Article Report On The Corset

Submissiveness was perhaps the most feminine virtue expected of a woman. While a man could be religious or pure, a man could not be submissive. The Bible even states, “Wives submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the lord (Eph 2: 22-33), (Welter, Cult, 159). Adding to her submissive state was her clothing; tight corset lacings closing off her lungs and pinching her inner organs together. Large numbers of under garments and the weight of over dresses limited her physical mobility (Green, 130). In quite common cases the use of a corset would cause a prolapsed, or sagging, of the uterus. Physicians alleged that it was possible for the uterus to invert and protrude from the vagina. One of the most famous “remedies” of the time was to insert a pessaries, or mechanical supports, into the vaginal cavity to help support the uterus (Green, 122). Her clothing could be seen as a way to weaken her already delicate ways. “True feminine genius is ever timid, doubtful, and clingingly dependent; a perpetual childhood,” (Lavender, 3). George Burnap describes a woman’s weakness in his novel, The Sphere and Duties of Woman:

In the beginning of the 20th Century, women wore skirts and gowns with boned corsets to enhance the female figure and changed outfits almost four times a day. During the day, women would wear skirts with a long train in the back, high necks, and the chest was concealed with wide cape-like collars that draped over the shoulders. Sleeves were usually measured from shoulder to elbow and fullness would extend to the wrist. In the evening, gowns were more bold and worn off the shoulder. Fabrics were soft, skirts were round and the confined below the knee, small balloon sleeves and nipped-in waists were last seen in the early 1900s.

The 18th century, more precisely between 1715 and 1789, was a significant time period in the fashion sphere for women in France. The time period itself was a mark of great change for the history of France due to various political reasons as well as various art movements and often times fashion, despite being a branch of art, is overlooked by most viewers. However, fashion during this time excelled in France and was essentially the symbol of a new era in this domain; French fashion was now snowballing into something much greater that still echoes to this today. Ultimately, the goal of this essay is to describe women’s fashion during the period of 1715-1789 and the shifts it made through the analytical use of various sources including artwork, literature, museums’ online archives and internet sources.

In the latter part of the Victorian era there were significant developments signaling the decline of the corset. The way garments were produced is perhaps the key factor in the move away from the corset. In 1839, a Frenchman by the name of Jean Werly patented a loom for the production of women 's corsets. This type of corset was popular until 1890, when machine-made corsets gained popularity. The development of the sewing machine in the early 1850’s gradually led to mass production, manufacturers could produce corsets in far greater numbers and increase the variety of designs available to women of all classes. These advances finally led the way to new designs in underwear in keeping with the changes to the fashions and silhouettes of the early Twentieth Century.

They had no intention of going for a natural, modest, or conservative look; they strived for elaborate, artificial, stylized, and striking: “As Elizabeth's wardrobe became more opulent and elaborate, with a more exaggerated silhouette, so did that of her courtiers” (Royal Museums Greenwich). It was imperative to be fashion forward; meaning, if the Queen was wearing it, so should everyone else (who could afford it). Queen Elizabeth’s dress was similar to men’s style with broad shoulders, wide hips, and slim waists as she tried to appear more petite than she actually was. Many women during this time followed in her footsteps. Not only did the Queen have a great influence on women’s fashion, but she greatly influenced men’s fashion as well. Before the Elizabethan Era, “Men's fashion was much the same as it had been under her father and brother, favouring a broad, square silhouette with layers of garments made of rich fabrics” (Royal Museums Greenwich). After Elizabeth took the throne, the customary dress altered. Men began to wear corsets to obtain a cinched waist and stuffed 'peascod' doublets to make their stomachs pop out and have a pointed shape. On top of this, men’s dress consisted of underclothes such as a shirt, stockings or hose, codpiece, and corset and over clothes such as a doublet, separate sleeves, breeches, belt, ruff, cloak, shoes, and hat.

The “Inner Corset” by the Laura Fraser is about how people in the United State from 1880 to 1920 start from being heavy to thin. At the beginning the women were sexy if they were heavy and it was a sign that they belong to a rich family that they could afford buying food, but since times goes people ideology start changing. Then society influences the women to be thin which makes them more beautiful, and man would love them more. In the twentieth century the image of thin started changing and the woman were facing some diseases. According to The Inner Corset “When many women ventured out of their homes and away from their strict roles as mothers, they left behind the Plump and reproductive physique, which began to seem old-fashioned next to

Imagine a woman rising from bed wearing heavy bedclothes of wool or cotton. Underneath she would be wearing a corset for sleep, made of cotton, wool or a mix of heavy linen. After brushing out long hair, which was rarely washed, she would be wrapped in a light cotton garb that would protect her skin from actually touching her formal corset. Often corsets would stretch from the mid-hip region to the breasts. Corsets were constructed of whalebone and metal stays, which shaped the ribs and stomach to form a fashionable waist of approximately eighteen inches. After the corset was tightly laced (which required assistance of at least one other person), then heavy wool or cotton stocking would be pulled on. Stockings were held up ties, girdle-like bloomers or special buttons in the petticoats. At this time, a woman would put on six to eight petticoats . She would put on a special top to keep the corset from touching her dress. At this point, a woman may have worn a large hoop skirt. The large metal device would allow the woman to keep proper social distance from her guests and potential suitors. Often the woman would have to be lowered into the hoop skirt. If the hoop was too heavy, a woman would be placed in the parlor room and she would remain there until after a dinner party or until such a time she could remove the hoop because it could render her immobile. In some rare cases, small rolling wheels were attached at the bottom of hoop skirts to aid women in moving

The Victorian Era depicted a traditional woman. Women were expected to be beautiful but conservative. A notable fashion piece to mention is the notorious corset. Krystal D’Souza states that corsets were meant to, “… accentuate a woman's breasts and hips, while cinching the body at the waist, and dramatically curving the back” (D'Souza). The corset was created to slim the waist and make the hips and bottom larger. This was meant to create the ideal, “Hour glass shape,” women were expected to have. In the Victorian Era, dresses were worn all the time and the skirt length had to be passed the ankles. Pagoda sleeves were essential to dresses to cover shoulders and high necklines were made to cover the women’s neck and décolletage. If the skirts were not touching the floor, skirts were closely worn over the hip and flared out just above the knee. (Joshi). The Victorian Age signifies a time period where women had to follow stringent dress codes. The thought of showing any feminine flesh was un-lady like and unrespectable. (Alchin “Women

These Corsets included 37 pounds of clothing in the winter and exerted 22lbs on the internal organs.(Hartman, “Women’s Role in the Late 19th Century”) She went into more detail describing everyday clothing as, “Elaborate dresses, with bustles and nipped waist and yards of heavy fabric and lace. ”(Hartman, “Women’s Role in the Late 19th Century”) Women were expected

Source C clearly doesn’t support source B and this is proven at the start of the Gwen’s entry when she express her anger toward the way they had to dress; “The thought of the discomfort, restraint and pain which we had to endure form our clothes makes me even angrier now than it did”. It is very evident that Mrs Raverat didn’t agree that wearing a corset was an invigorating experience for the whole system.

In the 16th century fashion in Europe was similar in most countries. In this century women would wear gowns or dresses. In Spain women wore cone-shaped skirts but as the century progressed the gowns became more lavish. Gowns were made of different fabrics like silk, velvet and lace. The dresses were adorned with beads, pearls and jewellery and were decorated with patterns of stiches and embroideries.

Men and Women’s clothes portrayed ranking in society. Wealthier people had more elegant clothes than others. Women usually tried to look like men when they wore outfits with big shoulders, wide hips, and a small waist. A woman's age also influenced what she wore. They wore two piece dresses, which was constructed of many individual parts to it. “The well to do Elizabethan woman might have looked something like this: make up base of white of lead and sulfur, various dyes on the cheeks, beauty spots drawn on, eyebrows plucked thin, lips thickly lipsticked, hair powered pinned and perfumed.” (Tomecek, Jan) These individual parts of the dresses that the women would wear included the bodice, partlet, sleeves, ruffs, kirtle and bumroll. Women usually always had their hair pulled back from their face and wore it in many different styles. Men’s clothes during this period included doublets, breeches, underwear, collars, ruffs, hats and

Going back in time into England’s history and the The Elizabethan Era, during sixteenth century under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, we would be able to see the specific formal fashion that was used at the time. The queen utilized a stringent set of dress code known as the Sumptuary Laws (Alchin). These laws put a limit in expenditure for the people and restricted the luxury of clothing in order to make a clear difference in the social ranks (Alchin). Punishments for not following the Sumptuary Laws included harsh fines, the loss of property and title, and sometimes even life (Alchin). There is no question that woman’s fashion has significantly evolved since the Elizabethan Era, when the strict dress code involved much more complicated and

This paper compares the fashions of women in 17th century France to those of women living in New France. For the purposes of this paper, New France includes the Caribbean islands that France colonized as well as the Louisiana Purchase which spanned fifteen current U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Through the study of

This essay will be considering the historical development of haute couture by analysing Charles Frederick Worth’s (father of haute couture) key factors in the success of haute Couture. I will then discuss Coco Chanel’s thriving impact on haute couture as well as ready-to-wear caused by the second world war. Saint Laurent’s drift to ready-to-wear and the high street fashion system will also be discussed in order to answer if haute couture is relevant in fashion today. The books I will be analysing and referencing are ‘A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th Century’ by Bonnie English, ‘Couture’ by Ruth Lynam, ‘How Fashion Works’ by Gavin Waddell. Which will thoroughly breakdown the evolution and historical development of fashion by cultural, economic, environmental and social changes to finally come into a conclusion.