Victorian corset ~1880

Steele: The Corset, A Cultural History p47;

In the 19th century the techniques used to make corsets had improved to the point where virtually any shape could be realised. In the last quarter of the century corsets were strongly curved. The rigid front busk often took the shape of a spoon, with the bowl sitting over the stomach. This type of corset yielded a very distinctive, and readily recognisable silhouette.

Over this fashionable women wore severely tailored closely fitting jackets. A typical corset of the period is shown on the right, and the effect it produced is shown below.

Not entirely surprisingly, fainting was a fashionable pastime, and smelling salts were an essential item in every womans purse.

Husband & firmly corsetted wife, 1883.

Cunnington English Costume P131

 

Corset in blue silk 1890

Steele: The Corset, A Cultural History P116

A more elegant corset from 1890, giving essentially the same effect (right), and what the elegant woman wore for a walk in the country (below).

Fashionably dressed women, 1880.

Cunnington English Costume P30

 

Under-bodice

Ewing: Dress and Undress p86

Typically the 19th century corset supported the breasts from below, as in all these examples, allowing them to peep out from the top of low-cut dresses.  

In the 1870s corsets were worn lower on the body, to provide a smooth flowing line over the hips, but this left more of the breasts unsupported. The underbodice or camisole was introduced to conceal them, but it did little to improve their shape.

Bust bodices ~1890

Ewing: Dress and Undress p86

In the 1880s elaborately boned bust bodices were introduced to shape, and if necessary to accentuate, the breasts.

The bust bodice was the precursor to the bra, but it provided a single rounded bosom (which has been referred to as the 'bay window' effect), with no hint of the cleavage which would be so sought-after in the 20th century.

Jennie Churchill & her sons Jack & Winston c1889

Elizabeth Kehoe Fortune's Daughters P264 (opp)

Jennie Churchill (nee Jerome), who was noted for her perfect figure, was a friend of the Prince of Wales, who expected that everyone in his circle would be wearing a new outfit each time he met them. Jenny spent a fortune on clothes, and was always perfectly attired in the height of fashion. The photo (right) demonstrates that this fastidiousness extended to her corsets.

The Victorians flirted with numerous health fads.  One of the more significant of these was introduced by Dr Gustave Jaeger, Professor of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Stuttgart, who originated Dr Jaeger’s Sanitary Woollen System.  He proclaimed that only wool should be worn next to the skin (never mind that this gives rise to allergies in many people) because ‘only animal fibres prevented the retention of the noxious exhalations of the body, retained the salutary emanations of the body which induce a sense of vigour and sound health and ensured warmth and ventilation’.

In England his theories were taken up by Mr L. R .S. Tomalin of London, who procured the rights to Dr Jaeger's patents, and introduced a complete line of woollen underwear for men, women and children.  This even included ‘pure wool’ corsets (which, despite the description, were as heavily boned as all the others).  He proclaimed ‘Ladies, however, who have adopted, and especially those who have grown up under, the Sanitary Corset, need to use no force in order to preserve the shape; their compact, firm figures will not require support.  They do not therefore lace too tightly, and in the Sanitary Woollen Corset they have all the advantages of girded loins without the disadvantages’. (Ewing: Dress and Undress p98)

The pure wool fad persisted well into the 20th century, but in 1887 it was challenged by Mr Lewis Haslam, who preached the virtues of fresh air next to the skin, and developed Aertex cellular fabrics.  These were made of cotton, and woven in such a way that they retained pockets of air next to the skin.  They were claimed to be both cooler in summer, and warmer in winter.  Aertex also produced a complete range of underwear including corsets.

Dr Jaeger's fabrics did not survive the Second World War, but Aertex fabrics are still in use, especially in tropical countries where synthetic fabrics cannot handle the high humidities.

Another ‘health’ fabric introduced in 1891 was Viyella, a blend of cotton and wool, which remained fashionable for most of the 20th century.

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