Corsets Before 1500
We cannot be sure whether corsets
existed before 1500, as information on them is unreliable. A lot of books say
that Cretan women used the corset c. 2000 BC as they made idols in the shape of
a corset. The idols were originally two round pots bottom to bottom with the
handle on the top pot being the nose on the idols and the edge line of bottom
to bottom being the waist. The shape was traditional for idols and not the
shape of Cretan women. The details of the idols tell us that the old Cretan
idols wore big loincloths, and the later idols have a tunic of open lace and a
loincloth. The corset-shaped figure of the idols was a primitive Cretan style.
Some virgins from 15th century wore
a long tight lace outfit, but it was only a dress, not a corset.
Iron Corset Covers, about 1500
Iron corsets are Victorian Era
corset covers that were made of metal. There are several that can be found in
museum collections today.
It is sometimes claimed that these
corsets were the everyday wear of women and girls throughout Europe in the sixteenth
and early seventeenth centuries. However, they are more likely to be orthopedic
instruments used by a very few women whose posture was not considered
acceptable by the health and beauty standards of the time.
It seems likely that the Iron Corset
was originally a type of armour worn only by men.
Later the "iron corset"
was used by both men and women, but only on dress occasions. Both thee iron and
the dress were heavy, and the iron was padded underneath like armour. The silk
of that time was extremely expensive but of poor quality and it did not stretch
well. It looked beautiful on the shining metal though. The iron corset also
worked as a bulletproof waistcoat, as assassination by a knife in the heart was
a common risk.
The padded "iron corset"
and armour was known as a corset on women, and a waistcoat (vest) on men.
Corset Stays, 1550 to 1890
Stays are an old type of corset. A
stay is worn over the dress or skirt and is laced to the waist, as opposed to a
more conventional corset which extends below the hips. Typically stays were
made by hand in 1860 or earlier in some countries. Over time, stays became
shorter and shorter, eventually evolving into an early form of brassiere.
A set of stays has a shoulder strap
opposed to a waist cincher.
Victorian Corsets, 1831 - 1901
When most people think of a corset
they have an idea of a "Victorian corset"; however, the British
Victorian era comprised of a long period of changes in culture and fashion from
1837 to 1901. During that time many styles of corsets were in use. The most
ubiquitous feature was the "horizontal waist" which was common from
about 1850 to 1899. The "Victorian corsets" for sale today are most
likely New Look corsets.
The S-Curve Corset (1900) and the
Straight-fronted Corset, 1903 - 1912
The straight-front corset (also known as the swan-bill corset and the s-curve
corset) was a type of corset worn from the start of the nineteenth century
until around 1907. Its name is derived from the very rigid, straight busk that
was used down the center of the front.
It was the most complicated shape of
corset ever made, with high-quality corsets consisting of up to 48 intricately
curved and shaped pieces. The straight-front corset was intended to be less
injurious to the wearers' health than other corsets; but, when worn too tight,
these corsets were the most uncomfortable and harmful style of corset to ever
have been widely popular. The silhouette given by the straight-front corset is
familiar from the Gibson Girl of the period.
The straight-front corset was
popularised by Inez Gaches-Sarraute who was a corsetiere with a degree in
medicine. The style was probably the result of several like-minded corsetieres
and medical professionals. It was intended to create fewer health problems and
to be less constricting than previous types of corsets. The hourglass corset
"suppressed the bust", and the spoon busk, which often curved inwards
for part of its length, "forced the organs downwards" claimed
Gaches-Sarraute in her 1900 study Le Corset: Etude Physiologique and Pratique
(The Corset: A Physiological and Practical Study).
Gaches-Sarraute suggested a corset
that: freed the bust by starting below the breasts; supported, rather than
constricted, the abdomen with a very rigid, straight busk and inflexible
boning.
The first element was not
problematic, although in order to create the 'monobosom' effect that was
fashionable women started wearing bust supporters, the design of which
eventually lead to the brassiere.
The second feature created more
problems, though. When the straight-front corset was worn laced moderately
tight, very little pressure was placed on the abdomen and some of the
compression was transferred to the sides of the waist, where boning was
lighter. However, because of the extreme rigidity at the front of the corset,
it was possible to achieve greater reductions on waist size than with the
hourglass corset. When tightlaced, the straight-front corset put a great deal
of pressure on the lower abdomen. This caused the S-curve silhouette: the
wearer's hips were thrust back, giving a deep curve to her lower back, and her
chest was thrust forward. In most cases, tightlacing in a straight-front corset
caused lower back pain, breathing difficulties, and knee problems (through
hyperextension).
The Pipe-Shape corsets, 1912 - 1928?
Pipe-shape was a name sometimes
given to a type of corset in fashion from 1908 to 1920. It helped to give the
slender, straight silhouette that was a reaction to the exaggerated curves of
the S-shape corset.
The pipe-shape corset should not be
confused with the pipe-stem waist, which is sometimes found on other corsets,
particularly the hourglass corset.
Modern History
The corset fell from fashion in the
1920s in Europe and America, replaced by girdles and elastic brassieres, but
survived as an article of costume. Originally an item of lingerie, the corset
has become a popular item of outerwear in the fetish, BDSM and Goth
subcultures.
There was a brief revival of the
corset in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in the form of the waist cincher.
This was used to give the hourglass figure dictated by Christian Dior's 'New
Look'. However, use of the waist cincher was restricted to haute couture, and
most women continued to use girdles. This revival was brief, as the New Look
gave way to a less dramatically-shaped silhouette.
Since the late 1980s, the corset has
experienced periodic revivals, which have usually originated in haute couture
and which have occasionally trickled through to mainstream fashion. These
revivals focus on the corset as an item of outerwear rather than underwear. The
strongest of these revivals was seen in the Autumn 2001 fashion collections and
coincided with the release of the film Moulin Rouge!, the costumes for which
featured many corsets. Even more recently Kylie Minogue has once again raised people’s
interest in corsets by wearing one for her 2005 tour.
The majority of garments sold as
corsets during these recent revivals cannot really be counted as corsets at
all. While they often feature lacing and boning, and generally mimic a
historical style of corset, they have very little effect on the shape of the
wearer's body. This is not the case with the corsets
for sale that we stock.
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