Killer Fashion: The Consequences of Corsetry

PAST EXHIBIT

The Charleston Museum’s current Textiles exhibit, Killer Fashion: The Consequence of Style, looks at the often tragic side of fashionable dress as it relates to the natural environment and those who wore these garments. This exhibit will be on display until March 5, 2017. From now until then, we will post different aspects of the exhibit. Below, read our post, The Consequences of Corsetry and to read others, visit our the News section on our website.

Corset advertisement from the magazine The Designer, October 1906.

Made popular in Europe during the 16^th century, the corset is an article of stiffened underclothing made to shape the human torso using a series of stays and lacings.  Corset makers originally used whale baleen (read our blog post Killing for Baleen) and wood for the shaped stays, that when tightly laced, created a “fashionable silhouette” for the wearer. As the 19^th century progressed, however, the baleen and wood stays were replaced by stronger and even more inflexible steel stays.

White cotton corset made by The Self Adjusting Corset Co., Rochester N.Y., with encased metal stays, slot and stud closure in the front and lacing center back, c. 1886.

A corset that has been fitted properly should act as support for the breasts and back muscles. However, practicing tight lacing, where the goal is to create as small a waist as possible, can be quite harmful to the wearer. A tight-laced corset can reduce lung capacity, cause shortness of breath and fainting, produce skin irritations, compress the ribs, weaken back and chest muscles and even cause organ deformity. Tight corsetry can also exacerbate lung conditions such as pneumonia, dangerously restrict digestion, cause constipation and can also worsen any existing issues within a woman’s reproductive system. Remarkably enough, a “maternity corset” was designed in the 1830s, allowing pregnant women to stay in fashion. Despite the spatial allowance made by the corset maker, however, it still caused great harm to both mother and child.

Red cotton corset trimmed in black lace made by Farcy and Oppenheim, Paris, c. 1880. The original wearer likely practiced tight lacing, since there is significant wear to the fabric at the waistline, and both closure stays are broken at the center.

Today, corsets are made from plastic, steel, and elastic, and despite doctors continued warnings of bruised internal organs, skin irritations and breathing problems, the trend of wearing corsets and shape wear has come back into fashion.

Red cotton corset trimmed in black lace made by Farcy and Oppenheim, Paris, c. 1880. The original wearer likely practiced tight lacing, since there is significant wear to the fabric at the waistline, and both closure stays are broken at the center.