The Continuing Development Of Corsets

Most probably, the first form of corset recorded in the history fashion industry

is the one worn by Minoan Snake Goddess breakables dug in 1913 from a century-old archaeological site in Crete.

The word corset originated from corps, a French word. The term became generally accepted in the English language in year 1785. Even if the word corset became famous at that period, men and women have already worn corsets at the start of the 16th century.

The fashion industry has felt the strong Spanish influence during the early 16th century. Italian and English ladies followed the fashion trend started by the Spanish royalty of wearing iron armor like corset wrapped in satin or velvet as an undergarment to cinch the waist and elongate and flatten the chest for a smooth line torso.

But these iron corsets were heavy, uncomfortable, and impractical so they were modified. Corsets eventually became more simple. Instead of iron, bones of whales and horns of animals were used to make them lighter but still keeping the straight geometrical structure of the bodice.

Corsets were called stays. Often, they were adorned by laces from the back. They were only worn as an undergarment by aristocracy at first. By the second half of the century, the stays were designed to be laced up at the front and whalebones were added at the sides and back for a more rigid look.

In 1790s, corsets temporarily went out of fashion when neoclassical style of dressing which displayed high waist garments showcasing the natural beauty of a woman was in fashion. For the men though, the use of corsets persisted through the mid-1800s.

When stays were revived in the fashion world during the 18th century, their shapes were altered. The back reached up to the shoulders and the front became wide and low. To provide support for the bust and to draw the shoulders back to give a cone-shaped torso, there were some modifications made in the design.

To hold the abdomen, corsets were designed to reach the hips. The lower tabs were replaced by gussets. Also, the back went further down and additional gussets were placed in the bust part. These changes were made at the beginning of the 19th century.

During the year 1900 up to 1908, the straight corset also called the S-bend corset was introduced to be in lined with the required Edwardian chic style of dressing. This kind of corset had a curve at the back and the front was straight. This design allowed the body to be forced forward. It also made the hips and the but to protrude.

Since fashion dictated that garments with higher waistlines showcasing the natural body shapes were more desirable, the popularity of the corset became more and more faint. This started in the 1908. It was at this time when women started using brassieres and girdles instead of corsets. Girdles became more popular upon the introduction of elastic materials in 1911.

Corsets became more like a costume during the 1920s. Corsets however made a comeback in the fashion scene in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the form of the waspie which was a waist cincher used by ladies in high fashion to achieve the hourglass figure for the New Look of Christian Dior.

High fashion tsars dictated most of the periodic revivals of the corsets beginning from the late 1980s up to the present times. But unlike in the past, corsets are no longer used as undergarments but as tops that mimic the look of corsets of yore.

by: Johnathon F Black

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