Corsets are all about fashion!

Edwardian corset. The typical hour-glass look associated with corsets.

I've always been fascinated by corsets (or stays as they were called in the olden-days). They have a bad reputation, but I will be bold and say not all of them are bad! When I was about fifteen years old I visited my sister Heather in upstate New York where she worked at a living history museum. She was working on stays and an early 19th century dress to wear at this museum. I remember the first time I wore some of these stays made for this period. It was such a unique experience, and I'll never forget that rag-doll feeling I had when I took them off - I wondered how I'd ever hold myself up without them!

I'm fascinated by many eras in fashion history, and often think how nice it must have been in the medieval times before they wore corsets. More comfortable, certainly! As far as I know, corsets first creep into fashion around the late 15th century. And from then on out, it's been difficult to get rid of them. Some of them are quite plain, but I think for the most part they are very decorative and beautiful, which is intriguing, since, for the most part, they were worn beneath clothing and not seen.

Um, no thanks! 16th century metal stays - I think not!

This is more like it! Stays from the 1590s

18th century stays

Some modern made stays from an 18th century pattern. Check out the website:
http://rococoatelier.blogspot.co.uk

Stays from the early 1800s. Notice the high bust and the straight waist & hips.

Corset from the late 1860s.  A very different shape! 

Corset from the 1890s

Camille Clifford, an actress and model for the famous Gibson Girl drawings! Apparently she had an 18 inch waist - a poster-child for the corset!

Corsets are also seen in many, many films, contributing to the fashion and look of the films. I'm highlighting just a few that stand out to me.                                                                                

Dawn French, sporting an uncovered corset in the series "Lark Rise to Candleford". On wearing a corset, she said, "There is something delicious about wearing corsets, something rather nice about being pulled rigidly into position by them,  even if they do seem to push part of one's body into the most remarkable places." 

The famous corset-tightening scene from "Gone With the Wind"

Helena Bonham Carter sporting an uncovered corset as well. In her younger days she was dubbed the "Corset Queen" because of all the period films she was in. 

The days of corsets are not over yet! Besides the lingerie aspect of them, they are worn as fashion-pieces in their own right - and like the examples above, usually on the outside for everyone to admire! I'll start with a famous example & end with a couple more tame ones!

We can't forget the infamous corset Madonna sported! 

A fairly traditional looking corset. This and the corset below are just two examples of many that are available to buy online.

A steampunk corset.