A corset is a garment A feature of all modern human societies is the wearing of clothing, a category encompassing a wide variety of materials that cover the body. The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin worn to mold and shape the torso Trunk or torso is an anatomical term for the central part of the many animal bodies from which extend the neck and limbs. The trunk includes the thorax and abdomen into a desired shape for aesthetic Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it, or with a more lasting effect). Both men The term man is used for an adult human male (the term boy is the usual term for a human male child or adolescent). However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole. Sometimes it is also used to identify a male human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "men's rights" and women A woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. However, the term woman is also sometimes used to identify a female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Women's rights" are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers.

In recent years, the term "corset" has also been borrowed by the fashion industry to refer to tops which, to varying degrees mimic the look of traditional corsets without actually acting as one. While these modern corsets A corselet or corselette is a type of foundation garment, sharing elements of both brassieres and girdles. It may incorporate lace in front or in back. The term originated by the addition of the diminutive suffix "-ette" to the word corset and corset tops The undergarment is similar to a Victorian-era corset, but with less compression of the ribs. The modern-day Torsolette features lace-up or hook-and-eye fastening, as well as boning or vertical seams for structure and support. It usually, though not always, has brassiere cups, and is distinguished from the bustier by its length. It sometimes often feature lacing and/or boning The purpose of the boning in a corset varies slightly from era to era. Generally, the cinching/shaping properties of corsetry puts strain onto the fabric from which the corset is made. The boning supports the desired shape and prevents wrinkling of the corset fabric. Bones, and the substances used for the purpose, are often generically called and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they have very little if any effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corsetmaker A corsetmaker is a specialist tailor who makes corsets. Corsetmakers are frequently known by the French equivalent terms corsetier and corsetière (female). Stay-maker is an obsolete name for a corsetmaker. The word corset replaced the word stays after the Great Exhibition in 1851, because a prizewinning type of French stay was called the Hygienic and should be fitted to the individual wearer.

Etymology

The word corset is derived from the Old French Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century. It is a direct descendent of Old Gallo-Romance. It was then known as the langue d'oïl to distinguish it from the langue d'oc (Occitan language, word cors, the diminutive of body, which itself derives from corpus - Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native speakers, a small number of scholars can fluently speak it and it continues to be taught in schools and universities and has been, and currently is, used in the process of for body. The craft of corset construction is known as corsetry Corsetry is the craft of making corsets and corset-like garments and accessories most of which incorporate stays. It is also a subfield of fashion that deals with those garments and accessories and it is common term used for those garments and accessories. The term is derived from the word corset, as is the general wearing of them. Someone who makes corsets is a corsetier or corsetière A corsetmaker is a specialist tailor who makes corsets. Corsetmakers are frequently known by the French equivalent terms corsetier and corsetière (female). Stay-maker is an obsolete name for a corsetmaker. The word corset replaced the word stays after the Great Exhibition in 1851, because a prizewinning type of French stay was called the Hygienic (French terms for a man and for a woman, respectively), or sometimes simply a corsetmaker A corsetmaker is a specialist tailor who makes corsets. Corsetmakers are frequently known by the French equivalent terms corsetier and corsetière (female). Stay-maker is an obsolete name for a corsetmaker. The word corset replaced the word stays after the Great Exhibition in 1851, because a prizewinning type of French stay was called the Hygienic. (The word corsetry is sometimes also used as a collective plural form of corset.)

The word corset came into general use in the English language in 1785. The word was used in The Ladies Magazine to describe a "quilted waistcoat" called un corset by the French. The word was used to differentiate the lighter corset from the heavier stays of the period.

Uses

Fashion

The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure, by reducing the waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On proportionate people, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso, and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips In vertebrate anatomy, hip refer to either an anatomical region or a joint. However, in some periods, corsets have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involves minimizing the bust and hips.

For men, corsets are more customarily used to slim the figure. However, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when a wasp-waisted figure Wasp waist refers to a silhouette, given by a style of corset and girdle, that has experienced various periods of popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries (a small, nipped-in look to the waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On proportionate people, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso) was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset.

An overbust corset encloses the torso, extending from just under the arms In anatomy, an arm is one of the upper limbs of an animal. The term arm can also be used for analogous structures, such as one of the paired upper limbs of a four-legged animal, or the arms of cephalopods to the hips. An underbust corset begins just under the breasts and extends down to the hips. Some corsets extend over the hips and, in very rare instances, reach the knees The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the femur and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as well as a slight medial and lateral rotation. Since. A shorter kind of corset, which covers the waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On proportionate people, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso area (from low on the ribs to just above the hips), is called a waist cincher The ribbon corset is made of pieces of ribbon, as opposed to fabric. In 1901, a simple pattern of silk ribbon, two bones, and a busk was available, allowing women to construct their own ribbon corsets. A corset may also include garters Garters are articles of clothing: narrow bands of fabric fastened about the leg, used to keep stockings up. Normally just a few inches in width, they are usually made of leather or heavy cloth, and adorned with small bells and/or ribbons. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg was slenderest, to to hold up stockings A stocking, sometimes referred to as hose, is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency. By analogy, the term is also used to describe a type of horse marking in which the white coloring extends from the horse's hoof to just above the knee (alternatively a separate garter belt Garters are articles of clothing: narrow bands of fabric fastened about the leg, used to keep stockings up. Normally just a few inches in width, they are usually made of leather or heavy cloth, and adorned with small bells and/or ribbons. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg was slenderest, to may be worn for that).

Normally a corset supports the visible dress, and spreads the pressure from large dresses, such as the crinoline Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman’s dress into the required shape. In form and function it is and bustle A bustle is a type of framework used to expand the fullness or support the drapery of the back of a woman's dress, occurring predominantly in the mid- to late 1800s. Bustles were worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. Thus, a. Sometimes a corset cover is used to protect outer clothes from the corset and to smooth the lines of the corset. The original corset cover was worn under the corset to provide a layer between it and the body. Corsets were not worn next to the skin, possibly due to difficulties with laundering these items during the nineteenth century, as they had steel boning and metal eyelets which would rust. The corset cover would be in the form of a light chemise, made from cotton lawn or silk.

Medical

People with spinal problems such as scoliosis Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an x-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with a typical scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line. It is typically classified as either or with internal injuries may be fitted with a form of corset in order to immobilize and protect the torso. Andy Warhol Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was a Rusyn American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer, author, and member of highly was shot in 1968 and never fully recovered, and wore a corset for the rest of his life.

Fetish

Aside from fashion and medical uses, corsets are also used in sexual fetishism, most notably in BDSM activities. In BDSM, a submissive can be forced to wear a corset which would be laced very tight and give some degree of restriction to the wearer. A dominant can also wear a corset, often black, but for entirely different reasons, such as aesthetics, and to achieve a severe, armored, "unbending," commanding appearance. A very common fetish costume for women is the dominatrix costume. Usually it consists of mostly dark or even black clothing. The woman usually wears a corset or bustier A bustier is a form-fitting garment for women, which is traditionally worn as lingerie. Its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts up, while gently shaping the waist. Nowadays, it might also be worn as a push-up bra under a low-backed dress, or as a camisole for outer wear. The and stockings A stocking, sometimes referred to as hose, is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color, design and transparency. By analogy, the term is also used to describe a type of horse marking in which the white coloring extends from the horse's hoof to just above the knee with high-heeled footwear. High boots are quite common as they enhance the woman's domination. Women in dominatrix costumes usually carry an accessory such as a whip or a riding crop.

Construction

Corsets are typically constructed of a flexible material (like cloth A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or pressing fibres together, particularly coutil Coutil is woven cloth created specifically for making corsets. It is woven tightly to inhibit penetration of the corset's bones and resist stretching. Coutil has a high cotton content. Cotton has good dimensional stability, or a resistance to stretching, which makes it a good choice for such a stressed garment. Coutil may be made to be plain (, or leather Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry) stiffened with boning The purpose of the boning in a corset varies slightly from era to era. Generally, the cinching/shaping properties of corsetry puts strain onto the fabric from which the corset is made. The boning supports the desired shape and prevents wrinkling of the corset fabric. Bones, and the substances used for the purpose, are often generically called (also called ribs or stays) inserted into channels in the cloth or leather. In the 19th century, bones of elephant Elephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant . All other species and genera of Elephantidae are extinct, some since the last ice age: dwarf forms of mammoths may have, moose The moose or European elk (Europe) (Alces alces) is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration. Moose typically inhabit boreal and mixed deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to, and whale Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale. The other Cetacean suborder were favored for the boning. Featherbone was used as a less expensive substitute for whalebone and was constructed from flattened strips of goose quill woven together with yarn to form a long strip.^[1] Plastic A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic amorphous solids[citation needed] used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs. Monomers of plastic are either natural or synthetic is now the most commonly used material for lightweight corsets and the majority of poor quality corsets, whereas spring or spiral steel is preferred for stronger corsets and generally the better quality corset too. Other materials used for boning include ivory Ivory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal, wood Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many plants. It has been used for centuries for both fuel and as a construction material for several types of living areas such as houses. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. In the strict sense wood is produced as, and cane. (By contrast, a girdle The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity is usually made of elasticized An elastomer is a polymer with the property of viscoelasticity , generally having notably low Young's modulus and high yield strain compared with other materials. The term, which is derived from elastic polymer, is often used interchangeably with the term rubber, although the latter is preferred when referring to vulcanisates. Each of the monomers fabric, without boning.)^{[citation needed]}

Corsets are held together by lacing, usually (though not always) at the back. Tightening or loosening the lacing produces corresponding changes in the firmness of the corset. Depending on the desired effect and time period, corsets can be laced from the top down, from the bottom up, or both up from the bottom and down from the top, using two laces that meet in the middle. It is difficult—although not impossible—for a back-laced corset-wearer to do his or her own lacing. In the Victorian heyday of corsets, a well-to-do woman's corset laces would be tightened by her maid, and a gentleman's by his valet. However, Victorian corsets also had a buttoned or hooked front opening called a busk In stays, the corsets worn between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, the busk was intended to keep the front of the corset straight and upright. It was made of wood, ivory, or bone slipped into a pocket and tied in place with a lace called the busk point. These busks were often carved and decorated, or inscribed with messages, and were. If the corset was worn loosely, it was possible to leave the lacing as adjusted and take the corset on and off using the front opening (if the corset is worn snugly, this method will damage the busk if the lacing is not significantly loosened beforehand). Self-lacing is also almost impossible with tightlacing, which strives for the utmost possible reduction of the waist. Modern tightlacers, lacking servants, are usually laced by spouses and partners.^{[citation needed]}

Waist reduction

By wearing a tightly-laced corset for extended periods, known as tightlacing, men and women can learn to tolerate extreme waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On proportionate people, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso constriction and eventually reduce their natural waist size. Tightlacers dream of 16 inches (41 cm) 17 inches (43 cm) waists^{[citation needed]}, but most are satisfied with anything under 20 inches (51 cm)^{[citation needed]}. Until 1998, the Guinness Book of World Records Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. The book itself held a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted series of all-time. It is also one of the most stolen books listed Ethel Granger as having the smallest waist on record at 13 inches (33 cm). After 1998, the category changed to "smallest waist on a living person" and Cathie Jung Cathie Jung is an American Victorian dress and corset enthusiast residing in Old Mystic, Connecticut, USA, who currently holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest waist on a living person. Jung, who is 5 foot 6 inches tall, has a waist that measures 15 inches took the title with a 15 inches (38 cm) waist. Other women, such as Polaire, also have achieved such reductions (14 inches (36 cm) in her case).

However, these are extreme cases. Corsets were and are still usually designed for support, with freedom of body movement, an important consideration in their design. Present day corset-wearers usually tighten the corset just enough to reduce their waists by 2 inches (5.1 cm) to 4 inches (10 cm); it is very difficult for a slender woman to achieve as much as 6 inches (15 cm), although larger women can do so more easily.^{[citation needed]}

Corset comfort

In the past, a woman's corset was usually worn over a chemise The term chemise or shift can refer to the classic smock, or else can refer to certain modern types of women's undergarments and dresses. In the classical usage it is a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts commonly worn in Western nations, a sleeveless low-necked gown made of washable material (usually cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant . The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas,Africa , India and Pakistan. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most or linen Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather). It absorbed perspiration and kept the corset and the gown clean. In modern times, an undershirt or corset liner may be worn.

Moderate lacing is not incompatible with vigorous activity. Indeed, during the second half of the nineteenth century, when corset wearing was common, there were sport corsets specifically designed to wear while bicycling, playing tennis, or horseback riding, as well as for maternity wear.

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