corset research

The history of corsets-
In the 1830’s after using my research I have found the corset was thought of as a medical piece of clothing. I feel it was believed that a woman was very fragile and delicate and needed assistance from some form to stay up. Even girls as young as three or four where laced up into bodices, and wore corsets no matter what age. Gradually these garments were lengthened and tightened. By the time they were teenagers, the girls were unable to sit or stand for any length of time without wearing a canvas corset reinforced with whale bone or steel. The corset wasn’t healthy and for those who wore it, it deformed the internal organs making it impossible to draw deep breaths in or out whilst wearing a corset. Because of this Victorian women were always fainting and getting the vapors, so no matter what the outcome was ladies in mainly the 16^th-19^th century would have to wear the lovely elegant looking things that caused such problem.
This shows me that women were thought of as the weaker sex, therefore their minds and bodies were weak. So the corset was said to be morally and medically necessary. I have found from my research that corsets really set an impression on the person; a loose corset was probably a sign of a loose woman. So to keep your innocence a lady had to be chaperoned everywhere she went. She could not read or see any plays, even Shakespeare was though unsuitable for ladies. A woman needed to protect herself from inappropriate men, by wearing heavily reinforced layers of clothing and tight corsets and simple clothes is what they did to do this. This was because they didn’t need the freedom to do household chores, as those who wore corsets where those who where wealthy so could just pay servants to do this.
I feel that the history of corsets have changed over years, from being something beautiful and something people had to wear to now being looked at as a piece of underwear. Corsets have existed for centuries and can be traced back to Greek and Minoan times. However when the subject of corsets is mentioned many people immediately think of the tight lacing that is associated with the Victorian era, and the horror stories of practices that took place in that time in order for woman’s shapes to me moulded to what was accepted and constantly held up straight.