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History of the Corset

In our modern age of lycra and comfort, it can be difficult for us to understand exactly what it was like to wear a real corset. 

A true corset is unlike the modern adaptations found in lingerie shops around the world today. Before the 1910s corsets, for the most part, had no stretch and were made to fit very tightly, shaping your body to conform to the ideal silhouette of the era.

Despite common misconceptions, not every Victorian and Edwardian Lady tight-laced their corsets to the extreme, and certainly not everyday. Nor did Ladies have ribs surgically removed (To do so would have been certain suicide! Until recent decades all major surgeries had an extremely high mortality rate and there are no documented cases at all of rib removal that I have ever seen or heard in my research). There were always many forms of corsets and comfortable corset-like garments commonly available for Women. Not every woman had the means or ability to be stiffly laced up everyday, life goes on and there was always work to be done which required the ability to bend and lift. Even the upper classes of Women wore more comfortable variations of corsets at casual times or for sports. It is true that young women, especially of the upper classes, would be corseted from around puberty onward, but gradually, to slowly sculpt the development of the body into the ideal shape. And yes, some fashionable Victorian & Edwardian Women would reserve the tightest lacing and stiffest corsets for formal occasions, such as a Ball. Yes, on those occasions if they exerted themselves they might faint.

Nowadays our lungs and rib cages are encouraged to develop into the shape nature intended, allowing us a greater lung capacity and overall better health than our ancestors. Our happily un-compressed and fully developed inner organs allow us the health and strength to carry a child to term as well as survive the delivery.

Fainting couches and smelling salts are things of the past.

Yet the romance of the corset lingers on.

The influence of the corset and even true corsets themselves are found on fashion runways to this day.

Click on the photo of the period you wish to study   

Bibliography & recommended reading on corset history

• The History of Underclothes - by C. Willet and Phillis Cunnington    ISBN 0-486-27124-2

• The Corset - by Valerie Steele    ISBN 0-300-09071-4

• Corsets and Crinolines - by Norah Waugh   ISBN 0-87830-526-2

• Support and Seduction - by Beatrice Fontanel   ISBN 0-8109-4086-8

• Waisted Efforts - by Robert Doyle  ISBN 096830390-0

• Foundations of Fashion - by Christopher Page

• Corsets: A visual History - by R.L. Shep  ISBN 0-914046-20-9

• And countless antique periodicals