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Corset controversy
The corset controversy was a moral panic and public health concern around corsets in the 19th century.
Corsets, variously called a pair of bodys or stays, were worn by European women from the late 16th century onward, changing their form as fashions changed. In spite of radical change to fashion geographically and temporally, the corset or some derivative beneath an outer gown shaped the body or provided structure.
There were brief periods in which corsetry was not part of mainstream fashion. In the 1790s, there was an abrupt change to fashion as the Empire silhouette became fashionable. During the following Regency era, the highly supportive corsets of the early Georgian era were dismissed in favor of short garments worn primarily to support the breasts, leaving the waist and hips in their natural shape.
Beginning in the mid-1820s, women's fashion returned to the full skirts of the prior century. In a repudiation of the Empire silhouette, the waist became the central focus of female dress and the corset evolved to encompass the waist and hips. In addition, the advent of steel boning, clasps, and eyelets allowed wearers to lace their corsets tighter than ever before without damaging them. Doctors and much of the press deplored the garment in spite of continued use.
Wearing corsets has been subject to criticism since the era of tight lacing during the prior early 18th century. Jean-Jacques Rousseau denounced the practice in The Lancet, while cartoons of the period satirized the practice. However, by the 19th century, women were writing letters to publications expressing their views directly and articulately. The one-sided denunciation of the past turned into a dialogue. Women made their voices heard, sharing their experiences and their opinions, some in favor of the corset and even tight lacing, and some in disfavor of the restrictive garment. Newspapers and popular journals became the media for the exchange of hundreds of letters and articles concerning the corset.
Known as the "corset controversy" or the "corset question", the controversy spilled over multiple publications, countries and decades. Of particular concern was the issue of tight lacing. The flow of articles and letters waxed and waned over time, reaching a crescendo in the late 1860s, which may be taken to be the peak of the frenzy.[citation needed] However, the issue surfaced long before and continued long afterward. Throughout this period, advertisements in the same publications promoted the sale of corsets with enthusiasm.
In the United Kingdom, publications in which the controversy raged included The Times, The Lancet, Queen, The Scotsman, Ladies Treasury, The Englishwomen's Domestic Magazine, and All the Year Round. In the United States, the Chicago Tribune commented that English journalists discussed both sides of the controversy "with very great fervor and very little common sense," though it published its own contributions. Other American newspapers and periodicals also participated, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Hartford Daily Courant, the North American Review, and The Saint Paul Daily Globe. Other parts of the English-speaking world joined from time to time, reprinting articles from England and America, as well as contributing their own. Even provincial newspapers such as the Amador Ledger of California, the Hobart Town Courier, the Otago Witness, and the Timaru Herald of New Zealand had their say.
This eruption of published discourse on this topic was a break from propriety norms at the time; particularly noted was the series of "corset correspondence" in The Englishwomen's Domestic Magazine, which ran from 1867 to 1874. This volume of correspondence has become influential in later perception of the practice of tightlacing, and corset usage in general, although doubt has been cast on the veracity of the letters, which were submitted anonymously. In this series of letters, a number of extreme tightlacing practices were described in salacious detail, including use of corsetry as punishment, resulting in waist sizes as low as 13 inches.
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Corset controversy AI simulator
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Corset controversy
The corset controversy was a moral panic and public health concern around corsets in the 19th century.
Corsets, variously called a pair of bodys or stays, were worn by European women from the late 16th century onward, changing their form as fashions changed. In spite of radical change to fashion geographically and temporally, the corset or some derivative beneath an outer gown shaped the body or provided structure.
There were brief periods in which corsetry was not part of mainstream fashion. In the 1790s, there was an abrupt change to fashion as the Empire silhouette became fashionable. During the following Regency era, the highly supportive corsets of the early Georgian era were dismissed in favor of short garments worn primarily to support the breasts, leaving the waist and hips in their natural shape.
Beginning in the mid-1820s, women's fashion returned to the full skirts of the prior century. In a repudiation of the Empire silhouette, the waist became the central focus of female dress and the corset evolved to encompass the waist and hips. In addition, the advent of steel boning, clasps, and eyelets allowed wearers to lace their corsets tighter than ever before without damaging them. Doctors and much of the press deplored the garment in spite of continued use.
Wearing corsets has been subject to criticism since the era of tight lacing during the prior early 18th century. Jean-Jacques Rousseau denounced the practice in The Lancet, while cartoons of the period satirized the practice. However, by the 19th century, women were writing letters to publications expressing their views directly and articulately. The one-sided denunciation of the past turned into a dialogue. Women made their voices heard, sharing their experiences and their opinions, some in favor of the corset and even tight lacing, and some in disfavor of the restrictive garment. Newspapers and popular journals became the media for the exchange of hundreds of letters and articles concerning the corset.
Known as the "corset controversy" or the "corset question", the controversy spilled over multiple publications, countries and decades. Of particular concern was the issue of tight lacing. The flow of articles and letters waxed and waned over time, reaching a crescendo in the late 1860s, which may be taken to be the peak of the frenzy.[citation needed] However, the issue surfaced long before and continued long afterward. Throughout this period, advertisements in the same publications promoted the sale of corsets with enthusiasm.
In the United Kingdom, publications in which the controversy raged included The Times, The Lancet, Queen, The Scotsman, Ladies Treasury, The Englishwomen's Domestic Magazine, and All the Year Round. In the United States, the Chicago Tribune commented that English journalists discussed both sides of the controversy "with very great fervor and very little common sense," though it published its own contributions. Other American newspapers and periodicals also participated, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Hartford Daily Courant, the North American Review, and The Saint Paul Daily Globe. Other parts of the English-speaking world joined from time to time, reprinting articles from England and America, as well as contributing their own. Even provincial newspapers such as the Amador Ledger of California, the Hobart Town Courier, the Otago Witness, and the Timaru Herald of New Zealand had their say.
This eruption of published discourse on this topic was a break from propriety norms at the time; particularly noted was the series of "corset correspondence" in The Englishwomen's Domestic Magazine, which ran from 1867 to 1874. This volume of correspondence has become influential in later perception of the practice of tightlacing, and corset usage in general, although doubt has been cast on the veracity of the letters, which were submitted anonymously. In this series of letters, a number of extreme tightlacing practices were described in salacious detail, including use of corsetry as punishment, resulting in waist sizes as low as 13 inches.