Alexander Palace Forum
Discussions about Russian History => Their World and Culture => Topic started by: RomanovFan on November 26, 2005, 04:03:54 AM
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Who invented them? Why were they considered so "fashionable" at the time? When did they go out of style?
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Interesting. I also wanted to know more about this so did a bit of browsing.
I don't think anybody in particular invented the corset.
Archeological excavations gives us examples of frescos, mosaics and sculptures that proofs even 4000 years ago efforts were made to produce a small waist.
In other periods of history, it was customary for men to wear a corset and for children to be strictly corseted to make them grow up straight and tall.
The corset is probably the most controversial piece of garment in fashion history, it is seen as an instrument of torture, causing illness, death and miscarriages, an oppressor of women.
The first real corsets dates back from the first part of the 16th century, aristocratic women in Spain and Italy wore rib bodices. The aristocratic body was proud, stately, a theatrical work of art unlike the commons.
In the second part of the 18th century also the lower class began to wear corsets, especially in Paris. During the French revolution the corset became a point of discussion -liberté egalité fraternité-. However between 1814-1815 the loose empire style was out, fashion changed and the corset made her comeback. Women of all social classes got more access to the corset because of industrial revolution and democracy of fashion.Being beautiful was a duty - and a right-. In 1861 only in Paris more than 1,2 million of corsets were sold.
Again the corset became a subject of discussion by feminist and doctors. In the 20th century the corset became an orthopedic thing for the more matured women. It became more fashionable to say you didn't needed one, although the corset never went away it had its ups and downs in fashion.
I found an interesting article by Valerie Steel who wrote a book "The Corset a Cultural History", she looks at it from a different angle less anti- women.
The corset did not only attack the body, but gave women social status, selfdiscipline, artistically, respectability, beauty, youth and eroticism. Because in the 19th century the corset became an erotic attribute, she wanted to point out stories like squeezing in the waist so thight a woman nearly fainted were just fairy tales. Those stories came into the world by historians who took 19th century fetish pornography as a serious historic source in fashion history. She also questions if they were really a threat for womens health. Stories of deformed ribs, depressions and having ugly children and medical facts as removal of ribs are dismissed as a myth.
Wearing a corset wasn't maybe that bad , uncomfortable yes, tho I'm grateful they invented Lycra ;)
Anna
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EDIT: Didn't see Anna's post! I must've been typing this up while she posted it. Sorry! :-X
Corsets have been worn since 2000 B.C. and the Cretan women (actually, it's pretty vague when it was actually "invented") into the twentieth century, making it an essential piece of clothing for fashionable dressing.
The whole reasons corsets were always so fashionable because they flattered the figure. There's not much more than that. Women have always wanted to look (or be) skiny! :P It's a problem today, even.
But they finally started to go out of fashion after some controversy about the (un)healthiness of it. The debate reappeared often throughout the remainder of the century, but particularly flared in the late 1860s and early 1870s, aroused by the "unusually constrictive prevailing fashions as well as simmering social tension over women's rights." Doctors were particularly against it because when laced very tightly, it squashed the ribs and inner organs.
http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/~kchancey/supertight.jpg
Actress Polaire, tightlace enthusiast, 1890
http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/~kchancey/Doctored.jpg
Two copies of the same 1890s fashion postcard of actress Ada Blanche.
Hope this helps some, and I know it's a little vague, but if you really want to know more, you can search it on the Internet. :)
Pictures belong to http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/~kchancey/corsetmain.html
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Wow....thanks guys! :) Going back to our TITANIC subject (not to mess up with our other thread) I feel bad for women back then! :(
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It would not surprise me at all to learn that during the first part of the 19th century that corsets were worn by Russian men because of their extremly tight fittting fashions. Could Emperors Aleksander I and Nikolai I really have had such wonderful figures into middle age without some sort un-natural assistance?
David
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You won't have to be surprised, men did wear corsets. I think Alexander I and Nicholas I did so too. As you can see on paintings from that period they must have worn a corset, by reducing the waist, and thereby exaggerating the bust.
Yes, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when a hourglass figure (a small, nipped-in look to the waist) was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset.
Military men and "dandies" too, were known in the eighteenth century, and even into this century, to wear corsets to achieve proper military straight-up-and-down shape and fit of the uniform, or to cut a fine figure. The weight belts that men wear in modern gyms are direct successors to military corsets for men, and a near relative to the waist-training leather belt.
Anna
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Wasn't it the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich who also had the habit of wearing a corset?
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Men wore corsets too?! :o I didn't know that! I doubt Nicholas II did...or were they still "IN" for the men of society?
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Don't be shocked ;D Even today there are men who wear a corset and not only for their back problems.
Have a look on paintings of society and militairy men, you will clearly see they had a very small waist and sort of high bust therefore had a very straight-up look.
No, Nicholas II never wor a corset, you only have to look at his photo's his clothes are very loose.
Anna
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Sometimes when I wear my Tsar uniform I wear a little corset but please do not tell anyone. I would be so embarrassed.
Tsar Doug.......slim and trim ;D
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Several people wrote about Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich and his corsets. Felix Youssoupov comes to mind, saying in his book that he use to go up behind him when he was a boy and feel the stays of his corset and it would make him very angry.
..Arleen
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Felix used this, I suspect, to illustrate a perceived failing on Serge's part, as if perhaps he was less than masculine for wearing such a garment. A bit ironic perhaps?
The wearing of corsets with uniforms was not uncommon in the nineteenth century and should not necessarily be an implication of anything other than a desire to achieve the sharpest look when in uniform.
Tight-lacing is known to have caused health problems in women but the average corset-wearer in the nineteenth century would have eschewed this practice and been comfortable, if the garment was well-made and fitted. The idea of the corset is to provide a firm foundation upon which the top garments may lie smoothly and elegantly; there was also an element of decency involved, as the wearing of the corset was synonymous with being decently dressed.
Certainly, respectable women regarded the wearing of a corset as essential and the tea gown was the only acceptable form of dress which might be worn without a corset, and that only in the privacy of the boudoir. Naturally advanced pregnancy would result in the leaving off of the corset, but would also result in a social state bordering on purdah for middle-class, aristocratic and royal ladies.
We marvel nowadays at the wearing of such garments; who is to say that future generations will not find our current fashions and modes equally impractical and strange?
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Okay, time for "modern" history!
Having been brought up in the 50s and 60s, I can tell you that many of us were used to wearing long-line bras and girdles on a daily basis! Those were the days of suits, heels, and hats to college football games! (It couldn't possibly have been as hot in Gainesville, Florida, then as it is now...we all would have dissolved in perspiration puddles!)
The idea was not necessarily to appear to be thin; it was to allow clothing to lie on the body with as few interruptions as possible. For those who still purchase and wear, when the occasion calls for such detail, such undergarments, the intent is the same.
For a really good illustration of that intent being a more distantly historical one, look at Mary Adelaide. She was not in any position (read: condition!) to make attempts at thinness yet she employed undergarments that smoothed out the bumps. There really was no variety of styles available for her to employ, so she went for developing her own unique version of statuesque elegance.
Those of us who have similarly removed the word "thin" from our range of personal thought employ all available options to present as attractive an impression as possible. And, I must add, it would be a wonderful thing if young gals who are not blessed with the assets of excellent physical attributes would begin to take the same attitude. Many of today's fashions simply do not enhance every body type. Wearing that which is becoming seems to have become lost in the quest for displaying ownership of the "right" labels.
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Corsets could go overboard-just like at those two photos! And no doubt at some level they were not all that good for women's health. Certainly, they were uncomfortabe if laced too tight, and to our modern mentality would be uncomfortable all the way, because we are not used to that. Men did wear corsets in the early 19th century, because of the way fashions were, and also later in the century. It wasn't really until the '20s that corsets were somewhat eliminated, or at least tightly squezzed waists, circa 1880s/early 1890s. By the edwardian era, corsets were certainly still around, but were not as tight, because fashions did not call for it. The main idea was to be thin, but there will always be things people think are beautiful, that are rather barbarous customs, not beauty. ( some varities of plastic surgery come to mind). Anyway, I have long marveled at the tightly squeezed waaists of some royal women from the1880s, until after the edwardian era. Beautiful, yes, but rather uncomfortable.
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It is kind of *strange* to think that in Japan and China the cultur were different! Their fachion was Geishas -who did not use corsettes. To them it was erotic to that women had small foot(and to having small foot they did violence)! Actually they did not like women wore corsettes... strange.. The culture was so different but there is similaries: the women had always been an odject to men and had to bee beautiful and for that they had to feel pain! Strange... :-/ how it chanced? I know that very long long time B.C wimen status was different: there has been femail soldies there has been islands and cultures where women were appraised and as like royals. Like men before ... :-/
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Wearing corsets was not done in Western society to induce pain or for men to assert dominance (as has been pointed out, men actually wore them sometimes themselves) but to produce a certain fashionable shape which could not be attained any other way. Really well-made corsets were hand-made for the wearer and fitted without pinching or hurting, and tight lacing was disapproved of (although happened if the wearer wanted to be thinner). For real fatties, like Mary of Teck, they gave a shape if not slimmness, as has already been mentioned. Although much has been written about extremes of tight lacing for fashion, and things like removal of ribs, there does not appear to be any genuine evidence for this. Maud of Norway, who had a really tiny waist, seems to have produced this just by having a very petite figure, which stayed with her all her life. What the corset did achieve for less inately slim women, was pushing most of the flesh down to the hips or up to the bust - redistributing it rather than eliminating it. Hence the really sad look of grand Edwardian ladies when the 1920s demanded genuine slimness - they then paid for all their heavy eating which had been concealed by a corset and all their flowing draperies which gave them a smallish waist, a large bust and large hips - to Edward VII the perfect figure. His former mistresses Daisy Warwick and Mrs Kepple, for example, looked sadly lumpish and not at all elegant once their heyday had vanished and their hour-glass, corset-produced figures were no longer fashionable.
Just a note - Japanese women did not bind their feet, and in fact neither did Manchu women - the last Empress of China was extremely proud of her tiny feet, produced by nature and not by binding.
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It is true that corsets were more a fashionable thing than anything to do with male dominance. They were the fashion of the day, and in every age people do absurd things for beauty, don't they? Foot binding was just another, and breast implants are another. Silly, but they were felt to be necesscary in some ages. Certainly corsets were not totally bad, as most things have their good and bad aspects corsets included.
It is true that people who has such great waists, figures then, with a corset suffered in the '20s in terms of beauty. They got overly used to the beauty of on age, and didn't move into another age in beauty terms. Great analysis of that, I loved reading that! I rather admire the figure corsets produced, although I catch myself knowing I might not have wanted to wear them! Like any beauty trend, sometimes people took this to extremes.
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To them it was erotic to that women had small foot(and to having small foot they did violence)!
That bound feet is called lotus feet, according to chinese tradition, a girl age of six will have her feet bind and wears a small shoes.
(http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7448/lotusfeet0oz.jpg)
That's what their bare feet looks. It's really awfull, their bones will be deformed because of that. :-/
Like any beauty trend, sometimes people took this to extremes.
I agree with you, they'll do anything as long as they look good even that would put them in danger.
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That bound feet is called lotus feet, according to chinese tradition, a girl age of six will have her feet bind and wears a small shoes.
(http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7448/lotusfeet0oz.jpg)
That's what their bare feet looks. It's really awfull, their bones will be deformed because of that. :-/
I agree with you, they'll do anything as long as they look good even that would put them in danger.
I always thought that they smallered their foot in China and Japan but is this the real fact? Did the non-royal people small tehir foot... ? Oh I cannot wait that I am abel to have lessons about chine and japans cultur next year!!
About the corsetes did women wear them when they sleep? I do not think so but I'm not sure. I find it pretty dificult to sleep with that...
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I always thought that they smallered their foot in China and Japan but is this the real fact? Did the non-royal people small tehir foot... ? Oh I cannot wait that I am abel to have lessons about chine and japans cultur next year!!
It's a Chinese tradition. Yes, even the commoners do that, I think that's their parents that makes them have that. But now, I think this is an extinct tradition or something like that, only few does that anymore.
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We nowadays have a warped sense of corsets.
Let me begin by saying that it is NOT a good idea to get a corset off a shop shelf. It is advisable to have one custom made according to your own personal dimensions. IF it is custom made, there is no problem with discomfort as it fits the body contours exactly. When you pull in the laces, it molds the body accordingly. Anyone who knows about so-called "tightlacing" will know that it is not a sudden reduction of 6"-8", but a gradual build-up to it. In other words, you start off by reducing the waist by say three inches. You wear the corset like that for say 3 months, about 16 hours or more per day. The body gets accustomed to it, and you then reduce a further inch or so. In that way you GRADUALLY work the size of the waist down to an hour glass figure over the course of a year or two. :)
You would want to die from discomfort if you were to suddenly try to reduce drastically by doing some tightlacing. ;D
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You can compare chinese footbinding and corsetry as two beauty customs that have gone by, which perhaps is just as well. But it seems that corsets were not wholly bad, while footbinding defintely was. It is true that we could have a warped sense of corsets today, given that they are gone almost entirely. It's hard not to have a warped sense of something you have no experience of, and that looks rather horrifying to modern sensibilities in old photos. Of course the truth can be rather different. Thanks for the info pers!
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You're welcome. :) Many people today still wear corsets, and unless you know someone, you won't have a clue as to the real deal. My own grandmother wore corsets right into very old age. She was well into her 90's when she died in 1999.
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That's true. If you have no experience of something, it is hard to say how it really is. So often things like corsets or footbinding can get lost in stereotypes.
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I found it pretty odd that the non-royal person(is peasantry the rigth word for it? :P ) did the food-thing couse they had to doo WORK and it was not that easy whit such food.. I mean they could not even walk well with those.. :S
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For those of you interested in contemporary modern day tightlacing and corsetry, see www.waspcreations.com ;) :o ;D
It is quite an eye-opener and contains a wealth of information on corsetry without all the fluff!
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I've seen many corsets still being sold at Victorias Secret and "gothic" stores such as Hot Topic.
Of course, these days, all the corsets arent so covered and lfrilly, more like barely-there and lacy! :P
Has anyone here actually worn one? Oh wait, I beleive Tsar Doug has. ;)
I have, well, I've tried...
Of course, I didnt wound it up too tight, I know of the consequences, but I did love the way it trimmed my figure (not that it needs much trimming...yet..) . I had more confidence with the corset, definitely. It was uncomfortable though; even after not lacing it too tight, I still couldnt breathe and had pain at my sides when i took it off.
Btw, it was for Halloween. :)
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Did you get the lacy/barely there type or the real thing that is sturdy, that can even transform Mary of Teck (that is fat Mary)? ;D
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In a book I read many years ago, and I can't recall the title, Chinese footbinding was considered part of the sexual experience.
It had something to do with how the shape of the arch was changed and what could be done with it. (I am trying to be delicate here.) :-[
Small feet were considered to be the sign of beauty and high birth. Because it is true that the peasants couldn't work the fields with bound feet. Women of the royal house could barely walk and often had to be carried.
When I was younger, I recall a shop called The Princess Corset Shop in our local town. Of course its gone now.
And another thing I muse about, the tanks and shorts that we go about in today would have been considered "undergarments" 100 years ago and we would have been causing a scandel by going out in public in our underwear!
And as for corsets for men, when I see a large exposed "beer" belly on a man in shorts and a tank, I often wish that corsets for men were still in vogue. ;D ;D ;D
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Did you get the lacy/barely there type or the real thing that is sturdy, that can even transform Mary of Teck (that is fat Mary)? ;D
haha Well, I got a reproduction from a catolgue of Victorian goods, so I guess it was as sturdy as it can get with materials from today...
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And as for corsets for men, when I see a large exposed "beer" belly on a man in shorts and a tank, I often wish that corsets for men were still in vogue. ;D ;D ;D
;D
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Maybe we should start a corset group and order corsets for ourselves. Then we can really compare notes, instead of this discussion being a purely "armchair" excercise. This now includes the girls as well as the beer bellies. ;D One thing's for certain, it will help with portion control, especially for those of us here in the USA! You simply cannot eat as much as you used to eat.
Think what fun it will be... I see that the corsets are not that expensive if you order them custom made from waspcreations. Well, cost is relative. But taking into consideration what decent clothes cost nowadays, it's not that expensive. What do you say Douglas? Tell us a little more... ;D
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That's an good idea! ;D While wearing corsettes we don't have to bother to think I look too fat and/or this clothe don't fit to me.. xD And in the meanwhile maybe our bearing would get better.. :P
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I know that my posture could use some help. No matter how straight we try to sit, the corset simply made that straight back straighter.
And as for portion control, elastic waitband pants are the downfall of all of us. Try going out to eat in regular waistband pants and it is true that we just can't eat as much.
It hurts!
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I have never even tried even wearing a reproduction of a corset, as Skandarsqueen did for Halloween, but it is always interesting to read about it. Certainly, it had its advantages. It fascinates me as a relatively gone by beauty custom, that had more advantges than people might claim. Footbinding is something that we really can't mourn, however. It had many meanings, but little advantages. Corsets however, had theire better points, more than footbinding.
Certainly, many of our garments today that we wear openly, either would be classified by the Victorians as underwear, or they look like underwear- times have changed. And yes, some men shoudn't run around dressed like that with exposed beer bellies.
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Dear Courtiers of the Realms:
The only time I ever wear a corset is when I reside at our palace at Tsarskoe Selo.
At those times when I wear one of my Tsar uniforms I have to wear a very tight corset. This enables me to appear in cinema films and publicity photos as I should properly appear in public.
I learned this little trick when I was in the movies in Hollywood many years ago. I played various parts that did require me to appear in a military uniform. As I did not have the most perfect figure in those days the costumer did suggest that I wear a little belly corset to sort of put it all together.
But since those days I relax and just seem to forget about corsets and such....except when the news photographers are lurking around the palace.
I do understand that Pers desires to start a corset club..
Everyone have a nice day,
Douglas
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If you join the corset club....do you have to wear your corset regularly? :o Special occasions are fine by me...but I simply wont put up with wearing one of those things for more than an hour!
Alixz is right, wearing tight fitting anything across the belly area, makes you feel satisfied very quickly...your stomach can only expand so much with a corset on!
So, I feel that this should be the headliner for the Corset Club...
"Corsets: Fashionable AND the new diet trick! :D"
I really cant come up with anything better....
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Great! I initially only suggested it as a joke, but if you guys and girls are serious, we can go for it. ;D We can only benefit from it figure wise not so?
Under which heading should the corset club go? Should it be in "discussion forum", or this one? Maybe forum admin can give us the necessary advice, please?
My only suggestion would be that if we do it, we better get them custom made from any reputable corsetiere, instead of some reproduction, because it is not a good idea to do this sort of thing with a poorly fitted garment as you will be in constant pain like our friend SkandarsQueen! :'( Then you DEFINITELY will not be able to wear it for longer than one hour at a time.
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Please keep the corset discussions here under this thread. thanks.
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Thank you Forum Admin.
There are three places we can order from: waspcreations.com; romantasy.com and darkgarden.net.
I suggest we study these and then decide for ourselves where we want to place our orders. If any of you are aware of other sites, please post them. ;)
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Great! I initially only suggested it as a joke, but if you guys and girls are serious, we can go for it. ;D We can only benefit from it figure wise not so?
Under which heading should the corset club go? Should it be in "discussion forum", or this one? Maybe forum admin can give us the necessary advice, please?
My only suggestion would be that if we do it, we better get them custom made from any reputable corsetiere, instead of some reproduction, because it is not a good idea to do this sort of thing with a poorly fitted garment as you will be in constant pain like our friend SkandarsQueen! :'( Then you DEFINITELY will not be able to wear it for longer than one hour at a time.
I WAS joking also.... ;) But if you insist....I have my old one in m closet. ;D
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Maybe we should start a corset group and order corsets for ourselves. Then we can really compare notes, instead of this discussion being a purely "armchair" excercise. This now includes the girls as well as the beer bellies. ;D One thing's for certain, it will help with portion control, especially for those of us here in the USA! You simply cannot eat as much as you used to eat.
Think what fun it will be... I see that the corsets are not that expensive if you order them custom made from waspcreations. Well, cost is relative. But taking into consideration what decent clothes cost nowadays, it's not that expensive. What do you say Douglas? Tell us a little more... ;D
I know this isn't so much about corsets, and is more about Victorian underwear, etc if you will, but once I was at at this living history site where they pretend to be from the past, and I was wearing this shirt that was sleeveless, and looked like victorian underwear, it had embroidery, and it was white. It did look like victorian underwear, and when I wore it there, they made such a big fuss about it because we were supposed to be in their time during the tour of it, kidding me about it, and such, I thought it was amusing, but I decided after that I would be more careful about what I wore to living history sites, etc ( although I've never been to one since). I still have that shirt, because they were right, it does look like victorian underwear.. ;)
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'some men shoudn't run around dressed like that with exposed beer bellies'
ALL men shoudn't run around dressed like that with exposed beer bellies! i prefer the fake corset tops arund nowadawys, a little more comfortable than the original whale bone stuff and a little more humane ;)
'Chinese footbinding was considered part of the sexual experience'
you didn't mention what i thought you would, apparantly chinese men thought that the smell coming from their wive's feet was an aphrodisiac ::)it also illustrated the power status. if you were trying to get away from your husband's advances for any reason, you couldn't becuase you wouldn't have proper feet to move away with
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I don't think that fainting couches have been mentioned on this thread, but they were a piece of furniture that was used for ladies to lie down on, if they had fainting spells from corsets. I have read/ heard that anyway. I think they were a lovely piece of furniture, but that after a certain era, I guess they didn't have much use. ;) That's just a piece of trivia. If anyone has more info on this, please post.
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I think that is fantasy. Women wore corsets throughout their lives and those that tightlaced did so on a daily basis for average 16 hours per day, if they did not sleep in them as well... So, no need to faint if you're used to it, they might have fainted from something else. If you were to tightlace yourself from a 30" waist down to 18" all at once, you will not faint from it, but you will certainly just about die from pain and discomfort! ::)
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Yes, I think the fainting aspect is fantasy as well. ;) But, it is part of popular mythology about those corseted waists in the Victorian era. I'm not sure why, maybe it is because it seems like a natural assumption, although it is not.
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I am a professional actor and, for rehearsal and performance purposes, I have worn more than my fair share of corsets. Some were cheap (rehearsals...) but I have had several corsets made for me. I have done my own research on them because I wanted to make sure that I had them made correctly. Corsets, if made to fit your body, can be very good for you!!! They can really help your back and posture problems. While you can lace them too tightly, if you do it correctly, it shouldn't be a problem. The trick is to lace it up to a fairly snugg fit, but not all the way. Then, wait 15-20 minutes until your body adjusts to it, then you will be able to lace it up even more. A woman's body adjusts in the same ways that it adjusts with pregnancy...yes, things inside the shift, but it isn't dangerous unless you don't give you body time to adjust. I really enjoy wearing them, especially on stage! I feel much more graceful and elegant because my posture is so much better. It also helps with my breath support when I sing. So, don't worry, corsets are fine!! :o)
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Katya's post makes a very important point in that the corset actually is warmed by body heat and moulds and stretches. Thus when she advises that it be donned early, she is absolutely correct.
Our performers are advised to put them on at the half hour call, sit in them and do their make-up, have their wig put on etc. After about twenty minutes it is usual to re-lace the corset so that it can be made tighter and fit better. We also sometimes find that dresses with boned bodices, that is bodices that are not worn over a corset but instead have the bones built in to the foundation, often have to be taken in after a couple of rehearsals as they tend to stretch and become loose.
A corset that is too loosely laced will be just as uncomfortable as one that is too tightly laced.
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Has anyone worn or wear corsets?
Myself I wear a corset for a few hours to help strighten my back muscles as I slouch and have a bad posture. I wear it underneath my blouses.
Just wondering if anyone out there wears them too. Even if it is to be goth.
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My Grandma, who was the same age as Anastasia, wore them but I always thought they'd be uncomfortable. Once when my back was bothering me I dreamed she came back and told me to get a corset.
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I sew and will be making a corset soon...then I will tell what I think of it... :)
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I had surgery about a year ago on my stomach ( a herniated muscle) and I was given what the doctor's office called "the garment". It isn't a typical corset with ties, but it was tight and zipped up the front.
I made me stand much straighter and eased the tension in my back. But I have never worn a real "tie it tighter corset" to make my waist smaller.
Actually in the fashion threads there is a thread about corsets that we started a couple of years ago. A lot of people contributed. If you can find it it is worth reading.
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Hey Alixyz
Thanks for that :) I wear the ones you can get on ebay, but I bought one which has two ties in the back breast/waist ties. I don't do it TIGHT lol. I do it so it's moulded onto my body and it will not fall off, although it is a bit uncomfortable first time around hee hee.
I know in edwardian eras girls started wearing bodices from age 12 and graduated onto corsets around 14-16.
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My mother says they were called corselettes. She was born in 1922 and she remembers still seeing them being sold in the shops where she grew up. I think she actually may have had to wear one.
I was late into the family and I grew up in the 60s and 70s and I still remember the "Princess Corset Shop" in our town. Because I was a "flower child" I was embarrassed to go in there so I never did. I didn't want anyone to see me come out.
Heck, I remember the introduction of pantyhose. I am going to be a walking anachronism before I know it.
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LOL. I think we all are anachronisms. Trying to be stuck in some era or time period. :) As I said I'm wearing mine for medical purposes not for fashion although I wear it for my boyfriend. He likes helping me do up the hook and eyes and then he does the lace pulling.
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When I had back problems, I wore one. Not very comfortable but sure improved my posture.
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I wear a corset! :D
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i wear corsets often but im not a tightlacer. I just love to give a a wee curves to my bod ;-)
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My friend collects all types of corsets. She had one made to make and feel like a Victorian corset, and she let me try it on. It was fun to wear for a few minutes, but I wouldn't want to wear it all the time.
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Nice to try one but I think my blood vessels will complain of asphyxiation.
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I adore to wear corsets, they're confortable for me, and I want to have waist because
I'm sooo square ;-)