Pair Of Bodies Pattern? Top 99 Best Answers

Which corset to wear?

So back to the actual question; What kind of supportive clothing should you wear under an empire line dress? I think it all depends on the era you want to portray, whether you want a more formal or informal look, and your figure. All of the above examples offer you a lightweight, supportive garment and give you a raised bust line, all on time. If you want a more informal look and easy dressing, you can opt for the Half Stays a la Paresseuse. A front lace pair for short stays wouldn’t be my first choice unless you actually fall into the pregnant/lactating group or you have a disability. But as you can see from the example from the Victoria and Albert Museum, front-lacing garments did exist, and they are still period-accurate.

I think the most important factor when considering what type of corset to wear is your figure. It’s not about your height, it’s about the proportions of your bodies to each other. Look at the dress style you want to create. A fashion plate would be perfect for this, as it shows an idealized version of the perfect body shape of the time. And now look at the proportions. Where is the bust line relative to the shoulders? How long is the body compared to the legs or vice versa? Is the waist more defined compared to the hips and bust, or is it longer and straighter? Now look at your body. What are your proportions? And where should your corset provide support or structure to match the then-fashionable proportions?

A Stomacher has been part of women’s costumes for over three centuries (Fig. 1). In the portrait of Maria Josefa de Lorena (fig. 2) we get a clear glimpse of the workings of a stover on the body, where it is painted in gold in contrast to the blue robe of the archduchess

Susan Vincent, researcher at the Center for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at the University of York, describes Stomacher in Dressing the Elite: Clothes in Early Modern England (2003):

“[B]odizes that fastened at the front were generally worn with a stomacher. This was a stiffened triangular insert worn point-down and fastened to the bodice on either side with lace, pins, or ribbons. Functionally, the Stomacher filled the gap between the two front edges of the bodice, continuing the corset effect. Visually, the highly embellished panel drew the eye from the top down to its long lower tip, making the torso appear even longer.”

An example of this is Figure 3, a surviving stover in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection, which features an elongated V-shape and non-functional silver braid lacing at the front.

Another surviving Stomacher in the V&A collection (Fig. 4) is richly embroidered with colored silks in designs of flowers and other natural motifs, just like Nathalie Rothstein, the V&A curator of silks, in Four Hundred Years of Fashion (1984) describes. : “It was often embroidered or decoratively occupied.” (175)

The history of the corset and corsets

The corset has been an essential supportive undergarment for women in Europe for several centuries, evolving with changing fashion trends and known as a pair of bodysuits, corsets and corsets depending on era and geography. Garment appearance represented a shift from people wearing clothing to conform to their bodies to changing body shape to support and accommodate their fashionable attire.[2]

A “pair of bodies” or corsets, the supportive garments that preceded corsets, first became popular in 16th-century Europe, with corsets reaching the peak of their popularity in the Victorian era. An undergarment, it was occasionally used as an outer garment; Corsets as outerwear can be seen in the national costumes of many European countries.[3]: 22

Etymology[ edit ]

The English word corset is derived from the Old French word corps and the diminutive of body, which in turn is derived from corpus – Latin for body. The term “corset” came into use in the late 14th century, derived from the French “korset”, meaning “a type of laced bodice”. The meaning of this is “stiff, supportive, so constricting undergarment for the waist, worn chiefly by women to shape the figure,” dates back to 1795. [4] [5] The term “stays” was translated into English Commonly used 1600 to early twentieth century and used interchangeably with corset in the Renaissance.

Before the 16th century[ edit ]

The earliest known depiction of a possible corset appears on a figure from Minoan art dating from around 1600 BC. was made. The garment depicted could be perceived as a corset but is worn as an outer garment leaving the breasts exposed.[3]

Corsets have been used for centuries by certain tribes of the Caucasus: Circassians and Abkhazians. They were used to “beautify” women and also to provide modesty. Corsets were tied tightly with up to fifty laces and had to be worn from infancy to the wedding night. When the marriage was consummated, a groom had to untie each shoelace slowly and carefully to show self-control.[7][8]

16th and 17th centuries [ edit ]

For most of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, corsets were known in English as corsets or corsets. These garments can be worn as undergarments or as outerwear. The ladies of the French court saw this corset as “essential for the beauty of the female figure”.[9]

Early body pairs were usually made of layered fabrics, such as linen and silk, stiffened with starch and were not tightly laced, as that was impossible in those days without damaging your expensive and ridiculously time-consuming garment to make. While some surviving bodies/stays exist that are structured with steel or iron, these are generally considered to be either orthopedic or novelty constructions and were not worn as part of mainstream fashion, although some clothing historians believe they were not worn at all. [10]

By the late 16th century, bodies were a common item of clothing among the elites of Europe. Garments gradually began to incorporate the use of a “busk”, a long, flat piece of whalebone or wood sewn into a shell of the corset to maintain its rigid shape. The front of the corset was typically covered by a “stomacher”, a rigid, V-shaped structure worn on the stomach for decorative purposes.[10]

In the Elizabethan era, whalebone (balenen) was commonly used in corsets to allow bodices to retain their rigid appearance. A busk, typically made of wood, ivory, metal, or whalebone, was added to stiffen the front of the bodice. It was then carved and shaped into a thin knife shape and inserted into the Elizabethan bodice, then fastened and held in place with laces so that the busk could be easily removed and replaced.[3]: 29

18th and early 19th centuries [ edit ]

The most common type of corset in the 17th 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 main purpose of stays in the 18th century was to lift and shape the breasts, tighten the waist, support the back, improve posture to help a woman stand up straight, shoulders down and at the back, and narrowing the waist only slightly, creating a “V-shaped torso, over which the outerwear is worn; however, instead of stays for informal situations, quilted linen “jumps” were also worn. Derived from the French word jupe, meaning itself referred to in the 18th century as a short jacket, trousers were only partially boned and lined with cotton to support the breasts without being constricting.Cracks were made of silk, cotton or linen and often embroidered.Cracks over the breasts fastened with Ties such as silk ribbons, buttons and sometimes metal hooks Both garments were considered underwear and were only seen in very limited circumstances 18th-century corsets were fairly comfortable, didn’t restrict breathing, and allowed women to work, although they restricted bending at the waist and forced one to protect the back by lifting with the legs.

Short reigns around 1810

Short stays around 1803

nursing corset

U.S. Patent 169,159 (1875)

Transition to Victorian[edit]

Steel braces began to replace the classic whalebone in the 1830s. The diarist Emily Eden reported that she had to obtain a silver “sleeve” before accompanying her brother to India because a humid climate rusted the usual steel and spoiled the garment. In 1839, a Frenchman named Jean Werly took out a patent for women’s corsets made on the loom. This style of corset was popular until the 1890’s when machine-made corsets gained popularity. As seen in various fashion advertisements of the time, the ordinary corset cost one dollar ($1).[13] Before that, all corsets were handmade—and typically homemade.[3]:41

The Victorian corset[edit]

1859 corset with built-in partial crinoline

1869 corset

1878 corset

1890 corset

Corset “Perfect Health”.

around 1890.

Late 19th century [ edit ]

For dress reformers and men of the late 18th century, corsets were a dangerous moral ‘evil’ that encouraged promiscuous views of female bodies and superficial dalliance in fashionable whims. They exaggerated the health risk, claiming they could remove ribs or rearrange internal organs and affect fertility; Weakness and general depletion of health were also attributed to excessive corsetry. Since fashion was the only way for many women to express themselves, men did what they could to discourage them.[14] Eventually the criticisms of the reformers and the corset men joined a multitude of voices protesting the tight lacing. While not common, the horror stories of women often lacing tight angered enough people throughout the 19th century. Preachers railed against constriction, doctors advised patients against it.[14]

American women active in the anti-slavery and temperance movements and experienced in public speaking and political agitation have demanded sensible clothing that does not restrict their movement.[15] While proponents of fashionable dress denied that corsets maintain an upright, “good figure” as a necessary bodily structure for a moral and orderly society, these reformists denied that women’s fashion was not only physically harmful but “the result of male conspiracy.” Making women submissive by cultivating them in slave psychology.”[16][17] They believed that a change in fashion could change the entire position of women, allowing greater social mobility, independence from men and marriage, the ability Allowing working for wages, as well as physical exercise and comfort.[16]: 391

In 1873 Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward wrote:

Burn the corsets! … No, you don’t save the whalebones either, you’ll never need whalebones again. Make a bonfire of the cruel steels it has reigned over your chest and abdomen for so many years, and breathe a sigh of relief, for I assure you, your emancipation has begun from that moment.[18]

The Edwardian corset[ edit ]

1900’s illustration contrasting the old Victorian corset silhouette with the new Edwardian “S-Bend” corset silhouette

Corset production, 1912.

Post-Edwardian longline corset [ edit ]

Fashionable silhouette in 1906.

From 1908 to 1914, the fashionable silhouette, with a narrow waist and narrow skirt, required the lengthening of the corset at its lower edge. A new type of corset covered the thighs and changed the position of the hips, making the waist appear higher and wider. The new fashion was considered uncomfortable, cumbersome and required the use of strips of elastic fabric. The development of rubberized elastic materials in 1911 helped the girdle replace the corset.

After World War I[edit]

Shortly after the United States entered World War I in 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board told women to stop buying corsets to free up metal for war production. This move freed about 28,000 tons of metal, enough to build two battleships.[20]

However, these garments were better known as girdles with the express purpose of slimming the hips. A return to waist cinchers in 1939 caused a stir in fashion circles, but World War II ended their return. In 1952[21] a corset called “The Merry Widow” was released by Warner’s. Originally, the Merry Widow was a trademark of the famous Maidenform company, which designed it for Lana Turner’s role in a 1952 film of the same name.[22] The Merry Widow differed from earlier corsets in that it separated the breasts while corsets held them together. Both the Merry Widow and girdles remained popular through the 1950s and 1960s. However, in 1968, at the feminist Miss America protest series, protesters symbolically tossed a number of women’s products into a “Freedom trash can.” These included belts and corsets,[23] which were among the items protesters described as “instruments of female torture.”[24]

See also[edit]

Bodice – Garment or part of it for women and girls

Bra – Women’s underwear designed to support breast movement

Corset – Corset underwear for women that combines a bra and belt

Corset – Braced garment that supports the waist, hips and chest.

Corset Controversy – The concerns of pro and detractors’ arguments for and against wearing a corset.

corset maker

Belt (Underwear) – Form-fitting bodice

Karl Guyette

rib removal

Tightlacing – The practice of wearing a tightly laced corset

References[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Roded garment that supports the waist, hips and chest.

Not to be confused with Cosset

For the river in Quebec, see Corset River

An 1878 drawing of a luxurious hourglass corset with a bust closure at the front and lacing at the back

A corset is a support garment commonly worn to maintain and train the torso in a desired shape for aesthetic or medical reasons (either for the duration of wear or with a more permanent effect) or for support, traditionally a smaller waist or a bigger butt the breasts. Corsets are known to be worn by both men and women, although for many years this garment was a staple of women’s wardrobes.

Since the late 20th century, the fashion industry has borrowed the term “corset” to refer to bodices that, to varying degrees, mimic the look of traditional corsets without functioning as such. While these modern corsets and corset bodices often feature lacing or boning, and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they have very little, if any, effect on the shape of the wearer’s body. Real corsets are usually made by a corset maker and are often customized to fit the individual wearer.

Etymology[ edit ]

Advertisement for children’s corsets, 1886

The word corset is a diminutive of the Old French word cors (meaning “body”, itself derived from the Latin corpus): the word therefore means “small body”. The craft of corset construction is known as corseting, as is the wearing of corsets in general. (The word corset is also sometimes used as the collective plural form of corset). Someone who makes corsets is a corsetier or corsetière (French terms for a man or woman) or sometimes just a corset maker.

In 1828 the word corset came into general use in the English language. The word was used in The Ladies Magazine[1] to describe a “quilted waistcoat” which the French called a corset. It was used to distinguish the lighter corset from the heavier corsets of the time.

Used[ edit ]

fashion [edit]

The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and fit it into a fashionable silhouette. In women, the most common way to accentuate a curvy figure is to reduce the waist and thereby emphasize the bust and hips. However, in some periods bodies (Tudor-era corsets) were worn to achieve a tubular straight up-and-down shape, which involved minimizing the bust.

Advertisement for men’s corsets, 1893

For men, corsets are used more to slim the figure. There was a time, however, from about 1820 to 1835—and in some cases even into the late 1840s—when a wasp-waisted figure (a small, pinched look at the waist) was also desirable for men; Wearing a corset sometimes achieved this.

An “overbust corset” encloses the upper body and extends from just under the arms to the hips. An “underbust corset” begins just below the breasts and extends down to the hips. A “long corset” – either overbust or underbust – extends beyond the iliac crest or hip bone. A longline corset is ideal for those who want more stability, have a longer torso, or want to flatten their hips. A “regular” length corset hits just short of the iliac crest and is ideal for those who want more flexibility or have a shorter torso. Some corsets, on very rare occasions, come down to the knees. A shorter style of corset that covers the waist area (from low on the ribs to just above the hips) is called a waist cincher. A corset may also include garters to hold up the stockings; alternatively, a separate garter belt can be worn.

Traditionally, a corset supports the exposed dress and disperses the pressure of large dresses, such as the crinoline and bustle. A corset sleeve is sometimes used to protect the outerwear from the corset and to smooth out the lines of the corset. The original corset coverup was worn under the corset to form a layer between it and the body. Corsets were not worn next to the skin, possibly due to difficulties in washing these items in the 19th century, as they had steel boning and metal grommets that would rust. Light linen or cotton layers (also called undershirts) were worn under corsets to absorb sweat and protect the corset and wearer from each other, and also to act as undergarments, protecting other garments from the wearer and their sweat. The corset covering generally took the form of a light cotton turf or silk chemisette. Modern corset wearers may wear corset pads for many of the same reasons. Those who lace their corsets tight use the pads to avoid burning the skin from the laces.

People with spinal problems like scoliosis or those with internal injuries can be fitted with a back brace that resembles a brace. [medical citation required] However, a back brace is not the same as a corset. This usually consists of plastic and/or metal. A clamp is used to press the curves so they don’t progress and sometimes they lower the curves. Braces are mainly used on children and teenagers as they have a higher chance of aggravating the curves. Artist Andy Warhol was shot dead in 1968 and never fully recovered; he wore a corset for the rest of his life.[2]

A woman in a corset inspired by Bavarian costume.

Fetish [ edit ]

Aside from fashion and medical uses, corsets are also used in sexual fetishism, particularly BDSM activities. In BDSM, a submissive may need to wear a corset, which is very tightly laced and restricts the wearer to some degree. A dominant may also wear a corset, often black, but for entirely different reasons, e.g. B. for aesthetic reasons. A specially designed corset with the breasts and vulva exposed can be worn during vanilla sex or BDSM activities.

Medicine [ edit ]

A brace is a lumbar support used to prevent and treat back pain.[3]

construction [edit]

X-ray of a woman in a corset

Corsets are usually made from a stiff material such as buckram, structured with boning (also called ribs or boning) set into channels in the fabric or leather. Thin strips of baleen (also known as whalebone) were favored for boning in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Plastic is the most common material for modern corsets and most poor quality corsets. Spring and/or spiral steel or synthetic whalebone are preferred for stronger corsets of generally better quality. Other materials used for boning were ivory, wood, and cane.

Corsets are held together by lacing, usually (but not always) at the back. Tightening or loosening the lacing changes the firmness of the corset accordingly. Depending on the desired effect and period of time, corsets can be laced top-down, bottom-up, or both bottom-up and top-down using the bunny ear lacing method. Victorian corsets also featured a buttoned or hooked front opening called a busk. If the corset was worn loose, it was possible to leave the lacing adjusted and put the corset on and off via the front opening. (If the corset is worn tight, this method will damage the busk unless the lacing is loosened significantly first). Self-lacing was the way women dressed, as assistance was usually unnecessary as long as a mirror was handy.

comfort [edit]

In the past, a woman’s corset was typically worn over a shirt, a sleeveless dress with a plunging neckline made of washable material (usually cotton or linen). It absorbed the sweat and kept the corset and dress clean. In modern times, a t-shirt, camisole or corset lining can be worn.

Moderate lacing is not incompatible with vigorous activity. In the second half of the 19th century, when wearing corsets was common among women, sports corsets were developed specifically for wearing when cycling, playing tennis or horseback riding, as well as for maternity wear.

Waist reduction[ edit ]

Until 1998, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Ethel Granger as the smallest waist ever at 33 cm (13 inches).[6] After 1998, the category changed to “smallest waist of a living person”. Cathie Jung won the title with a waist measurement of 38 cm. Other women, like Polaire, have also achieved similar reductions (16 inches (41 cm) in her case). However, these are extreme cases. Corsets were, and typically still are, designed for support, with freedom of movement of the body being an important consideration in their design.

history [edit]

Eugène Atget, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Corsets, Paris, 1912

For almost 500 years, bodies, corsets and corsets with boning made of reed, whalebone or metal were the main means of support for women. Researchers have found evidence of the use of corsets in the Minoan civilization of early Crete.[7]: 5

16th and 17th centuries [ edit ]

The corset has undergone many changes. It was originally known as “body pair” in the late 16th century.[8] It was a simple bodice reinforced with boning made of reed or whalebone.[7]: 6 A body made of wood, horn, whalebone, metal or ivory additionally reinforced the central front. Most commonly laced in the back, it was initially a garment reserved for the aristocracy. Later the term “body pair” was replaced by the term “residence” and came into common use in the 17th and 18th centuries. Braces essentially transformed the torso into a cone or cylinder shape. In the 17th century, tabs (called “fingers”) were added at the waist.

18th Century[ edit ]

Stays developed in the 18th century, when whalebone became more widely used and there was increased boning on the garment. The shape of the struts also changed. While they were low and wide at the front, they could reach up to the upper shoulder at the back. Stays can be strapless or use shoulder straps. The straps of the struts were generally fastened at the back and tied at the front.

The purpose of 18th-century suspenders was to support the bust and give the fashionable conical shape while the shoulders were pulled back. At that time, the eyelets were reinforced with stitches and not opposite, but staggered. This allowed the struts to be laced in a spiral shape. One end of the strut cord was inserted into the bottom eyelet and knotted, and the other end was wrapped through the strut eyelets and tightened at the top. Tight lacing wasn’t the purpose of corsets back then. This was only possible when metal eyelets were introduced in the mid-19th century. Women of all walks of life wore corsets, from the lady-in-waiting to the street vendor.

During this period there is evidence of a variant of struts called “jumps” that were looser than struts and had set-in sleeves, like a jacket.[7]: 27

Corsets were originally quilted waistcoats worn by French women as an alternative to rigid corsets.[7]:29 They were made of just quilted linen, laced at the front, and boned. This garment was intended to be worn on informal occasions, while stays were worn for court attire. In the 1790s stays began to go out of fashion. This coincided with the French Revolution and the adoption of neoclassical clothing styles. It was men, called dandies, who started wearing corsets.[7]:36 The fashion lasted until the 1840s, although after 1850 men who wore corsets claimed they needed them for back pain.[7] : 39

19th Century[ edit ]

Polaire was famous for her small, corseted waist, which was sometimes reported to measure no more than 41 cm (16 inches) in circumference.

In the early 19th century, when gussets were added to make room for the bust, braces became known as corsets. They also lengthened to the waist, and the bottom tabs were replaced with gussets at the waist and had fewer bonings. Shoulder straps for normal carrying disappeared in the 1840s.[8] In the 1820s, fashion changed again, with the waist being lowered almost to the natural position. This was to allow for more embellishment on the bodice, which in turn meant the return of the corset into modern fashion. Corsets were made with some padding to slim the waist and more boning. Some women sewed their own while others bought their corsets. Corsets were one of the first mass-produced women’s clothing items. In the 1840s they became more heavily boned. Around 1850 steel boning became popular.

With the advent of metal eyelets in 1827, tight lacing became possible. The position of the eyelets has changed. They faced each other at the back. The front was fastened with a metal busk. Corsets were mostly white. Corsets from the 1850s to 1860s were shorter as the silhouette of women’s fashion changed with the advent of the hoop skirt or crinoline. After the 1860s, when the crinoline fell out of fashion, the corset became longer to shape the belly, which was exposed by the new lines of the princess or cuirass style.

In 1855, a woman named Frances Egbert was having problems with her corsets because the front steel pieces kept breaking from the stress.[11] Consequently, her husband, Samuel Barnes, designed “reinforced steels” for Egbert’s corsets. Barnes filed a patent for the invention 11 years later, and Egbert collected the royalties on that patent for 15 years after his death. After the Egbert v. Lippmann, the US Supreme Court has declared Barnes and Egbert’s patent “public”.

For dress reformists of the late 19th century, corsets were a dangerous moral evil, promoting promiscuous views of female bodies and superficial playfulness with fashion whims. Health risks such as damaged or rearranged internal organs, infertility, and the inability to perform “women’s” duties such as childcare or housecleaning are said to have been caused by constriction, which is recognized by experts.[12] However, the tight lacing was very scandalous and extremely unusual. The vast majority of women wore corsets every day without extreme adverse effects. Eventually, the reformers’ criticism of the corset was joined by a multitude of voices protesting the tightening. Doctors advised patients against it, and journalists wrote articles condemning the vanity and frivolity of women who sacrificed their health for the sake of fashion. While tight lacing is dangerous, it was quite uncommon and considered quite shocking by the majority of women, in addition to men. While the corset was accepted by many as necessary for health, support, and a military-style upright posture, dress reformers, particularly at the height of the Victorian morality era, viewed tight lacing as a sign of moral indecency.

Actress Bianca Lyons demonstrates the exaggerated feminine curves achieved through corsets and padding, c. 1902

A woman models a corset in 1898

A winning advertisement on the back cover of the October 1898 Ladies’ Home Journal

Amanda Nielsen in a corset

American women active in the anti-slavery and temperance movements and experienced in public speaking and political agitation wore sensible clothing that did not restrict their movement, although corsets were part of their wardrobe.[13] While fashion dress advocates claimed that corsets maintained an upright, “good figure” and were a necessary bodily structure for a moral and orderly society, dress reformers claimed that women’s fashion was not only physically harmful, but “the result of male conspiracy to make women subservient.” by being cultivated in slave psychology”.[14][15] They believed that a change in fashion could transform women’s position in society by allowing greater social mobility, independence from men and marriage, and the Ability to work for wages, as well as physical exercise and comfort.[16]

In 1873 Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward wrote:

Burn the corsets! … No, you don’t save the whalebones either, you’ll never need whalebones again. Make a bonfire of the cruel steels it has reigned over your chest and abdomen for so many years, and breathe a sigh of relief, for I assure you, your emancipation has begun from that moment.[17]

Despite these protests, little changed in fashion and underwear until 1900. During the Edwardian period, the straight-front corset (also known as the S-curve corset) was introduced. This corset was straight in the front, with a pronounced curve in the back, forcing the torso forward and the buttocks outward. The style was worn from 1900 to 1908,[7]:144 and was originally conceived as a health corset, which was a type of corset made out of wool and reinforced with laces, promoting the supposed health benefits of wearing wool against the skin. It was sold as an alternative to the boned corset.[18] However, the S-curve corset became the framework for many elaborate fashions in the late 1890s and 1900s.

20th Century[ edit ]

The corset reached its greatest length in the early 20th century. At first, the longline corset reached from the chest to the thigh. There was also a long corset style that started under the bust and required wearing a brassiere, a style intended to complement the new silhouette. It was a boneless style that was much closer to a modern girdle than the traditional corset. The longline style was abandoned during World War I.

The corset fell out of fashion in Europe and North America in the 1920s, being replaced by girdles and elastic brassieres, but surviving as a costume item. Originally a lingerie item, the corset has become a popular piece of outerwear in the fetish, BDSM, and goth subcultures. Tight lacing is often emphasized in the fetish and BDSM literature, and many corset manufacturers serve the fetish market.

A corset from a 1902 French magazine

Outside of the fetish community, living history reenactors and period costume lovers still wear suspenders and corsets as per their original purpose, to provide the proper shape to the character while wearing period fashions. In this case, the corset is underwear rather than outerwear. Experienced corset makers are available to make reproductions of historical corset shapes or to design new styles.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s there was a brief revival of the corset in the form of the waist cincher sometimes referred to as the “waspie”. This was used to give the hourglass figure as dictated by Christian Dior’s “New Look”. However, the use of the waist cincher was limited to haute couture and most women continued to use girdles. Wasps were also repudiated by women’s organizations in the United States and by female members of the British Parliament because corsetry was banned as part of World War II rationing. The revival ended when the New Look gave way to a less dramatically sculpted silhouette.

In 1968, protesters at the Miss America feminist protest symbolically tossed a range of female products into a “Freedom Trash Can”. These included corsets,[19] which were among the items protesters called “instruments of female torture,”[20] and accoutrements they believed were intended to enforce femininity.

Since the late 1980s, the corset has enjoyed periodic revivals, all usually stemming from haute couture and occasionally seeping into mainstream fashion. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood’s use of corsets contributed to the push-up bust trend that lasted from the late 1980s through the 1990s. This revival focused on the corset as outerwear rather than underwear. The strongest revival was seen in the fall 2001 fashion collections and coincided with the release of the film Moulin Rouge! together, in which the costumes included many corsets characteristic of the period. Another fashion movement that has rekindled interest in the corset is the steampunk culture, which uses late Victorian fashion forms in new ways.

Special types[ edit ]

There are some special types of corsets and corset-like devices that contain boning.

corset dress [ edit ]

A corset dress (also known as a hobble corset because it has similar restrictive effects as a hobble skirt) is a long corset. It’s like a regular corset, but it’s long enough to partially or fully cover the legs. So it looks like a dress, hence the name. A person wearing a corset dress may have great difficulty walking up and down stairs (especially if wearing high-heeled shoes) and may not be able to sit down if the bones are too stiff.

Other types of corset dresses are created by some modern day corset makers for unique high fashion looks. Both functional and fashionable, these modern styles are designed to be worn with comfort for a dramatic look.

BDSM collar and corset

Neck corset and collar[ edit ]

A neck corset is a type of braced postural collar and is not generally considered a true corset. This type of corset and its purpose to improve posture does not have long-term results. As certain parts of the neck are pulled towards the head, a band in the neck called the platysmal band will most likely disappear.[21] Like the neck corset, a collar serves some of the same purposes. According to G.J. Huston, collars are worn to allow minimal neck movement after traffic accidents. He also concluded that wearing a collar to improve neck structure was cheaper than physical therapy.[22] Neck corsets and chokers have become a fashion statement rather than posture aids.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

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Ladies, now it’s time to get started with our Simplicity 18th Century inspired patterns! They have two sample packs – one with documentation and one with the outfit itself – but where do we start?

I will be hosting this “hacking” series in a way that is accessible to beginners. We’re going to really dive into the who, what, when, where, why and most importantly how to create a complete 18th century outfit from the “skin out” meaning starting with the basics and the rest of the outfit build on the resulting silhouette.

basics? Yes, any clothing that you wear under the dress itself to get the right shape. In the 18th century we have a petticoat/chemise, corset/corset and, depending on the decade and the style of the robe, various skirt basics such as a porolle, hip pads or panniers. Simplicity 8162 has the shirt, corset and porolle and Simplicity 8161 has the petticoat pattern worn over everything and under the dress or bodice + skirt to break it all up and create a smooth line.

All these elements are essential to create an authentic 18th century look, especially the struts. ‘Stays’ are what we call 18th-century corsets and are the stiff, boned basic garments that supported the bust, trimmed the waist, held back the shoulders and supported the dress worn over it.

Here is a short “Intro to Stays” video that may answer some of your questions:

Links – NO underpinning; Right – all the right underpinnings. See what a difference it makes? The biggest “shortcut” beginners take is to skip the stays. Many believe they will be uncomfortable, or that they are not necessary, or that their personality would not have carried them. All these ideas are wrong, dear ones! The most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever experienced in costume was when I thought I was just not going to wear my corsets that day – the waist seam of the dress cut into me badly and the weight of the dress hung on my shoulders. I wish I had worn the corset!

Another big fear beginners have is that stays will be hard to make, but this is where I will help you the most in the coming posts. Stays aren’t difficult to make, but they do take time, especially tying on the tabs. Everyone fears it, but like anything beautiful, it pays to invest time.

So in writing:

Who wore corsets in the 18th century?

Stays – 1st quarter 18th century – The Met – these are strapless stays made of linen, cotton and whalebone. This style would have been worn by a working class woman. Women of all classes wore corsets. The lower classes often wore strapless suspenders that did not restrict the movement of the shoulders. The upper classes, and particularly aristocracy and royalty, wore more restrictive stays. Lower-class women do not have their suspenders tightly laced, but upper-class women are often depicted with tight lacing. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was known to lace up her suspenders tightly, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

What were stays made of?

Eighteenth-century stays were made of wool, linen, twill/denim, stiffened linen (buckram), and silk brocade. The liner layer was the stiffened layer while the outer layer could be something decorative. The boning was whalebone/baleen, reed or wooden bows and the struts had a light lining loosely stapled in which could be easily replaced. We often see surviving stays without their linings. Braces were commonly bound in leather, but the edges were also finished with cloth binding, cloth binding, or grosgrain.

When and where were stays worn?

Stays were worn for the entire 18th century. They changed their form with the changing fashions, but were always present. This is of course a Western fashion. Women across Europe wore corsets, as did European women in the colonies.

Why were corsets worn?

Stays were a support garment. They were the bras of the 18th century and supported the bust from the waist instead of the shoulders. Bones lifted the chest, trimmed the waist, held back the shoulders (for those with straps), and created smooth support for garments worn over them.

How were stays worn?

Stays on top of the shirt/shirt and under the petticoat (optional but helps pad out the hip flaps) and under the skirt supports (belly roll, pocket hoops). No need to tie them tight – just tight enough to get the job done.

How were stays made?

Staymakers were usually men. Ironically, staymakers were mostly men. This was not a garment that a woman would make for herself at home, but rather a garment made by professionals. Why men? Baleen processing required strength and endurance. Baleen were boiled, split, shaped and fitted into a pair of struts, sometimes requiring suspension, all of which was pretty hard work.

How can I arrange my stays today?

With a good pattern, the right interlining and boning material, and a bit of determination, you can whip up a functional and comfortable pair of braces in a week (that’s machine sewing, dears – entirely by hand takes longer, of course).

Once you have your stays, everything else becomes possible. If you do them well they will last an age – I still got my very first pair of stays done 10 years ago! The Simplicity 8162 Stays pattern is a good, highly customizable, easy to change pattern that will serve you for most of the 18th century. ———————–

Upset? Ready to start? Well!

Next in the series I’ll give you the how and why of the changes I made to my Simplicity stays, which you can work into your own version.