Hey everyone, we just finished a session of corset class at Treadle and I thought it would be a good time to talk to you about corset shapes, plus a little corset mythbusting!
There have been many, many trends in corsetry in the last 500 years, but I tend to group them into a few main styles: the cone, the Regency, the hourglass, and the down low.
The Cone shape is seen from around 1550-1795. This silhouette flattens the bust and torso into a smooth line with a defined waist. Check out the first two images from 1598 and c. 1780. These garments were called stays or a pair of bodies (like a pair of pants! Get it?)
Here's a dress that would have been worn with the stays above.
A high, uplifted bust shape defines The Regency silhouette. Named for a historical era, this shape is seen from the late 1790s through the 1830s. When dresses became influenced by ancient Greek statues and everyone was wearing wispy tissue fabrics, these were worn to create the uplifted empire-waist look. At this time, people were generally still using the term "stays."
From around 1845 to 1909, we've got The Hourglass. Now we're using the word corset, and this is what most people tend to think of when they hear "corset," but note that the orange example c. 1870s is much more curvy than modern styles. It also has a much shorter waist, as the low bust and natural waist were popular at the time.
The Down Low style is seen from about 1910-1970. In the teens and 20s the ideal shape was long and lean, so this corset eliminated the waist and contained the hips and backside. It's not even supporting the bust anymore and this corset (a.k.a. girdle) was worn with a brassiere.
Ok, let's address some of the most common questions.
Did they hurt? Generally, NO. Not if they fit you properly. The corset is a supportive garment, and like a bra that fits, it shouldn't hurt at all.
In the late 19th century, there was a huge fad for "health corsets" or "corset substitutes" that were worn for sports, exercise, by dress reformers*, and people who wanted to be a little more comfy and didn't care as much about fashion.
Did everyone wear one? Yeah, pretty much! Only the bedridden would cast them off completely. Think of it like we think of bras now: without one, most of us don't feel entirely dressed.
Did people have 18" waists? This was definitely not the norm. Possibly some young rich girls had waists this small, but it's pretty much a fantasy. I blame Gone With the Wind.
A wealthy idler with the leisure to sit around all day and do nothing would lace tighter, but most women worked, took care of children, scrubbed floors, ate meals, breathed, and lived their normal lives in corsets.
Are corsets hard to sew? They can be quite involved projects, but with a good pattern and a little know-how, they're quite do-able!
Check out all our Friday Fun Facts in the archive here!
Have a request for a Fun Fact? Want a sewing mystery solved? Let me know! I'd love to answer your burning questions.
*I'm definitely going to want to ramble to you guys about that sometime!
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