rambling about corsetry

 hey, if you know me, you probably already know i love corsets  and am mildly obsessed with historical fashion. however, these are constantly vilified by media, so i just wanted to talk about them real quick :)

so, i guess you all already know what corsets are but still: corsets and stays are boned garments that appeared in the 16th century and were used by people (not just women) to support their back and chest and, later, to shape the body in a flattering way. they went out of fashion in the early 20th century but are still sometimes worn for asthetic or medical purposes. though they are two different kinds of garments, stays are usually called corsets as they are kinda similar and it's easier to just group them together. the difference is stays are conical shaped, meanwhile corsets are hourglass shaped. they were usually boned with whalebone or featherbone, and more modernly with plastic or steel 

although they are usually portrayed by modern media as torture instruments, people would work, play sports and exercise in them. however i am absolutely not saying that wearing corsets too often cannot be bad for the body or restrict movement. to this day people wear corsets for scoliosis, although, these are way less comfortable since instead of fabric and flexible boning they are made out of plastic

although i have never worn a historical corset, i have regularily worn a modern one for the past two years and here are the answers to things i got asked:

• can you breathe in it? absolutely: although my stomach  and lower ribs are mildly compressed i can breathe just fine from my upper chest

• can you eat in it? yes but not as much, kinda like a tight belt

• does it make you nauseous/make your stomach hurt? absolutely not, since the pressure is mild and distributed on a large area it doesnt affect my organs at all

also it supports my back and makes it less painful, it also keeps me from slouching. here, have a video about that

now i just wanna talk about the most common corset trope in media: super tight corsets that restrict airflow

movies sure love to make it seem like women wore extremely tight corsets everyday, although women at the time did sometimes tight lace, it was reserved to very special occasions (usually once or twice a year) and only for wealthy, high society folk. kinda like when modern celebrities wear steel boned corsets on red carpets

the reason we think waists were made extremely small is partly that the pictures of the time were modified and the portraits and illustrations made their subject's waists look smaller. this is as if people in 300 years thought we all looked like photoshopped pictures in fashion magazines

also, bigger corsets were more likely to get upcycled, or get worn to bits, so most of the authentic corsets that remain are quite small.

there's also the fact that most critiques of corsets from the time came from men who didnt wear corsets and feminine fashion was often looked down upon bc, u know, misogyny, here's another video about that:

also this is obviously not how you tighten a corset, you pull the laces in opposite directions, like shoelaces. you also dont need a whole team of maids, u can just do it in a mirror or even without one if you have more braincells than me(which is very likely)

another trope that isn't as common but still annoys me is the lack of garments underneath the corsets. obviously, lacing it on bare skin is sexier but it can pinch and chafe the skin, therefore it's both inacurate and uncomfortable for the actors. people at the time would wear chemises or shifts, here, look at a lady with proper undergarments, doesnt she look cool

also although it was way less common, some men wore corsets too, as back support but also to shape their belly

now that im done getting mad at modern depictions of corsetry (though i could go on) i just wanna show some corsets and stays i like bc why not:

some mid 1700s stays

 these are my favourite cuz i love their silhouette and they are quite pretty and decorative since they were often visible (unlike most other corsets which were basically underwear)

1860s and 1870s corsets, i really love the silhouette of 1860s dresses and the corsets are integral to it

some edwardian ladies (1900-1910s), i just love the edwardian "pigeon bust" silhouette and i love how the undergarments looked, so much lace and volume

also why not share some historical fashion creators i love: karolina zebrowska, bernadette banner, abby cox,  @ladyrebeccafashions, @asta.darling, @elle.lexxa(absolutely not aiming for historical accuracy but i love the stays she wears), @french.meadows (again not really accurate but gorgeous). (the @s are all on instagram, the other names are on youtube)

yayyy i finally got these corset thoughts off my mind (know that everytime you look at me i am thinking about historical fashion and keep myself from talking about it not to annoy everyone, even here i tried making it less detailed and try to get rid of things), maybe im not done infodumping and i'll do another post about historical fashion, thanks for reading