corset
Sign in to savethumb|A drawing of a luxury hourglass corset from 1878, featuring a busk fastening at the front and lacing at the back
AI overview
A corset is a tight-fitting undergarment designed to shape the body, typically fastened with lacing at the back and a busk (a rigid fastening) at the front, as seen in this 1878 luxury example. It matters because it represents an important historical garment that significantly influenced how people—particularly women—shaped their bodies and dressed across different eras.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
34 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Uses
- Fashion
- 16th-18th centuries
- 19th century
- Men's corsets
- Support garments for the corset
- Fetish
- Medical
- Construction
- Manufacture and design
- Waist reduction
- Health effects
- Comfort
- Respiration
- Muscular wasting
- Skeletal deformities
- Pelvic floor and reproductive health
- Prolapse
- Miscellaneous
- History
- 16th and 17th centuries
- 18th century
- 19th century
- Corset controversy and dress reform
- Early 20th century
- Late 20th and 21st century
- Special variants
- Corset dress
- Neck corset and collar
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|A drawing of a luxury hourglass corset from 1878, featuring a busk fastening at the front and lacing at the back
A corset () is a support garment worn to constrict the torso into the desired shape and posture. They are traditionally constructed out of fabric with boning made of whalebone or steel, a stiff panel in the front called a busk which holds the torso rigidly upright, and some form of lacing which allows the garment to be tightened. Corsets, also known as stays, were an essential undergarment in European women's fashion from the 17th century to the early 20th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries they had a conical, straight-sided shape. This eventually evolved into the more curvaceous 19th century form. By the beginning of the 20th century, shifting gender roles that allowed women to be more active outside the home, as well as the onsets of World War I and II (and the associated material shortages) led the corset to be largely discarded by mainstream fashion.