The Corset as a Garment: Is It a Representative of Who Wore It?

Abstract

This chapter provides a nuanced view as to who wore a corset, what an “average” corset might look like, and data on the specific dimensions and materials from the corsets in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Fashion Museum in Bath, St. Fagans Museum in Cardiff, and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh’s collections. The bulk of the chapter details those collections, looking at trends in fabric and other material use over time, whether or not there was a change in size dependent on the fineness of the garment, and showing the abovementioned peculiarities. This is done with data in aggregate, divided by decades. Gibson also discusses the finances of affording a corset—how much they might cost, what materials were available, who had access to them, and whether or not there were socioeconomic barriers to corseting. Finally, Gibson returns to theoretical arguments that corseting can be a barrier between a woman and the outside world, analyzing such ideas as the Separate Spheres ideology, thoughts about civilization and corset wearing, and what was considered by women when they wore their garments. This is a discourse predicated on ideas of women’s bodily autonomy and their choices in wearing the corset, and is continued in the next chapter.