Why did we stop wearing corsets?

by Bianca Swanepoel

With the rise of shows like Bridgerton and COVID-19 popularising hobbies like sewing, corsets have become more mainstream in fashion. Although not identical to their historical counterparts, they still carry the same cinching power. So if corsets were worn for hundreds of years and are now back to being fashionable, why did corsets stop being fashionable, and why do we carry such a negative view towards them?

The right lacings of Kitty Tyrrel with King death on stage. From the Wellcome Collection.

Before we start, let us define what a corset is. A corset is a piece of undergarment that tightly fits around a woman's waist. It was originally there not just to support the breasts but also to support the heavy garments women would wear; it was not necessarily always worn to gain a smaller waist. Corsets evolved regularly to fit fashion trends; many formal dresses today have some form of corset stabilizing them. This is important when looking at the disappearance of the corset.

In 1790, the Regency period, corsets were becoming less of a part of mainstream fashion. As the empire waist became popular, there was less of a need for a structured bodice, as high waists were desirable. This period did not last long, however, and corsets gained a resurgence in the early 1800s when full ballgowns became popular and with the rise of metal eyelets. Eyelets are the holes in the corset where the ties go through to tighten it. During the Regency period, corsets were made out of thick cottons and stiffened fabrics; they lacked boning, the metal or plastic in a corset that keeps it rigid, and were merely there to cover a woman's figure. However, with the invention of metal eyelets, a new style of corsetry became popular, namely, tight corsetry.

L'art d'être Jolie - 247 Il soutient les faibles et contient les forts.

Tight corsetry is the type of corsets we know today. It was a style of corseting where women would tighten their corsets as tightly as they could to achieve a small waist. This could only have been done due to the strength of the metal eyelets. Tight corsetry was not the norm before this period, and many people were against it. Doctors argued against tight corseting because it caused a multitude of health problems, such as fainting and constipation, and older women were also against it due to the popularity of the simple corset of their time. One of the reasons why we have such a negative view of corsets today is because of the plenty of news articles and pamphlets written on this topic as women became more vocal in the media.

Feminism caused a change in fashion trends. Women were allowed to do more activities, like riding bicycles and playing sports, activities where pants were needed. There were also female activists protesting against tight lacing, stating that it was a form of slavery and a product of male oppression. Although this movement was widespread, it did not change the popularity of tight corsets in mainstream fashion, and many young women kept wearing tight corsets in their daily lives.

With the turn of the century, new fashion trends started emerging. From the start of the 1900s up to the Roaring Twenties, fashion became looser as women became more independent and an emphasis on dancing occurred. Dresses like the flapper dress became popular, and there became less of a need for corsets as smaller hips became popular rather than a tiny waist. Women started wearing bras, as they were inconspicuous under their clothes and were easier to put on for working women.

This change in undergarments got cemented with the Great Depression and World Wars. Buying and maintaining a corset was expensive, and it used many resources such as steel and cloth, both of which would have been rationed during the war. This would have been too expensive for the average person to afford during the Great Depression. Women also became a lot more involved in the workforce, working in factories and becoming nurses; wearing a corset would be too cumbersome for the working women.

Engraved illustration of the possible effects stemming from long-term corset use. (Picture by GettyImages)

Now that we know a bit of the history of corsets, why did we specifically switch to wearing bras? Bras were already a form of undergarment before the 1900s in forms such as brassieres and breast coverings, but it is only with the accessibility of rubber and such materials that it became easier to produce a bra rather than a fitted corset. Bras became more mainstream with famous women wearing them because they were more versatile under their clothing.

The reason corsets disappeared from the mainstream was not this massive feminism movement like some believe today, but rather the changing of fashion trends and the cementing of these fashion trends due to economic and social change. The negative views we have today on corsets are not because they are innately bad, but rather due to the detrimental effects of tight lacing and the excessive journalism around the topic. Now, corsets are back as people explore their hobbies more, and with the normalisation of ‘geek culture,’ people feel more comfortable exploring old trends such as corsets, which is why we now see corsets entering the mainstream media again.

Edited by: Erin Arends