair of bodies for a Verthingall of crymsen Grosgrain Satin appears to have been Mary's fabric of choice, and crimson was one of the prevalent colors in her wardrobe. Sewing a stiffened bodice to a petticoat or farthingale would be a practical way to lessen the bulk underneath the outer gowns, keep the farthingale from slipping out of place and help distribute the weight of a heavy gown more comfortably. References to petticoats often mention bodices sewn to them. Queen Elizabeth had several pairs of bodies listed in her wardrobe accounts. The following listings, according to Janet Arnold (author of Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd), most likely referred to a corset-like garment.

A payre of bodies of black cloth of silver with little skirts (1571) a pair of bodies of sweete lether (1579) a pair of bodies of black velvet lined with canvas stiffened with buckeram (1583) for altering a pair of bodies...the bodies lined with sackecloth and buckram about the skirts with bents covered with fustian. a pair of french bodies of damaske lined with sackcloth, with whales bone to them (1597) As we can see, several different materials were used to stiffen bodies: leather, buckram, bents, and, as the 16th century neared its end, whalebone. In the later 16th century, "French Bodies" was a term commonly used for the stiffened undergarment. In 1577, they were worn in France: French women have inconceivably narrow waists...over the chemise they wear a corset or bodice, that they call a 'corps pique', which makes their shape more delicate and slender.

It is fastened behind which helps to show off the form of the bust." A quote from the late 1590s give us an idea of what they were stiffened with: I will have a petticoate of silk, not red but of the finest silk there is...it shall have a French bodie, not of whalebone, for that is not stiff enough, but of horne for that will hold it out, it shall come, to keepe in my belly...my lad, will have a Busk of whalebone, it shall be tyed with two silk points..." Here again a petticoat has a bodie "to" it, indicating that the two were worn--and perhaps even fastened--together. French bodies show up regularly in tailor's bills of the later 16th century.

Here are some listings found in the bills of Tailor's Bills of the 1590s: 2 pair of French bodies (1591) 3/4 [yard] of canvas for mistress Knevittes bodies (1591) whales bone for the bodies an elle of canvas for my mistress's Frenche bodies [and] six yards of green binding lace to them (1592) 2 yards of sacking for a pair of French bodies (1594) a whale bone bodye (1590) and lastly, here is a reference to a pair of bodies made for Queen Elizabeth's dwarf, Tomasen: "a payer of French bodies of damask lined with sackecloth, with whales bone." Pictures of Corsets Descriptions are well and good...but what did the period pair of bodies look like? Unfortunately, pickings are slim. As the pair of bodies was an undergarment, it wasn't depicted in period paintings. In fact, I have found only three paintings from the time period which clearly show a pair of boned bodies, all of which date to 1600 or slightly afterward.

The first is a portrait of Elizabeth Vernon, Countess of Southampton, dated to c. 1600. It shows the countess en deshabille wearing a boned pair of bodies underneath her opened jacket. A very sheer petticoat is attached over the bodies at the waist, showing unboned tabs beneath. The second is somewhat later--it dates to the 1620s, but still provides useful information on corsets of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. "Kitchen interior with the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus", by Pieter Cornelisz van Rijck, shows a kitchen maid dressed in smock, corset, petticoat and apron. The corset has straps which come to a point at the front neckline, where they ostensibly tie to the front of the corset. Like Elizabeth Vernon's corset, this one is also very flat, laces up the front, and is boned with narrow, vertical channels. Another picture, "Woman at her Toilet", was painted by a member of the French School of the 17th century and is dated to the beginning of the 1600s.

It is currently at the Musee Ingres, and a picture can be found in Anne Kraatz's book Lace: History and Fashion. This woman is depicted wearing her petticoat with stays worn over it, something seen in later 17th century paintings. Although this painting does not clearly show the boning ridges (this may be due to a decorative covering to the stays or to the quality of the picture), the angle of the tabs indicate that they are stiffened in some way. The straps of the corset are visible beneath the sheer cape worn by the woman to protect her clothing while dressing her hair. Extant Corsets Fortunately, we have more to go on than paintings. There are currently two known corsets from the 16th century, and two stomachers dated to the early 17th century, which we can look at as examples. The first and best known example of a 16th century corset is the German pair of bodies buried with Pfaltzgrafin Dorothea Sabine von Neuberg in 1598.

This corset is shown in detail on page 47 and 112-113 of Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1560-1620 and in Jutta Zander-Seidel's book Textiler Hausrat. It is made of three layers of cream-colored fabric, the outer layer being silk backed with linen and the inner lining of linen, and has channelsbackstitched between the two layers into which whalebone was inserted. It has tabs at the waist, as well as small eyelets at the waistline through which the farthingale (stiffened hoop skirt) or petticoat could be fastened to the corset. A pocket sewn down the front of the German corset allowed a stiff busk to be slipped into the corset, to provide a completely flat front. The armholes are rather far back, as are the armholes of most garments of the time; a stiff, upright, and what modern people would call unnaturally rigid posture was considered a mark of good breeding. This was a German corset, and therefore cannot be considered an example of English Elizabethan fashion; nevertheless, it is the earliest surviving corset we have.

The busk which would have been slipped into the busk pocket, was a long, flat piece of ivory, horn or wood, elaborately carved in later centuries, which helped to give a pair of bodies a rigid, smooth shape. In 1579, Henry Etienne mentioned this item in a letter: "The ladies call a whalebone... their stay, which they put under their breast, right in the middle, in order to keep straighter." This stay, or busk, could be tied into place by a busk-lace to keep it from shifting up or down. The busk-lace eventually became an intimate favor, given by women to the men they loved. The second corset is English, and was put on the effigy of Queen Elizabeth in 1602. It currently resides in Westminster Abbey, along with a detailed write-up of the corset by Janet Arnold which is kept in the Westminster Library. There is a photograph of this corset in Norah Waugh's book Corsets and Crinolines. This corset was also stiffened with whalebone.

Unlike the German corset it had boned tabs and a wide, scooped neck which hinted at the shape the corset would attain during the next two centuries. It laces up the front. Interestingly, the front edged of this corset curves in below the bust and out over the bust. Due to the front lacings, it has no busk;instead, two heavy strips of whalebone run down either side of the front lacing. You can find out more about the Effigy corset in the article " The Effigy Corset: A new look at Elizabethan Corsetry." Aside from these two items, all we have are two 17th century stomachers, one currently in the Globe Theatre in London and the other in the Rocamora Collection of Barcelona, which were both cut down from corsets. They are virtually identical in proportion and construction; both are made of a heavy, coarse linen, are boned with thin reeds, and are braced with horizontal crossbraces of whalebone down either side of the front center lacings.

Corset Construction Based on the extant corsets we have to examine and on the construction techniques found in other garments of the period, we can draw some conclusions about how these items were made in the 16th century. Professional tailors often mention corsets in their bills and accounts. Like French Farthingales, petticoats and kirtles, "whaleboned bodies" were an item readily available from a lady's tailor. As with many other garments of the time, women who couldn't afford a tailor could easily make a corset at home from sackcloth and the small reeds readily available to all for stiffening. The effigy corset was made of three pieces--two front pieces and one back piece--which were made and finished separately and whip-stitched together along the side back seams before wearing. This technique would allow for easier size changes: if the wearer gained or lost weight, the back could be removed and a smaller or larger piece added. These corsets and the two stomachers were constructed by placing layers right sides out, sewing the boning channels, and then binding the edges with a strip of leather or fabric.

The modern "sew right sides together and then turn right sides out" was an uncommon technique of the time. The binding on the two corsets and on two extant stomachers of the time was placed right side against the outside edge of the corset, stitched down, turned over to the wrong side, and either hem-stitched down along the edge or stab-stitched through to the front of the corset, following the seam line of the outer binding edge. In the case of the two stomachers, the raw edge was left unfinished on the inside. Binding strips could be made of ribbon, of fabric cut on the bias, or of fabric cut on the straight. The boning channels on the Pfaltzgrafin's corset and two 17th century stomachers were backstitched, which would add strength and flexibility to the seams as well as adding a more finished look. The seams on the effigy corset were stitched with a running stitch. Lacing holes had a row of boning to either side of the holes, in all cases. The holes were poked with an awl and whipstitched around the opening for strength.

In all pictures and extant corsets and stomachers, the boning runs straight up and down across the entire front. The quality of material varied widely, as can be seen from the different listings for corsets: sackcloth for less exalted bodies and for lining more expensive pairs of bodies which were covered with damask, satin or taffeta. The quality of construction varied as well. On one of the stomachers, there were four backstitches per inch; the Pfaltzgrafin's corset was made with smaller stitches and finer thread, as was the Effigy corset. To sum up During the 16th century, corsets were made out of linen, linen-cotton blends (after 1570), or, in the case of nobility, an outer layer of leather, satin or other silk and inner layers of linen. Whalebone, horn and reeds were the most commonly used materials for stiffening the pair of bodies, although heavy corded rope cannot be discounted as a possibility. The boning was slipped into channels between the outer and inner layers of the corset, which could be either running-stitched or back-stitched.

Corsets could lace at the center front or center back, through eyelets reinforced with a buttonhole or whip stitch. A corset could have unboned tabs at the waist, a ruffle of fabric sewn at the waist, or boning extending down into the tabs. It could even be fastened to a petticoat or farthingale, either tied to it with points (laces run through eyelets) or perhaps sewn. From practical experience, the boned-tab corset is immeasurably more comfortable than a corset with no tabs or unboned tabs. The straps of the Effigy corset are also more comfortable than those of the Pfaltzgrafin corset, as they don't cut into the armhole as much and are cut on the bias. For the ramrod-straight court gown, a back-lacing corset with a busk is required. For more informal gowns, or gowns without a deep point in the front, a front-lacing corset is fine. Front lacing corsets are more comfortable and easier to get into, although it's a good idea to have back lacing for adjustment.

Lacing the farthingale to the corset eliminates shifting, makes the whole garment move better and is more comfortable (in my opinion). A petticoat with a heavily boned bodice is a convenient alternative to a separate corset and skirt. It eliminates bulk at the waist, as well. Diet Tips: Can Waist Training Get Rid of Belly Fat? | Shape Magazine Do Waist Trainers Get Rid of Belly Fat? Will wearing a corset flatten your stomach? Those 19th century-style torture devices are the premise behind “waist training,” the latest weight loss fad that involves lacing or Velcroing yourself into a corset-like garment to “train” your waist to be trimmer. Kim Kardashian outed herself as a devotee on Instagram, and Jessica Alba has credited a corset with helping her shed baby weight. There’s also been a spike in real women who vouch that waist training for weight loss has scored them an hourglass figure. But, really, do waist trainers make you lose weight? Experts Weigh In Curious, we took it to the experts—and it turns out that wearing a corset has zero to do with shedding real weight.

It’s just the latest gimmick ( fat-burning pills , anyone?) that promises to effortlessly peel off pounds. At first glance, it does seem to have promise. "The corset physically restricts your stomach, and that can make it impossible to overeat," says New York City nutritionist Brittany Kohn, R.D. “Cinching your waist also redistributes fat from your middle, so you look slimmer.” And since it's so tight, you’ll sweat like crazy, and that can make you feel lighter. “But once the corset comes off, your body will quickly return to its usual weight and shape,” says Kohn. (So, yeah, this is just another one of those bizarre health fads .) The Scary Part Like a lot of fat-melting trends, waist training can even rack up real harm. “Being compressed makes it hard to breathe,” says Kohn. “And with so much pressure on your middle, it can lead to bruising and even organ damage.” Yeah, we partly wanted to believe this one—wouldn’t it be great if there actually was a magical garment that could erase a little belly bloat? But the plain fact is, the only way to really lose weight is through diet and exercise.

(Instead, try this flat-belly abs workout and the 30 Greatest Flat-Belly Tips of All Time .) Search Shape Shop 1000+ images about Tightlacing on Pinterest | Waist training, Waist training corset and Fashion trends Learn more at thelingerieaddict.com What (You Didn't Know) to Look for in a Corset: 5 Popular Myths Debunked I A waist Of Time - the contemporary revival of the corset A waist Of Time - the contemporary revival of the corset The Independent 5/10/2016 Alexander Fury © Getty Corsetry is experiencing a revival. I don’t mean the exposed sort, the kind of spangled lace-up get-ups sported by Dita von Teese, whittling her waist to 16.5 inches and made to be seen. Rigby and Peller, whose clientele runs the gamut from Queen Elizabeth to Lady Gaga, strictly admonished my misuse of knicker-nouns: a corset is outerwear there, a basque is the shaping garment underneath. And then there’s shape wear, which is a whole other thing entirely.

The notion that women would be quite so willing to truss themselves up in whalebone, satin and cambric in 2016 seems archaic. Much of it can be traced back to another Rigby and Peller client, Kim Kardashian, who brought the notion of “waist training” to the fore roughly two years ago. In 2015, in response, the Victoria and Albert museum acquired one of the veritable slew of waist training cinchers that flooded the market. Its is currently on public display in the museums new exhibition, “Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear” - devoted to both underwear and the outerwear its influenced. It feels like an interloper alongside picturesque brocade eighteenth century stays and ribboned Belle Epoque corsets: by contrast, the waist trainer seems quasi-surgical, simultaneously modern and quaintly old-fashioned. Which is a good summary for the re-emergence of corsetry, at a time when the term “Feminist” is experiencing a media revival and when the first female president is seeming a distinct possibility.

Corsetry and feminism aren’t mutually exclusive: many saw the 1989 Blonde Ambition get-up of Madonna, conical breasts of her Jean Paul Gaultier quilted satin corset piercing through a double-breasted business suit, as an embodiment of a new ball-busting wave of feminists. Likewise, Vivienne Westwood’s popularising of the basque in the 1980s - an outwear garment based on an underwear style from 200 years prior - as a powerful female call-to-arms, of women ironically re-embracing and celebrating the traditional trappings of femininity without feeling denigrated. The same is true of von Teese and her reclaimed showgirl garb, an exaggerated form of retrograde femininity, a parody, tongue very visibly in cheek. The Kardashianised waist trainer, and its many spin-offs, seems part of a different world altogether.

But the look has hit the mainstream: the mass retailer JML offers a product called “Miss Belt”, which a representative firmly emphasised was not a waist-trainer, but rather an “aid for an instant hourglass figure - a shape wear product.” The official jargon dubs it an “Instant Slimming Effect Dual-Compression Waist Shaper.” The contraption consists of a stiff panel of fabric, boned with plastic stays, which fastens tight and is then cinched in further with a velcro band. The visual effect resembles a trussed ham; physically, it feels like being punched in the gut. Yes, I tried it - shape wear isn’t just for women, as the popularity of the mens range launched by the foundation garment company Spanx aptly illustrates, as well as the few men’s corsets - or “body belts” in the V&A exhibition, worn until the 1950s.

© Provided by The Independent Dita von Teese, in a corset by Mr Pearl (Photo by Ethan Miller Getty Images for MGM) (Picture: [copyright]) “What we tend to think of as the history of foundation wear was that all women abandoned girdles in the sixties, and since then we’ve been happily liberated,” states Edwina Ehrman, curator of the V&A show. “I don’t think this is true - I don’t think that ever really went away.” Ehrman cites mainstream women’s magazines as emphasising underwear to smooth the line and trim the figure from the sixties through to today. Then came the launch of Spanx in 2000 - a company valued in 2012 at north of $1 billion, based around hosiery and underwear with built-in compression, that brought the term “shape wear” to the modern wardrobe vernacular. Isabel Baert, Global Head of Buying at Rigby & Peller, cited the fancy, beribboned basques and corsets the lingerie purveyor sells as specialist and often restricted to wedding trousseaux.

“However, where we have seen a marked increase in recent times in shape wear is within the sales of bodies - “all in one” pieces - both for ready-to-wear and made to measure,” says she. “Within the business, a third of all made to measure requests are now for bodies.” They don’t come cheap: £715 is the outright cost, with repeat pieces at £650, but cheaper versions are offered by retailers as diverse as Marks & Spencer, Topshop, Asda and Sainsbury’s. Shapewear is a light-weight alternative to Kardashian-style waist training - which is itself referred to as “waist taming” in the corset industry. The Kardashian’s corsets (no additional “k”) are more akin to girdles or the aforementioned shape wear than traditional steel-boned corsets, which can affect extreme body transformation if worn for sufficient periods. Back in the 19th century, corsets were customary - but extreme tight-lacing, drastically reducing the waist to a fabled, Scarlet O’Hara esque 18 inches, was seen as extreme even then. It was denounced in the pulpit, condemned by medical professionals and caricatured, but still continued.

“Waist training was popular with the nouveau riche - it enabled them to show their fashionability,” says Ehrman. “If they had a very narrow waist, it was a sign of gentility, although they came from much humbler origins.” How very Kardashian - although their waist trainers nip at their waists rather than crush their internal organs. The corset maker Mr Pearl - who creates custom corsets for von Teese, and for Gaultier - is himself tight-laced to an 18-inch waistline. He wears a variety of corsets throughout the day, and whilst sleeping, only removing the corset to bathe. Few today are so committed. © Getty What the waist-trainer, the compression belt and shape wear share, is time. They all seem from a time bygone, but all offer a decidedly modern quick-fix. Rather than long hours in the gym or thousands of press-ups promoted in the seventies and eighties, a garment can do all the work for you, instantaneously. “But how many people did work on their bodies? Seriously!” asks Ehrman.

“We use it [underwear] to mould our bodies to the currently fashionable silhouette.” The desired silhouette, however, is virtually Victorian in its exaggerated, bombastic curves - waist trained, butt lifted (another type of underwear on show at the V&A) - a trussing and hoiking and manipulation of the flesh. As plastic surgery soars in popularity and plummets in price - the UK market is worth an estimated £3.6 billion, with round 750,000 procedures performed annually - this is, possibly, fashion’s reflection of the need to knead, squeeze and transform your silhouette. In 1876, the artist Edouard Manet declared that “the satin corset is perhaps the nude of our time." a hundred and forty years later, perhaps the nude of our time is a pair of Spanx. Probably sported by Kim Kardashian. ("Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear" is at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 12 March 2017. More information at vam.ac.uk) Celebrity style inspiration: Corsets

Question: What "shaping" garment of the 19th century was meant to give women an hourglass figure?
Answer: Corset