Corset

circa 1904
VC1992119

From the late Victorian era to the years following the First World War, the discourses surrounding women’s bodies and the function of corsets included issues of rationality and hierarchy relating to race, nationalism and empire. Before the turn of the century, medical sources used these discourses in the quest to rid women of corsets; however, corset-manufacturers themselves reappropriated this language in order to sell corsets based on fears of the degeneration of national strength, offering corsets adapted to “sport” and even the athletic activities of men. The corset would continue to morph, along with the discourses surrounding it, imbuing the ideal constriction of the waist with staying-power that resonates in fashions today.

Researched by Alyssa Cowley ‘11