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A corset is traditionally 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 have worn - and still wear - corsets.

Many garments sold as "corsets" during recent years are not technically corsets in the traditional sense. While modern "corsets" and "corset tops" often feature lacing and/or boning and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they have very little if any effect on the shape of the wearer's body.

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 fashions. Many such tops feature lacing or boning and are fairly tight-fitting; however, genuine corsets are usually made for the individual wearer by a corsetmaker.

Corsets in the traditional sense of a garment meant to reshape the body should ideally be fitted especially for the wearer by an experienced corsetmaker.

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. 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. 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 the corset has been supported by a corset cover.

Medical

People with spinal problems (like scoliosis) or internal injuries may have to wear a form of corset in order to immobilize and protect the torso.

Andy Warhol was shot in 1968 and never fully recovered; he had to wear a corset for the rest of his life.

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 Victorian period, steel and whalebone were favored for the boning. 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 (for a man) or corsetière (for a woman), 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. 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 is not significantly loosened beforehand). Self-lacing is also almost impossible 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 eventually reduce their natural waist size. Tightlacers usually aim for 40 to 43 centimeter (16 to 17 inch) waists. Until 1998, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Ethel Granger as having the smallest waist on record at 13". After 1998, the category changed to "smallest waist on a living person" and Cathie Jung took the title with a 15" waist. Other women, such as Polaire, also have achieved such reductions.

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 is 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 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.

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.

The majority of garments sold as "corsets" (or sometimes "corset tops") during these recent revivals cannot really be counted as corsets at all, in the traditional sense of the word. While they often feature lacing and boning and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they have little or no effect on the shape of the wearer's body; traditional corsets generally require custom fitting by a tailor who specialises in corsetry.

Special types

There are some special types of corsets and corset-like devices which incorporate boning. They are mostly used in BDSM and goth subcultures.

Corset dress

A corset dress (also known as hobble corset because it produces similar restrictive effects to a hobble skirt) is a long corset. It is like an ordinary corset, but it is 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 sitting down.

Neck corset

A neck corset is a type of posture collar that incorporates stays. It is a corset-like device designed for the neck instead of the waist, but usually it is not used to compress the neck in the way that a normal corset compresses the waist, except in breathplay.

Stays incorporated in a neck corset are specially made shorter ones, used to support the weight of the head on the shoulders, while its corset structure helps in maintaining posture by keeping the chin high and the neck extended. It is often combined with a traditional corset in order to achieve better posture.

Some neck corsets are designed to cover the mouth, and they are primarily used in BDSM, because they can be used as gags. They are often called mouth corsets, because they cover the mouth.

Neck corsets usually have back lacing. One exception is the neck corset used for advertising Vichy's product called NeOVADIOL.

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.) 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.
• Some corset-wearers enjoy the feeling of being "hugged" by the corset.
• 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, and pinch nerves.

References and further reading

• Valerie Steele, The Corset: A Cultural History. Yale University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-300-09953-3
• Larry Utley, Autumn Carey-Adamme, Fetish Fashion: Undressing the Corset Green Candy Press, 2002. ISBN 1-931160-06-6
• Norah Waugh, Corsets and Crinolines. Routledge (December 1, 1990), ISBN 0-87830-526-2
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See also

• Basque
• Bustier
• Corsetmaker
• Corsage (bodice)
• Fetish clothing
• Girdle
• History of corsets
• Hourglass corset
• Redresseur corset
• Ribbon Corset
• Spirella
• Spoon busk
• Tightlacer
• Tightlacing
• Wasp waist

External links

• Dictionary of Corset-related Words and Terms
• Overview of the corset
• The Secret History of the Corset and Crinoline A seminar by the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Overview site
• Selection of 19th and early 20th century texts about corsets

• Corsetry
• History of clothing (Western fashion)