Feature Article

Whalebone and Lace - A Corset History

Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder. Often more than not fashion dictated what is perceived as beautiful. However, fashion is not always kind and comfortable.

One such example was the corset. The corset had been in use since the medieval times. Its popularity waxed and waned over time as fashions, usually dictated by royal courts or affluent societies, as they competed for attention and approval. The use of corsets to accentuate the female figure was popular during the Medieval to Renaissance periods. It was used less following the Renaissance until about 1815. When Napoleon's armies swept across Europe, the restoration of the rigid French court formality and rigid hourglass figure was in fashion.

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Small waists were once again envied and advancement in technology helped those waists to be achieved. A doctor with the armies of Napoleon, Dr. Daube, invented the metallic eyelet that allowed for tighter lacing without damaging the corset or underclothes. Corsets up to this point had their laces tightened through holes in the garment's material strengthened with buttonhole stitching. Concerns by physicians at the time led to alternative designs. The "Minet Back" was introduced without eyelet-holes. Instead, there was a row of short loops on each side of the back and a strong whalebone bar was passed through these loops. The lacing was passed through the loops and tightened over the bar placing pressure on the whole of the bar rather than on individual points. The corset could be loosened easily by pulling out the bar.

At the end of the 1800s, Jean Julien Josselin invented the first corset with a front busk divided into two parts and closed by hooks. The back opening closed with laces. There are some stories of this new busk popping open to the chagrin of their wearers. Ready-made corsets were also being sold which some argued did nothing to help the figure and were often dangerous because of the cheap steal used which could break and injure the wearer. Large mail order companies, such as Montgomery Ward (of Niles, Michigan), and Sears, Roebuck and Co., made it easy and convenient for women around the country, and world for that matter, to purchase corsets. In 1902, for only 25 cents to $1.50, one only had to simply send the money, along with the appropriate measurements, and the garment would be delivered to her doorsteps.

Because there was such snobbery toward this new corset, Thomson and Co. of New York put forth their glove-fitting corset complete with more form, stronger steel, and a spring latch to avoid accidental unfastening of this "less superior" front closure. Figure snobs still felt there was nothing like a fitted corset laced in the back. Women in the country had been ordering corsets from European companies for years, sending their bust, torso length, circumference of the hips and waist measurements. Their contour of figure had not been lacking. The new glove-fitting corset needed only the waist measurement.

The contour of the figure was changed with the advent of the spoon busk in England, giving the silhouette a pear-shaped front. Whalebone became so much in demand that it became scarce and expensive. Since necessity is the mother of invention, various substitutions such as cane had to be used. Steam molding was also used in the late 1860s to give support since the corset was heavily starched and dried to shape on a metal mannequin mold.

Locally, the Featherbone Company in Three Oaks, Michigan, was a major manufacturer and supplier of corset stays. Featherbone converted turkey feathers into corset stays, as whalebone was not readily available. Unfortunately, as corset popularity declined, the need for corset stays diminished, ultimately causing the Featherbone Company to close. As women began to enjoy more recreational activities such as tennis, bicycling, horseback riding, corsets became more flexible. Since there was less boning to permit more bending, additional support was provided through larger shoulder straps, cording and quilting.

To achieve the girl-woman form of the 1920s, a short loose corset was worn with brassieres. Of course the form was more achievable for slender women and so there were still corsets, much lighter than the past ones, to help larger women achieve this. There was even a corset that was popular during the Jazz age.

New developments in elastic fabrics spelled the demise of the rigid corset. The corset was abandoned for the new elastic panty girdles. New inventions in lightweight non-stretching materials combined with lightweight elastics have provided a new "controlled" skin.

But as fashions rise and fall, the corset may someday regain its popularity as the notion of beauty changes.