The Corset

The corset came about in the 18th Century, and was thought of a as a medical necessity. It was believed that a woman was very fragile, and needed assistance from some form to hold her up. Girls as young as three or four were laced up into bodices.

Gradually these garments were lengthened and tightened, as the girls grew. And by the time they were teenagers, the girls were unable to sit or stand for any length of time without the aid of a heavy canvas corset, reinforced with whale bone or steel. The corset deformed the internal organs making it impossible to draw deep breaths. This led to women in the Victorian era fainting often.

Most working class women wore looser and lighter corsets that were not laced so tight. The higher up in class a lady was, the more confining her clothes were. This was becuase they didn't need the freedom to do household chores, as women in other classes.

The corsets were so tightly laced, that there have been reports of waists between 18 and 14 inches and sometimes even 12. Severe tight-lacing was practiced, and some corsetieres specialised in cultivating very small waists. Men's preferences alterted during this time and it was acceptable for womwn to have very small waits. The corset was then, what the wonder bra is now!