History

• Elizabethan-style corset.
  
  The use of corsets has been referred to as early as the 16th century. Drea Leed, author and medieval costume expert, states that the 16th-century corset "was designed to mold the torso into a cylindrical shape, and to flatten and raise the bust line," rather than shape it into an hourglass figure as in later years. By the Victorian era, what was referred to as a "wasp waist" was coming into fashion. There are horror stories of women lacing their corsets so tightly that they would achieve a 12- to 14-inch waist, though these are more likely fiction, written for shock value.
  
  

Features

• Corsets were, in the earlier centuries, made out of a variety of materials including satin, velvet and silk. They were made stiff using whalebone, bents and leather. By the mid to late 19th century they were made of calfskin, too, and while still using whalebone, they appear to have used some metal boning as well. Metal grommets were introduced in the back, allowing the laces to move more freely.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The practice known as tight lacing, or lacing the corset so tightly that it cut off lung capacity and produced the "wasp waist," was demonized in the medical community. Corsets were blamed for medical ills ranging from the more likely, such as fainting and poor blood circulation to the unlikely or ludicrous, such as miscarriage, hunchback, asthma and hysteria. Tight lacing was uncommon and painful. Though tighter corsets were worn by upper class women who had little need for mobility, corset expert Valerie Steele points out that, "women had different kinds of corsets for different activities, different times of day. Even a single corset could be worn a variety of ways--laced tightly, laced loosely, not laced at all."
  
  

Function

• Corsets were not just practiced as a form of fashion; they were deeply embedded in the morality of the Victorian period. A woman without a corset was nothing more than a harlot. Girls as young as 3 were placed in sleeping stays and loose corsets while older girls corseted tighter as they grew. An excerpt from a young Victorian-era girls diary gives some insight into the place that corsets had in her life. "This morning was wonderfully exciting as mother laced me down another inch ... I was startled how harshly she had to pull to obtain this and how tautly it binds me, but love the sight of my waist now ... We went to breakfast at a neighbor's house and I was honored by the comments of my mother's friends about my lady like appearance and poise." This attitude is from a young girl, blossoming into womanhood through her corset
  
  

Present

• Today's corsets are generally worn as outer wear. Rather than strictly an undergarment meant to mold the body to the dress, corsets are a fashion statement meant to accentuate the female figure, not modify it. Corsets are found in colors, shapes and sizes to fit the body and personality of the women who wear them. It has emerged once again, as an instrument of expression and fashion.