The corset is a supportive undergarment that has been around for centuries, worn to hold and train the torso into the hourglass figure. It has evolved through the vessel of fashion trends, varying by time period and geography and has been worn either as a pair of bodies, stays or corset.
The word corset is derived from the French “corps”, meaning “body” a derivative from Latin “corpus”. The term “stays” was frequently in English around the 17th century until the early twentieth century and was used interchangeably with the term corset during the Renaissance.
Today, corsets are more commonly worn as a fashion statement. Modern corsets and corset tops often feature lace and boning. They have also evolved in the form of corset braces to serve the functional purposes of supporting the lower back in patients with back pain.
The craft of corset construction is known as corsetry while someone who make corset is a corsetier.
Corsets are typically constructed from stiff fabrics such as buckram, then structured with boning (also called ribs or stays) which is inserted into openings in the cloth. Plastic is the most used material for modern corsets and many poorly made ones.
Spring or spiral steel or synthetic whalebone is preferable for stronger and generally better-quality corsets.
Over time, the original purpose of the corset changed to it being used primarily to slim the body and make it adhere to a fashionable silhouette. For ladies, this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure by reducing the waist and thereby exaggerating the bust and hip area.
However, in the Middle Ages, skin exposure or highlighting a woman’s figure would be deemed as sinful. Women were fully covered head to toe as they prioritised comfort and modesty over body shape.
But in the Tudor period, corsets – then known as bodies – were worn by both men and women to achieve a tubular straight up and down shape, which helped to augment the bust area.
According to historical documents, the Greeks – particularly the Minoans – who lived in the vicinity of ancient Greece around 1000BC, were the first civilization to wear corsets. The earliest record of corset comes from a picture of a figurine of a Minoan snake goddess that was depicted wearing a corset-like garment. This type of artwork was prevalent in the Minoan artwork, implying that they were worn by both men and women.
The first known corset was found in a tomb in Crete. The corsets were made of linen or wool, were often decorated with gold or silver threads and featured beading and other embellishments. They were most likely used for ceremonial purposes.
16th and 17th century
The corset concept was introduced by Catherine de Medici in France in the 1500s and was accepted by the French court. The ladies of the French court regarded the corset as indispensable to the female’s figure charm, idealizing the image of a small waist. This type of corset was a tight, elongated bodice worn beneath clothing.
By the mid 1700’s, the corset was commonly worn among the people of Great Britain and all-around Europe, and it were known as bodies or stays.
The figure that the corsets of this period encouraged was that of a rigid posture and a high chest.
Early pairs of stays were commonly made from layered fabrics like linen and silk, hardened with starch and stiffened with whalebone. An element that was also added to stiffen the front of the bodice is the busk, which is typically made of wood, ivory, metal or whalebone.
The busk is sewn into a casing on the corset, then fastened and held into place by laces, so that it can be removed or replaced easily. The front of the corset was typically covered by a “stomacher”, a stiff, V-shaped structure that was worn on the abdomen for decorative purposes. By the end of the 16th century, bodies were commonly worn among European elites.
18th century
The shape and construction of the corset changed over time. By the end of the 18th century, the new trend of high waisted dresses led some women to embrace shorter stays that created the cone-shaped silhouette.
Women have been wearing corsets for hundreds of years as symbols social status and feminine beauty, which were valued more highly than a woman’s comfort. The corset was deemed a status symbol, because it restrained the wearer’s movement, thus supposedly signifying that she could afford servants.
The corset has been one of the most controversial items of clothing in the history of fashion. The above picture is a carton of women in dresses and spinning wheel tying up the corset lace. During the 18th and 19th centuries, doctors blamed the corset for series of diseases, including cancer, hysteria, scoliosis (curvature of the spine), “tight-lacing liver” as well as tuberculosis. However, most of these diagnoses have been proven false since then.
19th century
In the early 19th century, stays became known as corsets when gussets were added to make room at the bust. The gusset is a triangle or diamond shaped piece inset between two or more seams to give allowance to the seam, especially at the armhole area.
The 1800’s corsets were also lengthened to the hip and the lower tabs were replaced by gussets at the hip and had less boning. Fashion changed again around the 1820’s with the waistline being lowered to the natural position, allowing for more embellishments on the bodice and facilitating the return of the corset to modern fashion.
The corset was one of the first mass-produced garments for women, they began to be made with some padding, for a waist slimming effect and then in the 1840’s they became heavily boned, while the shoulder straps were eliminated. By 1850, steel boning became fashionable.
With the emergence of metal eyelets in 1827, tightlacing became possible, the position of the eyelets changed as they were placed opposite one another at the back while the front was fastened with a busk.
The controversy surrounding the corset related to the notions of the potential damage to the uterus, ovaries and the foetus. Doctors counselled patients against “tightlacing”, and journalists wrote article condemning the vanity and frivolity of women who for the sake of fashion would sacrifice their health and that of their unborn babies.
Due to the public health outcry surrounding corsets and tightlacing, a lot of doctors took it upon themselves to become corsetieres. Health corsets and rational corsets became popular alternatives to the boned corsets.
Women activist believed a change in fashion could change the position of women in society, they advocated for women to wear less restrictive clothing which can allow for greater social mobility, independence from men and marriage, the ability to work for wages, including physical movement and comfort.
Ines Gaches-Sarraute, a French physician and corsetiere in the 1890’s designed the straight-front corset later called the S-bend corset. Concerned at the gynaecological effects of corsets on her patients, she designed this novel corset that helped bring about a change in corset fashion in the early 20th century.
The above picture illustrates the new silhouette that pushed the bust forward and the hips backward, creating a distinctive “S” curve when viewed from the side.
20th century
The corset reached its longest length in the beginning of the 20th century. 19th century corsetry helped shape the silhouette at this time. There was also a style of longline corset that started under the bust, it was a boneless style that necessitated a brassiere, closer to a modern girdle than the traditional corset.
Post World War 1
During WW1, women were asked not to wear corsets, so that the metal could be used for weapon production, this time women opted for more relaxed clothing making the corset go temporarily out of fashion. Furthermore, women’s role in the society altered due to economic hardship after the war.
In the 1920’s, more relaxed shapes and straight lines became fashionable, corsets changed from the tiny waist, hourglass figure to the less constricting Flapper corset which was made shorter to accommodate the curvy woman of the 1920’s. Corsets at this time were worn under clothing and fastened at the front and back.
In the 1930s and 40s the full body corset with built in brassieres became popular. A comeback of waist nipping corsets in 1939 caused a stir among fashion followers, however WW2 quickly put an end to this.
From the 1950s, fashion began to change at a rapid pace, and this saw the corset become more of a specialist piece rather than an essential everyday garment.
The corset made a remarkable comeback in the 1990s,
Vivienne Westwood is acknowledged for having singlehandedly reinvented the historical undergarment, transforming it into a piece of outerwear. For her 1987 Harris Tweed collection she unveiled an 18th century inspired corset named ‘Stature of Liberty’.
The corset had transformed throughout the years to accommodate each era’s preferred female silhouette, from the inverted cone to the hourglass and even ‘S’ shapes, altogether these garments existed beneath clothing practically unseen. Westwood changed that. It was a reclamation of female power. She is known for her reconstruction of past fashion styles, overturning their purpose and bringing them into the current age.
The reemergence of the corset affirms how the meaning of clothing is constantly being reevaluated. The corset did not so much disappear, it’s been transformed; first it developed into the girdle and then to brassiere. Historical evidence suggests that changes in fashion is directly related to changing attitudes toward the body.
21st century
Many fashion designers continue to make the corset a regular feature in their designs and on the runway. Off the runway, smaller brands are pushing the narratives of body positivity into corsetry. Corsets today have been revisited and designed to offer greater flexibility while enhancing and flattering natural curves, empowering the wearer and boosting their confidence.
Designers are tapping into elements of corsets such as the hook and eye detail and the fabrics used for creating the corset have been modernised, more comfortable and flexible fabrics. Most of the time, the traditional boning which is used in corsetry to maintain a rigid structure and shape is sometimes being left out, to create sculpting effects that accentuate the body in a comfortable way.
REFERENCES
- https://www. corset-story.co.uk>
- https://art and culture.google.com>
- https://www.harpersbazaar.com>
- https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu>
