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See Also: Corset A corset is a garment that girds the Torso and shapes it according to the fashionable silhouette of the day. Most often it has been used for cinching the Waist and supporting the breasts. Contrary to popular myth, the corset was not as restrictive as is generally believed. Vain women tended to wear corsets tighter than necessary and buy corsets with smaller waists, but most women, although they purchased an 18 or 20 inch waisted corset left a gap at the back closure to accommodate a more realistic 22 - 26 inch waist measurements. An etiquette book near the end of the 19th century suggested the ideal waist should be twice the circumference of the neck. On average that would mean a corset reduced the figure by only an inch or two at most. Stories about women with broken ribs, having ribs removed, and causing fatal injury to themselves through tight lacing are greatly exaggerated and apocryphal. In fact, like today, in order to achieve the hourglass figure, many women took to adding volume to their bustlines to increase the ratio of bust to waist. Also, the full Skirts , Crinolines and Bustles of the 19th century added to the width of the hips to make the waist appear slimmer. 16TH TO LATE 18TH CENTURIES The earliest corsets were called "payre of bodies" and were usually worn with a Farthingale that held out the skirts in a stiff cone. The payre of bodies, later called stays, turned the upper torso into a matching cone or cylinder. They had shoulder straps and ended in flaps at the waist. They flattened the bust, and in so doing, pushed the breasts up. The emphasis of the stays was less on the smallness of the waist than on the contrast between the rigid flatness of the bodice front and the curving tops of the breasts peeking over the top of the corset. By the middle of the 16th Century , corsets were appearing as a commonly worn garment for women. These were made of stiffened multiple layers of linen with wooden busks or shafts that were inserted in a pocket at the front in order to keep the corset and figure straight. In this form, the corset survived until about 1860. The new sewing machine created a industry, which replaced the old type home-made corset. |
Image:P5904296gif1859 Corset With Built-in Partial
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