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Corsets were worn as far back as 2000BC by the Cretans of the Minoan Bronze Age. The corset is an item of clothing worn to shape or constrict the torso, whether as underclothing or as outer decoration. Both Minoan men and women wore corsets, and both sexes were wearing them right up until the 1900s. The Minoans wore them as an outer garment to clinch the waist and raise the breasts. In the Middle Ages, a short, close-fitting, laced outer bodice or waist was worn, but in the 16th-17th century, the corset was worn to flatten the chest, and was reinforced with wood. Some outer corsets were jewelled and elaborately embroidered.

After 1660 the corset was again used to accentuate the breasts. It had become a tight inner bodice, sometimes of leather, stiffened with whalebone, wooden splints, or steel to create the slenderest possible waist, in contrast with the enormous farthingales and stuffed breeches that were worn.

 

Stays and tight lacing were made for both men and women from the 17th through the 19th century, except for a brief period following the French Revolution. By 1900 the corset had become primarily a female garment, and it was gradually modified to conform to the natural lines of the body. It was more-or-less abandoned in the 1920s, when straight clothes came into fashion, and in the 1930s breasts were more commonly shaped by the brassiere and waists narrowed by the girdle, made of elastic materials, and by the one-piece corselette. Today, however, corsets are again fashionable as they are comfortable but still manage to create a great overall shape.

corsets ... a brief history (and common fallacies)

Definition:

 

1. A close-fitting undergarment, often reinforced by stays, worn

   to support and shape the waistline, hips, and breasts.

2. A medieval outer garment, especially a laced jacket or bodice.

 

[Middle English, bodice, from Old French, diminutive of cors, body, from Latin corpus.]