A Short History of Corsets - Edwardian

Although popular in the Victorian era, the curved busk began to be thought of as unhealthy, and along with “health corsets” (mentioned in an earlier post), a straighter busk came into use during the end of the 1890’s. 

Corset Ad c. 1903

This new straight busk did not press against the internal organs quite as much, and gave a more upright posture. 

  

French cotton, metal, elastic, bone and silk corset c. 1905  source

After 1907 the wasp waist became less acute with the introduction of the “Directoire” style in dress by Paul Poiret, inspired by post French Revolution fashions, and high waists and long slim figures were fashionable once again.  Corsets therefore became straighter and longer, starting just above the waist to well down the thighs almost to the knees, resulting in a long slim silhouette.  They  no longer came up to support the breasts, although a full bust was still fashionable.   

The new corsets still used a straight busk and had a straight front but their function was not to compress the waist but to minimize the stomach and hips.  The look was no longer the hourglass - waist, stomach and hip measurements had to be more or less equal.   Some early long line corsets were very long, often reaching near the knees, which made sitting down quite difficult.  These corsets often had elastic gusset inserts which were supposed to increase comfort level and allow bending, one hopes. There were also deep hip gores on the corset to allow for the natural shift backwards of the hips and buttocks. Many corsets now also had stocking suspenders attached to them, rather than separate garters.

  

This new straight fronted corset relied on clever cutting techniques, such as cutting on the bias,  rather than boning, to give the corset a shape it never had before.   Some boning was still used, but it had to be long and flat, and on average most corsets only had about 12- 20 bones, spaced evenly around the body, and it not extend the whole length of the corset.  Whalebone was also becoming rare and very expensive at this time, and steel was often used where boning was needed.  Warner’s introduced “Rust Proof” steels (which were watch-springs covered in paper) and the Spirella company introduced the spiral bone (which is still used in corsets today).  

 

French silk corset c. 1905 source

Traditional corset fabrics such as coutil, cotton and linen were used, but damasks and silk became more popular, and  the famous corset colour, Tea Rose pink, was introduced.  Trimming was used, but was usually in the form of just a little ribbon around the top, although some, like the one above were more decorative. 

 

Ribbon waist cincher in Tea Rose Pink c.1908 source

  

For sporting or active wear, and also for sleeping in, shorter corsets made out of strips of ribbon (ribbon corsets and waist cincher corsets) became popular.   Once again corsets became the symbol of wealth, as the longer corsets were difficult to function in and to put on, and wearers really needed a servant to help them dress and complete everyday tasks.   

As the bust was no longer supported by the corset, a bust bodice became essential.   Simple darted bands a few inches wide that covered the nipples ,with fine straps, were  worn by about 1914, and  elastic belts were also popular with younger women when they were active during the First World War. Several countries maintain that they produced the first version of the bra , but Mary Phelps Jacobs patented her 1908 invention in 1914, under the name of Caresse Crosby (before selling it to Warners).

  

By 1918, once the First World War was over, women's attitudes and fashions shifted. There could be no return to the heavily boned corset as it had been in former times, and a shorter and a lighter boned model of corset would start to replace it.  This new style of corset ended just above waist level and although it still came low down onto the hips, paving the way for girdles and the changing role of woman.

 

American cotton, bone, metal, elastic corsets c 1915 and 1917 source

I mean, can you imagine wearing a corset while nursing wounded soldiers?

source

I think the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods are my favourite for corsets.  What about you?

Next I’ll look at some of my favourite dresses and accessories from those periods, including parasols.  Meanwhile, if you want to make you own corset, have a look at this site:

 

There are vintage corsets for sale here at Corsets and Crinolines, or handmade corsets here on Etsy.

It doesn't hurt to look, does it!

Deb xx

A short history of Corsets Continued–Victorian

 

The Victorian corset remained basically similar to the earlier stays in that it accentuated the bosom; but the Victorian corset also minimized the waist by producing a curved hour-glass silhouette - it no longer ended at the hips, but flared out and ended several inches below the waist, - a shape that is even now considered typical both for corsets and for Victorian fashion.

   

The corset still laced up the centre-back to achieve the correct degree of tightness to fit the wearer’s figure, thus the term “tight lacing.” The new early Victorian fashion of the 1840s and 50s was for curves, and tight-lacing was in! There were also hooks and eyes at the centre front, known as a busk closure, for easier dressing and undressing. Although most corsets of the time would fit a waist of about 20 to 22 inches, these could have been extended by loser lacing, although there are also reports of ladies with waists of 15 to 18 inches.

The corset was worn over a cotton chemise and not directly next to the skin. The chemise was an unshaped short sleeved undergarment which reached just below the knees and had a drawstring neckline that could be adjusted according to the neckline of the dress. Calf length drawers with a back button closure (and open legged for convenience) were worn under the chemise, and were often decorative, with scalloped or embroidered hems. A corset cover was worn over the actual corset, and then the petticoats and crinolines were worn over these from the waist.

 

American cotton and bone corset and linen and metal (crinoline)cage c 1860 source

While many corsets were still sewn by hand to the wearer's measurements, there was also a thriving market in cheaper mass-produced corsets thanks to improved methods of manufacture, and particularly the invention of the sewing-machine. New materials such as spiral steel, that stayed curved with the figure, gradually replaced whale bone.

     

American cotton, metal and bone corset c 1861 and 1872 source

By 1860 there were already around 4,000 corsetieres working in Paris, and in London about 10,000 people were employed in the industry. In the English countryside another 25,000, mostly female, hands were employed, plus more in the steel industry in making metal eyelets. Until the colonies, America and Australia began manufacturing their own corsets, England, France and Germany competed against each other for the markets.

American cotton, silk, metal, bone, elastic corset c. 1885  and black corset c. 1893

Corsets were worn by everyone, as the mass-produced article fell within reach of the working and rural classes. Not only women, but also by young girls and even children wore corsets, apparently so that they would learn correct posture.  Corsets were worn during all activities, including tennis, bicycle and horse-riding.

 

Riding corsets were "cut down" or shortened, particularly on the sides to make them more comfortable for riding. Much later on they also seem to be the first corsets to incorporate elastic panels for comfort.

 

Ad and a riding corset c 1870 source

Working-class women wore looser corsets and simpler clothes, giving them more freedom to move and do household chores or their often physical work, and they could lace their own corsets. The higher up in class a lady was, the more confining her clothes could be, as she had paid servants to do physical work, and also to dress her and tightly lace her corset.

  

British silk and cotton corset c. 1880 source European silk coset c. 1880 source

Corsets came in a variety of colours, including white, blue, black, charcoal grey, cream, yellow,  burgundy, green and even red, and were often highly decorative and embellished, especially those of the higher classes.

An embellished corset in silk, cotton, metal, bone c. 1876 source   French silk corset c. 1891 source

By the late 19th century, the dress reform movement that had began in the 1860s had taken it upon themselves to condemn tight lacing, although corsets themselves were still seen as necessary for beauty, health and posture. At a dress reform meeting in London in 1888, the speaker stated that women did not need corsets –as the Venus de Milo had not worn a corset. Queen Victoria reportedly replied that “Venus wouldn’t pass muster at a London Garden Party.”

Preachers, journalists and Doctors all joined in with tight lacing now viewed as vain, unhealthy and a sign of moral indecency. In reality, tight corseting was most likely the cause of indigestion and constipation (just like during pregnancy when your organs are all squished up and together),  but it was commonly blamed for ailments such as hysteria and liver failure, lung diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, and pregnancy complications due to compression of the womb (although there were separate corsets especially for pregnancy – and I really would have loved a corset while pregnant with twins!).

Doctors themselves began designing‘health corsets’. This corset below, by Dr. Warner's, includes cords (coraline) rather than the traditional bones to give structure, straps for extra support and aeration holes over the fully covered bust. Although to modern standards this still seems restrictive, for the period it was very advanced and in a sense, freeing.

 

Dr Warners health Corset, American, cotton, metal, bone, c 1890 source

A corsetiere with a degree in medicine, Inez Gaches-Sarraute, help to popularize the health corset. Also known as the straight-front corset, swan-bill corset and the S-bend corset, it was intended to be less injurious to wearers' health than other corsets in that it exerted less pressure on the stomach area , but it forced the torso and bust forward the hips back, creating an s-curve in the spine.

   

By the Edwardian era, around 1908, corsets began to fall from favour.  I’ll look at those next time.

Deb  xxx

 

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Distracted by a Cup of Joy

Wherein I get distracted by an innovative mantra from Professor Elemental exploring a favourite pastime of mine.

Some favourite tea sets.

From the Steam Emporium $580

From Barbican Paradeantiques around $1200

royal Albert From Cake Stand Land $70

From Dinkos $165

From Le Tazze Di Angiolina $90

Victorian Tea Party

Time for tea anyone! 

Deb xxx

A Brief History of Corsets - Pre Victorian

 

While archaeologists in Austria discovered evidence of modern-style bras made from linen estimated to be from sometime between end of the 14th to the second half of the 15th century, earlier Neolithic drawings show women in corset style garments that may have been animal skins moulded to their bodies.  The Minoans and Greeks used types of under bust corsets, often with nothing else, and the Romans developed laced corsets, mainly for their servants to wear.

Statuette from the Palace of Knossos, Crete source

During the 13th and 14th centuries dresses of stiff fabric had lacing incorporated into them to achieve a trim silhouette, but with the start of the silk industry in the 14th century and softer more delicate fabrics, a stronger undergarment was needed. The first artificial support garments from Italy were called a coche, and in England became known as a busk . When the Italian-born Catherine de Medici went to France to marry into he French Royal family in 1533 she brought the corset fashion with her. Apparently disliking thick waists she instructed her ladies in waiting to cinch their waists to an extremely tiny thirteen inches around.  Of course Catherine was only 14 at the time, and quite tiny, so 13 inches would have been possible for her at that time.

A young Catherine de’ Medici source

At this time a corset was a simple fabric bodice with tabs at the waist, stiffened by horn, whalebone, ivory or wood, called a stay. It was usually laced from the back, and was, at first, a garment reserved for the aristocracy – those who could afford servants to help them dress.

American linen, cotton and whalebone corset from the first quarter of the 18^th century source

By the 18th century more boning, usually whalebone, began to be used and stays became low and wide in the front and higher in the back.  Some used shoulder straps, which were attached in the back and tied at the front sides, and the fabric became stiffer and more tightly woven, known as coutil. Although 18th century stays were not meant to be seen, they were often quite decorative, with finely stitched tunnels for the boning.

 

A corset from about 1740 and a dress of the same time worn by Wilhelmine von Hessen-Kassel by Antoine Pesne

The purpose of 18th century stays was to support the bust and flatten it, while moulding the waist into the fashionable conical shape and drawing the shoulders back. They were very stiff being heavily boned with whalebone or cane, around 70 pieces, and many women complained of bruising under the arms and at the waist from the sheer rigidity of the stays. They were worn by all woman of every social rank, although tight lacing was indulged in only by the very fashionable and wealthy. Tight lacing was also difficult to do by ones self. Corset lacing became a mark of class by Victorian times, with front laced , buttoned or hooked bodices being worn by women who could not afford servants.

 

Mid 1700s illustration  source   and French silk corset c.1760 source

American Stays from c. 1786, which would have originally had shoulder straps source

After the French Revolution at the end of the 18^th century, the dress silhouette changed into the high waist tube neoclassical shape (think Empress Josephine), and corsets lost popularity as the torso was now hidden under flowing fabric. The breasts were still lifted, but cups were used to part them more.

French silk corset with metal and whale boning c. 1805 source  and Linen and metal corset c.1790- 1810 source

Gerard, Empress Josephine at Malamaison, 1801  and an American cotton and silk dress from c 1810 source

Men, or Dandies as they were known, began to wear corsets after George, Prince of Wales became Regent in 1811 after his father was diagnosed with mental illness.  During this Regency Period more men than ever before wore corsets, and this continued well into the 1840s, though after 1850 men who wore corsets claimed they needed them for "back pain".   At the beginning of the 19^th century corsets began appearing again for women, in a softer form, a little lengthened to the hip, with room in front for the bust and a lowered back. The shoulder straps more or less disappeared by the 1840s.

 

American corset c. 1810 to 1850 source American or European corset c 1820 source An American corset c 1820 source

Corsets were usually individually made to the measurements of the wearer, and could be expensive. To keep them clean and to avoid constant laundering, the corset was usually worn over a chemise, a sleeveless low-necked gown made of thin easily washable material like cotton or linen. Men’s corsets were also designed to be worn over an undershirt of similar materials.

    

Cotton corset c. 1830 source and Silk corset c. 1840, front and back source

Fashion plate, showing Woman in her corset, `1830

In 1837 George’s niece Princess Victoria became Queen, and she reigned as Queen until 1901.  The Victorian era was noted for its puritanical and hypocritical attitudes (as well as it’s extraordinary fashions), with women  regarded as weak creatures, and it was felt that their bodies needed the discipline of corsets.  In Australia and New Zealand, it was also a time of rights for women as the suffragette movement gained momentum and and the right to vote was achieved for women in both countries by 1894.  However, corsets continued to be a fashion staple everywhere, granting women social status, respectability, and the idealized figure of youth with a well-defined waist that showed off wide (child bearing) hips and ample bosom.  Many examples survive today, and I’ll look at early Victorian corsetry next time.

Deb xxx

 

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