History of 20th Century Fashion: History of Corsets

THE GENEALOGY OF THE CORSET

1. The origin of the corset

The first corsets can be found to have been dated all the way back to pre-historic times. Neolithic pottery has found in Norfolk, England that contained drawings of women wearing animal hides that were laced down the front. Around 8000 B.C. humans gained more knowledge and wanted to live more civilized lives. They started to live in communities and developed a more disciplined way of life. Humans started living in houses and made pottery and started weaving. The Agava plant was used as both needle and thread in one. Humans used the Agava Plant as needles. The plant was also soaked leaving pulp stringy fibers as thread. They used a rock to clean the animal skins to prepare the hide for clothing. Needles from bone were also used to sew together skins.


Prehistoric people used the agava plant as thread and needles to create clothing from animal skins.

2. Pre-Victorian Corsets

Women in the 18th Century wore stiff corsets primarily made of whalebone. The look had over the shoulder straps and was lengthy compared to most corsets of today. The corsets were very stiff and alarmed many doctors of the time.

Pre-Victorian Corset


Pre-Victorian Corset

3. The Victorian Corset: 1837-1901

Early Victorian Corset

Late Victorian Corset

This time period is set by the reign of Queen Victoria until her death in 1901. The corset became more elaborate due to prosperity of the time period in England. Gothic revival architecture gained momentum and the corsets became essential to nip the waistline with the current fashions.

4. The Edwardian Corset: 1901-1910
In this Era the upper class became more and more involved in sports. The rigid corset of Victorian Era was abandoned for a modified type of corset.

5. The Corset from 1910-1920's In 1910, the first ventilated mesh corset was invented. This was an all elastic step in. Women were demanding comfortable clothing and the corset was again modified.