Tag Archives: Corset

When Corsets Saved Lives. #historicalfashion #underclothing #Victorian #Corset

Suzi Love Posted on by

When Corsets Saved Lives.

During the Victorian Era, the tight lacing of corsets became known for damaging women’s bodies. However, the whalebone used to stiffen corsets was also a protector of the chest and rib area.

1833 Morning Post: HATTON-GARDEN. ATTEMPTED MURDER. George Bailey, a youth about seventeen, was charged with having attempted to murder Mary Prendergast, a young woman, by stabbing her with a large knife. It appeared in evidence that on Thursday morning, last, about five o’clock, the Prisoner, who sells fish in a basket near Portpool-lane, Leather-lane, Holborn, was standing before his basket when the Prosecutrix asked him the price of his fish. He told her, and she refused to purchase, but laughed at him and jeered him.. . . . In the course of the evening the Prosecutrix was passing by, when the Prisoner rushed upon her with a knife which he uses to cut up the fish and, while in a great passion, he pluinged the knife several times at her heart, and the last thrust the point of the knife dug into her clothes, and would have entered her body had it not been that the bone of her stays prevented it …

1837 The Standard: MARLBOROUGH-STREET. – AN UNNATURAL SON – Alfred Grant, a lad about nineteen years of age, of sullen aspect, was brought before Mr. Dyer, charged with having attempted to stab his own mother . . . James Grant, the brother of the prisoner, about sixteen years of age, said the prisoner came home to Grafton-street, Soho, on Monday afternoon, and some words having ensued between him and his mother, he seized a knife and made a stab at her. Fortunately the bone of his mother’s stays turned the point of the knife …

1841 The Morning Post: Catherine Connor, the person alluded to by the last witness, and who is in a state of pregnancy, deposed that she kept a fruit stall opposite to the Phoenix public-house and that on seeing the young man so savagely treated, she made use of the expersions just named, when Hill called her a ——–, and kicked at her violently. Fortunately for her, she received two of the worse kicks aimed at her on the bone of her stays, otherwise they would, she had no doubt, have proved most serious to her from the situation she was then in.

When Corsets Saved Lives. #historicalfashion #underclothing #Victorian #Corset https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook22 Share on X
HN_22_D2D_CorsetBoxedSet
Box Set combining Corset books 14-21 to give a complete picture of the progression of corset styles from 1700 through to the 1900s, including Jane Austen’s lifetime. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook22

1820-1835 ca. Bridgerton and Jane Austen Style Woman’s Underwear Combination, English. #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #Bridgerton #Underwear. #HistoricalFashion

Suzi Love Posted on by

1820-1835 ca. Woman’s Underwear Combination, English. Petticoat: 1820-1829 ca. Cotton with double row of piping round hem. Frontless with looped shoulder pieces. Corset: 1835: Cotton reinforced with whalebone and cording, hand-sewn. Shift Or Chemise:1830s Worn under corset. Drawers: Sheer clinging fabrics needed drawers underneath for modesty. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
collections.vam.ac.uk.

1820-1835 ca. Woman's Underwear Combination, English. Petticoat: 1820-1829 ca. Cotton with double row of piping round hem. Frontless with looped shoulder pieces. Corset: 1835: Cotton reinforced with whalebone and cording, hand-sewn. Shift Or Chemise:1830s Worn under corset. Drawers: Sheer clinging fabrics needed drawers underneath for modesty. via Suzi Love suzilove.com Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
1820-1835 ca. Woman’s Underwear Combination, English. Petticoat: 1820-1829 ca. Cotton with double row of piping round hem. Frontless with looped shoulder pieces.
1820-1835 ca. Bridgerton and Jane Austen Style Woman's Underwear Combination, English. #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #Bridgerton #Underwear. #HistoricalFashion https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819 Share on X
HN_28_D2D_Fashion Women 1815-1819 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819
Fashion Women 1815-1819 History Notes Book 28 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819

1780 Red Wool Stays, Or Corset, and Panniers, British. #Georgian #Corset #Underclothing

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1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, U.K.

1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane.
1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane.
1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane.
1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Panniers View. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane.
1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Phalanges View. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook15

via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk. Credit: Given by the family of the late Mrs Jane Robinson. Museum number:T.192-1929

Back-lacing stays with a high narrow back with a wide curving decolletage and V-point in front, about 5 cm below the waistline. Decorative white lacing and white silk braids on centre front which is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Below the waist there are 19 tabs, or phalanges, or fingers. Laced through 13 eyelets at back. Compartments for the strips of whalebone are 4 – 5 mm wide, running vertically and diagonally. Centre busk of whalebone about 2 cm wide. Shoulder straps have an eyelet and extend from the front and fasten with tape at each shoulder back.

Stays were an essential item of underwear for women during the 18th century. By the 1780s, the fashionable torso consisted of an inverted cone shape. Achieving smoothness of profile and firmness of contour were the primary function of 18th-century stays, rather than emphasising the bust or constricting the waist. Although custom-made and very intricately designed, stays were usually very plain. On these stays a simple silk ribbon and linen tape serve as decoration and functional finishings.

The narrow rows of very fine, even hand stitching form the compartments into which thin strips of whalebone were inserted. Although the stays appear very rigid, whalebone was quite flexible. It had the added advantage of softening with the heat of the wearer’s body, allowing the stays to mold to her shape. When worn, the shaped and boned tabs at the lower edge would splay over the wearer’s hips, giving further fullness to the petticoat tied at the waist over the stays.

1780 Red Wool Stays, Or Corset, and Panniers, British. #Georgian #Corset #Underclothing https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook15 Share on X
HN_15_D2D_Corsets 1700-1790

1802-1812 ca. Dancing Carricature Series. Four women being instructed in dancing by a master playing a violin. #Cartoon #Dancing #RegencyEra

Suzi Love Posted on by

1802-1812 ca. Dancing Or La Dansomanie Series. Four women being instructed in dancing before a mirror by a master playing a violin. Le Bon Genre Description Plate 12. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)

1802-1812 ca. Dancing Or La Dansomanie Series. Four women being instructed in dancing before a mirror by a master playing a violin. Le Bon Genre Description Plate 12. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1802-1812 ca. Dancing Or La Dansomanie Series. Four women being instructed in dancing before a mirror by a master playing a violin. Le Bon Genre Description Plate 12. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1802-1812 ca. Dancing Caricature Series. Four women being instructed in dancing by a master playing a violin. #Cartoon #Dancing #RegencyEra https://books2read.com/suziloveYLD Share on X
D2D_RL_4_YLD_Young Lady's Day Regency Life Series Book 4 by Suzi Love. A light-hearted look at the longer Regency years and an easy to read view of what a young lady did, wore, and lived. https://books2read.com/suziloveYLD

Are you a lover of Jane Austen fashion? Her family and friends wore elegant and pretty fashions in the early 1800s. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

Suzi Love Posted on by

What did Jane Austen and friends wear? Early 1800s fashions were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. History Notes Book 26 Fashion Women 1805-1809.
https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809

What did Jane Austen and friends wear? Early 1800s fashions were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon's first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
What did Jane Austen and friends wear? Early 1800s fashions were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
Are you a lover of Jane Austen fashion? Her family and friends wore elegant and pretty fashions in the early 1800s. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809 Share on X
HN_26_D2D Fashion Women 1805-1809 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809

Writing Regency Era Stories? Lover of the Bridgertons and Jane Austen? Mourning, riding, daytime, evening fashions plus underclothing. #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

Suzi Love Posted on by

Are you a reader or writer of Regency Romance? Love Jane Austen and the Bridgertons? Want to know more about the mourning, riding, underclothing and other Regency Era women’s fashions in Regency romances? What was fashionable for women in Jane Austen’s times? Mourning, riding, daytime, evening clothing, plus underclothing, corsets and accessories. This book looks at what was fashionable for women in Jane Austen’s times, or the early 1800s, or the Regency Era in Britain. Wars were being fought around the globe so women’s fashion adopted a military look in support of soldiers. Fashions, like the lifestyle, became progressively more extravagant and accessories went from colorful to over-the-top.

https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814

HN_27_History Notes book 27 What was fashionable for women in Jane Austen's times? Mourning, riding, daytime, evening clothing, plus underclothing, corsets and accessories. Wars were being fought so women adopted military looks in support of soldiers. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814
History Notes book 27 What was fashionable for women in Jane Austen’s times? Mourning, riding, daytime, evening clothing, plus underclothing, corsets and accessories. Wars were being fought so women adopted military looks in support of soldiers. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814
Writing Regency Era Stories? Lover of the Bridgertons and Jane Austen? Mourning, riding, daytime, evening fashions plus underclothing. #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814 Share on X
HN_27_D2D_FashWomen1810-1814 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814

What did Jane Austen wear? Her family and friends wore elegant and pretty fashions in the early 1800s. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

Suzi Love Posted on by

What did Jane Austen and friends wear? Early 1800s fashions were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. History Notes Book 26 Fashion Women 1805-1809.
https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809

The Empire waist gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given in France to the period when Napoleon built his French Empire. High-waisted, loose gowns were adopted by the aristocracy as a symbol of turning away from the fussy, elaborate and expensive clothing worn in the 1700s. Jean-Jaques Rousseau advocated copying peasants and returning to a simpler life and more natural fashions. Unrestricting clothing was part of the new Democracy in France and these simpler and flowing fashions were adopted all over Europe, including Britain and despite the continual wars being fought against France during the early 1800s. Not even war stopped fashions from being copied everywhere.

HN_26_ Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? This book looks at early 1800s fashions, which were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon's first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? This book looks at early 1800s fashions, which were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
What did Jane Austen wear? Her family and friends wore elegant and pretty fashions in the early 1800s. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809 Share on X
HN_26_D2D_FsshionWomen1805-1809 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
HN_26_D2D_FsshionWomen1805-1809

1770 Yellow Silk Corset, Italian. #GeorgianEra #Corset #Fashion #Italy

Suzi Love Posted on by

1770 Yellow Silk Corset, Italian. Front and Back Lacing. By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. Credit Line: Gift of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1940 Accession Number:C.I.40.173.6a–e Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C, U.S.A.

By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. With the tight lacing made possible by stronger stays, doctors and others voiced health concerns, such as this comment from a 1775 correspondence: “I hope Miss Sparrow will not fall into the absurd fashion of ye wasp-waisted ladies. Dr. Pringle declares he has had four of his patients martyrs to that folly (indeed wickedness), and when they were opened it was evident that their deaths were occasioned by straight lacing.” Although admonitions on the dangers of straight lacing are common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, recent scholarship by Valerie Steele has called into question the reality of the many “death by tight lacing” stories of the period.

History Notes Book 15 shows how body wraps, stomachers and stays were worn during the 1700s, or Georgian Era, to create a variety of fashionable silhouettes to suit the elaborate fashions worn for court and daily life. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook15

corset_1770 Yellow Corset, Italian. Front and Back Lacing. By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. via Metropolitan Museum NYC, U.S.Ametmuseum.org
1770 Yellow Corset, Italian. Front and Back Lacing. By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. via Metropolitan Museum NYC, U.S.Ametmuseum.org
corset_1770 Yellow Corset, Italian. Front and Back Lacing. By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. via Metropolitan Museum NYC, U.S.Ametmuseum.org
1770 Yellow Corset, Italian. Front and Back Lacing. By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. via Metropolitan Museum NYC, U.S.Ametmuseum.org
1770 Yellow Silk Corset, Italian. #GeorgianEra #Corset #Fashion #Italy. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook15 Share on X
HN_15_D2D_Corsets 1700-1790

Know a Reader or Writer of Regency Era Fashions? Why not gift them a book about corsets? #corsets #historicalfashion #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #Bridgerton

Suzi Love Posted on by

This book shows how corsets changed to fit well under clothing,  give maximum support and comfort. Corsets pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line beneath a square-cut and low-cut neckline as in the early 1800s, or Regency years. Jane Austen and her female and friends wore these corsets. Corsets or stays worn during the early 1800s, or Jane Austen’s lifetime. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17

HN_17_Corsets 1810-1830 History Notes Book 17 This book shows how corsets changed to fit well under clothing, give maximum support and comfort. Corsets pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line beneath a square-cut and low-cut neckline as in the early 1800s, or Regency years. Jane Austen and her female and friends wore these corsets. Corsets or stays worn during the early 1800s, or Jane Austen's lifetime. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17
Corsets 1810-1830 History Notes Book 17 This book shows how corsets changed to fit well under clothing, give maximum support and comfort. Corsets pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line beneath a square-cut and low-cut neckline as in the early 1800s, or Regency years. Jane Austen and her female and friends wore these corsets. Corsets or stays worn during the early 1800s, or Jane Austen’s lifetime. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17
Know a Reader or Writer of Regency Era Fashions? Why not gift them a book about corsets? #corsets #historicalfashion #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #Bridgerton https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17 Share on X
HN_17_D2D_Corset_1810-1830 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17
HN_17_D2D_Corset_1810-1830

Know someone who loves Historical Romance? Want To know what women wore under dresses during Bridgerton and Jane Austen years? Overview of corsets including Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras. #Bridgerton #JaneAusten #GeorgianFashion #RegencyFashion #Corsets

Suzi Love Posted on by

This book shows how body wraps, stays, and corsets were worn to create a variety of fashionable silhouettes through past centuries. Corsets flattened breasts and accentuated rounded hips or pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line depending on the fashions of the time and the desired silhouette. Includes corsets through the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras and Jane Austen’s lifetime.  Overview of corsets through history, including the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras and Jane Austen’s lifetime. History Notes Book 14.

https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook14

HN_14_Corsets Overview History Notes Nonfiction Book 14 This book shows how body wraps, stays, and corsets were worn to create a variety of fashionable silhouettes through past centuries. Corsets flattened breasts and accentuated rounded hips or pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line depending on the fashions of the time and the desired silhouette. Includes corsets through the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras and Jane Austen's lifetime. Overview of corsets through history, including the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras and Jane Austen's lifetime. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook14
Corsets Overview History Notes Nonfiction Book 14 This book shows how body wraps, stays, and corsets were worn to create a variety of fashionable silhouettes through past centuries. Corsets flattened breasts and accentuated rounded hips or pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line depending on the fashions of the time and the desired silhouette. Includes corsets through the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras and Jane Austen’s lifetime. Overview of corsets through history, including the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras and Jane Austen’s lifetime. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook14
Need a gift for someone who loves Historical Romance? Want To know what women wore under dresses during Bridgerton and Jane Austen years? Overview of corsets including Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian Eras. #Bridgerton… Share on X
D2D Corsets Overview Book 14 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook14