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A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or orthopaedic purposes (either for the duration of wearing it, or with a more lasting effect).

Both men and women have worn – and still wear – corsets.

Corsetry

The skill of making corsets is known as corsetry, as is the general wearing of them. Someone who makes corsets is a corsetier (for a man) or corsetière (for a woman), or sometimes simply a corsetmaker.

Uses

The most common use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women this most frequently emphasises a curvy figure, by reducing the waist, and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips. However, in some periods, corsets have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involves minimising 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.

A corset encloses the torso, usually extending from under the arms to the hips. Some corsets extend over the hips and, in very rare instances, reach the knees. A shorter kind of corset, which covers the waist area (from below 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 the corset been supported by a corset cover.

Construction

Corsets are typically constructed of a flexible material (like cloth or leather) stiffened with boning (also called ribs or stays) inserted into channels in the cloth or leather. In the Victorian period, steel and whalebone were favored. Plastic is now the most commonly used material; spring or spiral steel is preferred for high-quality corsets. Other materials used for boning include ivory, wood, and cane. (By contrast, a girdle is usually made of elasticized fabric, without boning.)

Corsets are held together by lacing, usually at the back. Tightening or loosening the lacing produces corresponding changes in the firmness of the corset. 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, 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 removal method does not work if the corset is not sufficiently loose, and can potentially damage the busk). Self-lacing is also incompatible with tightlacing, which strives for the utmost possible reduction of the waist. Current 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 reduce their natural waist size. Tightlacers usually aim for 40 to 43 centimeter (16 to 17 inch) waists. The Guinness Book of World Records records two instances of women reducing to 15 inch waists: Ethel Granger and Cathie Jung. Other women, such as Polaire, also claim to have achieved such reductions.

These are extreme cases. Corsets were and are 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 waists to dimensions that range from 18 to 24 inches.

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 is not 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 were most apt to protest 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 Society for Creative Anachronism and historical reenactment groups 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 is often much emphasis on tightlacing. In this case, the corset may still be underwear rather than outerwear. Another angle is the wearing of a corset while having an enema; the theory is that the corset prevents the belly distending, enhancing the effects of the enema.

There was a brief revival of the corset in the late 1940s and early 1950s, in the form of the waist cincher. 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.

The majority of garments sold as corsets during these recent revivals cannot really be counted as corsets at all. While they often feature lacing and boning, and generally mimic a historical style of corset, they have very little effect on the shape of the wearer's body.

Advantages and disadvantages of corsets

• Corsets can reduce pain and improve function for people with back problems or other muscular/skeletal disorders.

• 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.)

• Corsets can instantly improve the figure without dieting, slimming drugs, or cosmetic surgery.

• Due to their tightness and close proximity to the body, corsets can make the wearer feel very warm. They have been most often worn in cool climates.

• The best corsets are custom made and personally-fitted. The more closely clothing or lingerie clings to the body, the more carefully it must be fitted to look and feel right. In modern times, when labour costs much more than materials, custom clothing can be extremely expensive. Even finding a competent corsetiere can be difficult.

• A badly-fitting corset can chafe, impede digestion, damage ribs, or pinch nerves.

Types and styles

The various types of corsets include:

• Bondage corset or discipline corset
• Hourglass corset
• Redresseur corset
• Training corset
• Waist cincher

Styles include:

• Wasp waist

Media

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References and further reading

• Valerie Steele, The Corset: A Cultural History. Yale University Press, 2001, ISBN 0300099533
• Larry Utley, Autumn Carey-Adamme, Fetish Fashion: Undressing the Corset Green Candy Press, 2002. ISBN 1931160066
• Two doctors' opinions and advice on corset wearing can be found at the website of the Long Island Staylace Association. At the same site, Dr. Ann Beaumont has published the series "Corseting the Human Body"

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See also

• Corsetmaker
• Bodice
• Body modification
• Gibson Girl
• History of corsets
• Orthopedic surgery
• Sexual fetishism
• Spirella
• Tightlacing
• Girdle

External links

General links

• Dictionary of Corset-related Words and Terms
• Overview of the corset
• History of Corsets
• History and modern day corseting
• Overview site
• Modern day tight lacing
• The Corset Controversy

Corset making

• Yahoo group 'Ladies Corset Training'
• Yahoo group 'Your Corset Academy'
• dmoz.org Corsetmakers
• Corset Makers LJ Group
• Corsetry LJ Group
• Corset Patterning Resource Sites (Free)

• Body modification
• Corsetry
• Clothing
• Fetish clothing
• Underwear