The History of the Corset

article source: "The Lady's Realm", Volume 10
publication date unknown.



VANITY, indisputably supposed to be woman's ruling passion, has ever been the prime motive for the enhancing of her personal charms. As ancient as history is the corset, and it is impossible to decide whose invention it is. Naturally its origin is imputed to a woman who in her inordinate vanity endeavoured to reduce the size of her waist, being in no wise daunted by the agony entailed in the unnatural contortions necessary to correct what she evidently deemed to be one of Nature's errors.

animal hide corset

The corset, from being originally but a stiff piece of animal hide, has passed through many curious and somewhat hideous phases, ere attaining its present state of perfection.


Its invention is ascribed to a woman, and it is held, that through the vain practice of this one single woman centuries ago, the corset has become, as it is to-day, a universal and very necessary adjunct to a lady's wardrobe. The tale of its development is to a certain extent a tale of the progress of reason. Certain it is, as positive evidence proves, in the olden times the article was worn by men and women alike— the breadth of the chest and shoulders of the former being accentuated by the diminution of their waists. This being the case, I am inclined to doubt a woman being its originator, as female vanity is but the outcome of civilisation. We all know that among barbaric tribes, as also in the animal kingdom, the male is the handsomest and most elaborately decked or plumaged. In Indian and savage tribes the chiefs and young men inscribe on their bodies,  and in the case of birds their plumage is always the richest.

cane corset

Women were in the early ages such poor, subservient creatures, being very little above the level of animals, that it seems hardly creditable that from her could emanate the idea of the corset, which there is no doubt was in the first instance made use of for male adornment. Corsets are supposed to have existed in all parts of the world as far back as in mythological days, but we can only trace the practice of its use to early barbarian times. The corset which we find indispensable in this present century is but an improvement on the idea of the savages, who appear to have been the first to make practical use of the article. The savage corset was a mere suggestion of what has followed, and consisted of a stiff piece of animal hide, through which holes were punctured by means of a sharpened stone. This was bound round the figure like a girdle and then drawn together by means of a thong of hide which served as a lace; it was never allowed to crease, and therefore bound the waist with the compactness of the modern corset. But the idea was too crude, and proved but a stepping-stone to a more elaborate design, which, being made of cane, proved plastic to the figure—pointing to the fact that woman, evidently obeying the decree of her lord and master, now adopted the corset, as this improvement on common hide, being made of rattan cane arranged spirally about the figure, and being actually covered with cloth or rare fabric, lent itself more readily to the natural and graceful curves of her form.

practical corset

The pernicious habit of tight lacing, which has ever been, and still is, so strongly inveighed against, is by no means an evil which can be looked upon as the outcome of modern civilisation. A Grecian lady's costume was never complete without a girdle of linen stiffened with reeds and pieces of flat wood, and this corset of the early period, which speedily became so universally adopted in every quarter of the globe, possessed neither the redeeming qualities of grace nor of harmless durability, being nothing more nor less than a very evident self-inflicted rack of torture. But the decree had gone forth—a small waist was alone to be admired, and women submitted, even as nowadays, heedless of the discomfort occasioned by many of Dame Fashion's mad freaks, enduring agonies under a smiling countenance in their desire to please and their inordinate love of admiration.


Hindoo women underwent a rigid system of training in order to secure the long, slender waist which is to this day deemed a mark of beauty; and the women of Java went even greater lengths, actually risking their lives by eating a poisonous stuff called "ampa," in their endeavour to reduce their avoirdupois. In Ceylon perfection was never attained until the waist could be clasped by two hands. The Bible points to the fact that the wearing of stays was customary among Jewish women. We read in Isaiah, "instead of a girdle there shall be a rent, and instead of a stomacher there shall be a girding of sackcloth."

brocade corset: 18th century

It was not, however, till the middle ages that what may reasonably be termed the antecedent of the modern corset first came into vogue. As early as in 1043 a monk wrote a pamphlet against the follies of fashion, giving therein the first historical representation we have of the corset, ridiculing the atrocious practice of tight lacing, and illustrating his article with a woman's figure encased in this "seductive garment." This pamphlet is preserved in the British Museum. In 1361 authentic mention is again made of the corset, only this time it has changed from an inner to an outer garment. Princess Blanche, daughter of Edward III., is described as the possessor of a magnificent corset, consisting of a girdle of beaten gold studded with procious gems.

man's corset

French chronicles show that corsets were worn equally by both sexes from the reign of St. Louis to the beginning of the fifteenth century. These corsets varied considerably in length and shape, sleeves of different modes, often lined with fur, being frequently attached to them; but although a recognised fashion, the wearing of corsets up to this date was a matter of purely personal taste. Then, with Catherine de Medici's ascent to the throne, the habit became compulsory. She gave her subjects no choice, issuing an edict to the effect that all women of good birth and breeding should wear corsets which would reduce their waist to the abnormal size of thirteen inches.

steel corset

Let us hope that the women of that period were built proportionately small, otherwise the iniquitous habit might be likened to the Chinese method of squeezing the feet into machines in order to circumvent their natural growth. Not only did Catherine make the decree, but she invented the necessiry article of torture, the wearing of which ultimately produced the diminutive waist decreed. It was called a "corps," and consisted of an inflexible corsage hardened and stiffened by every possible means. Into this the body was pinched and forced, while over the "corps " was clasped a perfectly fitting corset-cover, constructed of thin plates of steel, which was fashioned in two pieces, and opened on a hinge. These steel covers were usually covered with richly embroidered fabrics—or in the case of the steel being perforated, as was a favourite fashion, beautiful designs in silk were interwoven in and out of the holes ; and no dress was considered complete without its corslet of silk and steel.

steel corset cover

This rigorous treatment of the body lasted throughout the sixteenth and, indeed, until the early part of the seventeenth century, when more pliable materials for the fabrication of corsets were adopted. Beautifully embroidered quilted satin bodices now replaced the painfully unyielding structure of Catherine's invention. These were stiffened with whalebone, and the natural curves of the figure were more studied than hitherto. They were made short at the hips, with a long back and front, the latter tapering to an artistic V.

V- corset, Louis XVI

The next change in their history took place in the early part of the eighteenth century, when leather stiffened with whalebone came into use. Reformation, however, was the order of the day, and its leaders were successful for a short time in banishing the hitherto victorious corset and resuscitating the discarded girdle. With this innovation classic robes became popular, and for fifty years held sway, until in 1810 fickle fashion returned to its old friend, and we read again of "a corset finished with steel, a hoop over an inch in width curving round the upper line.


A few lines taken from some old Press cuttings describe aptly the position of the corset as regards its hold on fashion:

When hoops were worn by women fair,

 A nuisance they were found; 

One ran against them everywhere— 

The hoops were always round.

And they retarded, it was clear,

  The rise of womanhood, 

For by the fashion of her sphere 

Each woman was confined.

When hoops went out, by some cracked brain,

  The bustle was designed, 

And woman's fashions, it was plain, 

Were getting quite behind.

The bustle also saw its day,

  Though to it they adhered 

For years, ani when it passed away, 

The clinging dress appeared.

And as it suited old and young,

  'Twas worn without demur; 

To fashion woman long had clung, 

Now fashion clung to her.

In time the train became the style,

  And every woman wore it; 

In fact the fashion for a while 

Swept everything before it.

And thus the years new fashions bring,
Which flourish and decay; 

  The corset is the only thing 

 That ever came to stay.

straight-front corset

About this time manufacturers commenced to advertise their wares, which points to progress in the trade. "Corsettier special" cropped up for both men and women, and no one could be without this very necessary garment. In 1820 a practical corset for tight lacing was invented, being made in three pieces. It laced at the sides as well as the back, and this was generally worn until towards the middle of the last century, when it became the fashion to have one's corset specially made. The stay-maker did a thriving trade, and the tailors found they were obliged to bow to the universal fashion and give their rendezvous in their own establishments, partitioning off little compartments where "monsieur" or "madame" might be fitted to their corsets.

"erect form" corsets

 This was the golden age for the corsettiers, when no woman considered herself "well turned out" unless confident that her "corsage" was moulded over a corset marvellously designed to fit her form.


Robert Verley, a Frenchman, first conceived the idea of manufacturing corsets wholesale. He started looms for this purpose at Bar-le-Duc, and his unbounded success inspired confidence, and soon tempted competitors to take up the new industry.

Bonton corsets

Works sprang up in various countries. America was not behindhand. A woman opened an establishment in Sixth Avenue, New York; but during its infancy the trade became the largest and most prosperous in Germany, the yearly importation running into millions. Thousands of women were employed at the looms, and thousands likewise worked on the same industry at home, embroidering the various corsets.


In 1870, however, the Americans built and started enormous factories, and in consequence the German industry received a severe check. They were obliged to lower their prices considerably, in order to compete with the new influx in the market. The woven corset was at the same time practically abandoned in favour of the stitched article, which has held its own to the present day. Factories are now to be found in all parts of the world, where these invaluable articles are turned out wholesale—the fundamental principle of the design differing very little from that worn in 1850. The hideous hip
pads have been, if not entirely abandoned, very much modified—in fact, all the various latterday improvements have been built on its foundation. No woman nowadays who desires to be considered "smart" and bien mise would venture to appear in public corsetless! Happily for all concerned, we have left behind, with the days which have gone by, those instruments of torture, the steel corslet, with its utter disregard for the anatomical correctness of shape.

tight-lacing

The beruffled, tight-laced, waspwaisted maiden is also replaced by a healthy, well-developed, vigorous young woman, eager to exercise her limbs and muscles in sports which had hitherto been debarred her; and with this healthier product of latter days has come a more thinking generation, who, realising how hampered and handicapped they were by so tight and unyielding an article encircling their body, discarded it, adopting the more natural corset of to-day, with its thin steels or pliable bones; and with its advent, tight-lacing has almost entirely died a natural death—being the exception now, rather than the rule. Tennis, golfing, cycling, boating, and all the numerous sports recently opened up to women, admit of no strained or unnatural compression of the body.


Would-be reformers in dress are still ever ready to argue that the wearing of this article is injurious in more ways than one; but this idea is now almost entirely exploded. Tight lacing is necessarily harmful; but physicians have come to recognise the fact that a well-fitting corset is rather a support to the figure, instead of having the injurious effect which is so frequently attributed to it.