Everything about Corset totally explained
A
corset is a
garment worn to mold and shape the
torso into a desired shape for
aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it, or with a more lasting effect). Both
men and
women are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers.
In recent years, the term "corset" has also been borrowed by the fashion industry to refer to tops which, to varying degrees, mimic the look of traditional corsets without actually acting as one; such tops are frequently seen in stores which cater to fans of
gothic fashion. While these modern "
corsets" and "
corset tops" often feature lacing and/or
boning and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they've very little if any effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a
corsetmaker and should ideally be fitted especially for the individual wearer.
Etymology
The word is derived from the
Old French word, the diminutive of
body, which itself derives from - the
Latin for
body.
Uses
Fashion
The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure, by reducing the
waist, and thereby exaggerating the
bust and
hips (see photo). However, in some periods, corsets have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involves minimizing the bust and hips.
For men, corsets are more customarily used to slim the figure. However, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when an
hourglass figure (a small, nipped-in look to the
waist) was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset.
An
overbust corset encloses the torso, extending from just under the
arms to the hips. An
underbust corset begins just under the breasts and extends down to the hips. Some corsets extend over the hips and, in very rare instances, reach the
knees (
example
). A shorter kind of corset, which 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
stockings (alternatively a separate
garter belt may be worn for that).
Normally a corset supports the visible dress, and spreads the pressure from large dresses, such as the
crinoline and
bustle. Sometimes a corset cover is used to protect outer clothes from the corset and to smooth the lines of the corset.
Medical
People with spinal problems such as
scoliosis or with internal injuries may be fitted with a form of corset in order to immobilize and protect the torso. However, this may be harmful if not medically indicated.
Andy Warhol was shot in 1968 and never fully recovered, and wore a corset for the rest of his life.
Fetish
Aside from fashion and medical uses, corsets are also used in
sexual fetishism, most notably in
BDSM activities. In BDSM, a
submissive can be forced to wear a corset which would be laced very tight and give some degree of restriction to the wearer. A
dominant can also wear a corset, often black, but for entirely different reasons, such as aesthetics, and to achieve a severe, armored, "unbending," commanding appearance.
Construction
Corsets are typically constructed of a flexible material (like
cloth, particularly
coutil, or
leather) stiffened with
boning (also called ribs or stays) inserted into channels in the cloth or leather. In the 19th century,
steel and
whalebone were favored for the boning. Featherbone was used as a less expensive substitute for whalebone and was constructed from flattened strips of goose quill woven together with yarn to form a long strip (Doyle, 1997:232).
Plastic is now the most commonly used material for lightweight corsets, whereas spring or spiral steel is preferred for stronger corsets. Other materials used for boning include
ivory,
wood, and
cane. (By contrast, a
girdle is usually made of
elasticized fabric, without boning.)
The craft of corset construction is known as
corsetry, as is the general wearing of them. Someone who makes corsets is a
corsetier or corsetière (French terms for a man and for a woman, respectively), or sometimes simply a
corsetmaker. (The word
corsetry is sometimes also used as a collective plural form of corset.)
Corsets are held together by lacing, usually (though not always) at the back. Tightening or loosening the lacing produces corresponding changes in the firmness of the corset. Depending on the desired effect and time period, corsets can be laced from the top down, from the bottom up, or both up from the bottom and down from the top, using two laces that meet in the middle. It is difficult — although not impossible — for a back-laced corset-wearer to do his or her own lacing. In the Victorian heyday of corsets, a well-to-do woman would be laced by her maid, and a gentleman by his valet. However, many corsets also had a buttoned or hooked front opening called a
busk. Once the lacing was adjusted comfortably, it was possible to leave the lacing as adjusted and take the corset on and off using the front opening (this method can potentially damage the busk if the lacing isn't significantly loosened beforehand). Self-lacing is also almost impossible with tightlacing, which strives for the utmost possible reduction of the waist. Modern tightlacers, lacking servants, are usually laced by spouses and partners.
Waist reduction
By wearing a tightly-laced corset for extended periods, known as
tightlacing, men and women can learn to tolerate extreme
waist constriction and eventually reduce their natural waist size. Tightlacers dream of 40 to 43
centimeters (16 to 17
inches) waists, but most are satisfied with anything under 50 centimeters (20 inches). Until 1998, the
Guinness Book of World Records listed
Ethel Granger as having the smallest waist on record at 32.5 centimeters (13 inches). After 1998, the category changed to "smallest waist on a living person" and
Cathie Jung took the title with a 37.5 centimeters (15 inches) waist. Other women, such as
Polaire, also have achieved such reductions (14 inches in her case).
These are extreme cases, however. Corsets were and are still usually designed for support, with freedom of body movement an important consideration in their design. Present day corset-wearers usually tighten the corset just enough to reduce their waists by 5 to 10 centimeters (2 to 4 inches); it's very difficult for a slender woman to achieve as much as 15 centimeters (6 inches), although larger women can do so more easily.
Corset comfort
In the past, a woman's corset was usually worn over a garment called a
chemise or
shift, a sleeveless low-necked gown made of washable material (usually
cotton or
linen). It absorbed perspiration and kept the corset and the gown clean. In modern times, an undershirt or corset liner may be worn.
Moderate lacing isn't incompatible with vigorous activity. Indeed, during the second half of the nineteenth century, when corset wearing was common, there were sport corsets specifically designed to wear while
bicycling, playing
tennis, or horseback riding, as well as for maternity wear.
Many people now believe that all corsets are uncomfortable and that wearing them restricted women's lives, citing
Victorian literature devoted to sensible or hygienic dress. However, these writings generally protested against the misuse of corsets for tightlacing; they were less vehement against corsets per se. Many reformers recommended "Emancipation bodices", which were essentially tightly-fitted vests, like full-torso corsets without boning. See
Victorian dress reform.
Some modern day corset-wearers will testify that corsets can be comfortable, once one is accustomed to wearing them. A properly fitted corset
should be comfortable. Women active in the
historical reenactment groups (such as
Society for Creative Anachronism) commonly wear corsets as part of period costume, without complaint.
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.
In the fetish and BDSM literature, there's often much emphasis on
tightlacing. In this case, the corset may still be underwear rather than outerwear.
There was a brief revival of the corset in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in the form of the
waist cincher sometimes called a "waspie". 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 as characteristic of the era.
Similarly, other films have used these garments as costume features, generally to suggest a period effect, as in
Van Helsing, where
Anna Valerious (
Kate Beckinsale) wears an ornate underbust corset as part of her costume. Sometimes this is used for humorous purposes, as when
Elizabeth Swann (
Keira Knightley) almost suffocates from wearing a tight corset in . One distinctive feature has been to portray them in combination with
catsuits, as in where
Seven of Nine (
Jeri Ryan) throughout the series wears catsuits with contained built-in corsets, or
Underworld, where
Selene (
Kate Beckinsale) wears a black
leather corset over matching
latex catsuit.
Special types
There are some special types of corsets and corset-like devices which incorporate boning.
Corset dress
A corset dress (also known as hobble corset because it produces similar restrictive effects to a
hobble skirt) is a long corset (
examples gallery). It is like an ordinary corset, but it's long enough to cover the legs, partially or totally. It thus looks like a dress, hence the name. A person wearing a corset dress can have great difficulty in walking up and down the stairs (especially if wearing high-heeled footwear) and may be unable to sit down if the boning is too stiff.
Neck corset
A
neck corset is a type of
posture collar incorporating
stays and it's generally not considered to be a corset.
Advantages and disadvantages of corsets
There are several advantages and disadvantages to wearing a corset.
Advantages
Health benefits
- Corsets promote good posture.
- Corsets can reduce pain and improve function for people with back problems or other muscular/skeletal disorders, such as Lordosis.
- Some large-breasted women find corsets more comfortable than brassieres, because the weight of the breasts is carried by the whole corset rather than the brassiere's shoulder straps. Straps can chafe or cut the skin. However, if a bra is properly fitted, the weight of the breasts is carried by the band and not by the shoulders, thus eliminating this problem for even women with very large breasts.
Personal, social and aesthetic advantages
Corsets can make a woman appear thin.
Corsets can give a straight masterful posture.
The straight posture accentuates the bosom.
Corsets can instantly reduce the waistline by 5-10cm (2-4").
Corsets can spread the weight of big gowns.
The corsets can show social status, as the corset-wearers are different from other people. In the old days, the upper-class wore corsets to demonstrate distinction from lower classes. Today, some subcultures wear corsets to demonstrate nonconformity.
Some corset-wearers enjoy the feeling of being "hugged" by the corset.
Due to their tightness and close proximity to the body, corsets can make the wearer feel very warm. They have historically been worn in cooler climates.
Some corset-wearers believe the shallow breathing imposed by the garment may charm men.
Long-term advantages
The abdominal pressure maintained by frequent corset use can help wearers reduce body fat by inhibiting the appetite without conscious dieting, slimming drugs, or cosmetic surgery.
Training with corsets can reduce waistline by 18cm (7") or more. See: Tightlacing
Disadvantages
Health risks
Glénard's disease is the most common illness caused by prolonged corset use. It is characterized by lack of abdominal muscle tone and visceral displacement. and liver.
Wearing a tight corset may lead to difficulty breathing, or more use of intercostal breathing . Tightlacers are more likely to notice this, as the volume of the lungs diminishes.
Developing children are far more vulnerable to the potential health risks of corset use. As such, corsets should only be worn by fully-formed adults, never by growing children.
Risks: Downward pressure on the abdomen
The abdomen can be covered by a skirt. Those seeking to save money may buy a cheap corset that ends at the top of the abdomen, pressing down on the abdomen (as seen in a previous image). A more expensive corset will have some sort of abdomen support, whether that be in the form of a busk, front lacing or a hip belt.
Difficulties finding a corset
Low-quality corsets. Finding a well-fitting, good-quality corset among the many imitations can be challenging. The potential wearer must try on and inspect any corset being considered for purchase for quality and fit. An ill-fitting corset will chafe, impede digestion, and ultimately cause damage to the ribs and pinch nerves.
The difficulties in getting used to corsets
Fainting. If the wearer is unaccustomed to shallow breathing,or if it's tied too tightly too quick, the muscles soon tire and work too slowly, severely reducing oxygen supply. Would-be wearers must train up their breathing gradually.
It is important that the corset lengthens the waist, like a redresseur corset, for better shallow breathing. A waist cincher is too short to accomplish this.
Beginning to wear a corset
Corsets must be broken in/molded to the owner's body for the proper fit and reduction of stress on the seams that may lead to ripping. A corset must mold itself to the body of the wearer, so buying a custom corset is recommended. It takes a full day for a corset to mold to the wearers body. It is started by lacing the corset on loosely and tightening the laces every few hours at least. This allows the corset to gradually mold to the body using body heat, making an overall better feeling corset. One may even need to take off the corset and let it cool before resuming to mold it in order to have in mold better. It is highly unadvisable to wear someone else's corset, as it's molded to their body and was made to fit them! Wearing a corset made for someone else may result in pain and cause the corset to unmold and cause the original wearer discomfort. If one isn't a corset wearer, it may take up to a week to feel fully comfortable in a corset. That doesn't mean that the corset should hurt, because it never should, it just may take up to a week for a corset to become less uncomfortable.
Corsets for beginners
Corsets for beginners (also known as starter or beginner corsets) should be easy to adjust to for someone who has never been corseted, and give the correct position of the ribs. Three types of corsets are recommended for beginners:
The posture corset, which goes from the hip (close to the pubis) and has a moderate waist. All corsets from Spirella Co. were of this type.. The posture corset was an invention of madame Roxey A. Caplin from before 1856, and is common today.
The underbust hourglass corset for tightlacing, with a waist reduction of no more than 4" unless the wearer's initial waist is larger than 38", in which case a 6" reduction is acceptable. However, only a short wasp waist can fit a beginner. The underbust hourglass corset is an alternative fashion.
Historical corsets specifically for beginners - pair of stays and redresseur corsets. Redresseur corsets fell out of fashion in 1919.
To be avoided by beginners:
Waist cinchers and waist training belts are not recommended, as they don't offer proper support of the stomach.
Many historical corsets were designed with the assumption that wearers had used corsets for years, and so are harmful for beginners. The wasp waist in these corsets is too long, forcing the ribs to bend down rather than up as correct. Fashionable women of the past had long waists; longer than modern natural waists.Further Information
Get more info on 'Corset'.
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