Fans of my book Victorian Secrets may recall the account in Chapter 23 of our visit in 2009 to a small museum exhibit on the history of women's fashion, specifically focusing on undergarments. The museum recently revived this temporary exhibit and invited us to attend and speak as guest lecturers on Saturday. While we were there we debunked a number of common myths about corsets and answered questions about what it's like to wear one on a daily basis, as well as what they truly meant to women of the past. We gave out a little pamphlet about corset myths vs. reality, containing a number of quotes transcribed directly from 19th-century sources so that the people of the past were given a chance to speak for themselves. What follows is a digitized version of that pamphlet —enjoy!
"Her life was a happy one. Bear this in mind—and don't forget that your conditions of happiness need not necessarily be her conditions also."
—Wilkie Collins, Poor Miss Finch, 1872.
Myth: "Corsets forced all women to have an 18" (or a 16") waist."
Fact: Ready-made corsets were available in a wide variety of sizes and styles, and custom corsets were produced to fit any woman.
Image from Godey's Magazine, February, 1896, p. 127.
"The best corset makers have as many as seven or eight different styles, fitted to as many different figures." —Helena Rowe. "The Art of Shopping." Good Housekeeping, February, 1893, p. 69.
"Corsets, like other ready-made clothing are made of all sorts and sizes, and from all prices from 25 cents to $50 each. A full "size" of a corset means 1 inch, expressed 18, 19, 20 up to 40… Imported corsets are the most expensive of the ready-made kinds, but when made "to order" the highest prices are reached… There are great corset factories at Newark, Detroit, New York and Chicago, but the largert part manufacturered in this country are made in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The figures of the 11th Census show that there are over 10,000 persons employed in the United States making corsets, the value of what they produce being about $10,000,000[*]. Besides this, immense quantities are imported from France and England, the total consumption being not quite 60,000,000 a year." —Cole, George S. A Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods and History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool and Other Fibrous Substances. Chicago: W.D. Conkey Company. 1892. pp. 89—90.
*It is worth noting that the vast majority of these workers employed in the corset industry were women.
Symington Corsets production line
Myth: "Corsets made women faint all the time —that's why they had fainting couches."
Fact: The stereotype of the fainting Victorian woman was largely a Hollywood invention. The item of furniture now erroneously labeled as a "fainting couch" was called a chaise longue or a divan, and had absolutely nothing to do with fainting. As shown in this diagram, the term "fainting couch" didn't appear at all until the 1960s, and only gained traction fairly recently. (To see a larger version of the diagram, go to http://tinyurl.com/y7nuhqzm)
Source: Google Ngram Viewer http://tinyurl.com/y7nuhqzm
Myth: "You can't breathe in a corset."
Fact: Corsets encourage development of the upper respiratory muscles, and breathing isn't a problem. The most powerful female singers of the 19th-century performed in corsets.
Alice Nielson, operatic soprano
Mrs. Elizabeth Northrop, Soprano soloist for John Philip Sousa's band
Mrs. Katharine Bloodgood, known as the finest oratorio contralto in America. Peterson's Magazine, October, 1897. p. 1021.
Myth: "You can't move in a corset."
Fact: Far from impeding motion, corsets support the back during physical exertion and many types were marketed towards women engaged in a variety of specific physical activities.
Photo: Women's bicycling club, image from a Munich newspaper, March 26, 1893.
Ferris' Good Sense Corset Waist advertisement: NYPL digital collection.
Ferris's Good Sense corset ad from the Salem Daily News, April 12, 1893
"Yes, the ladies do choose to be shaped by the staymaker, and in these days of wondrous corsets the ladies are, as usual, right… they will follow their own sweet will… Even in the earliest periods some attempt was made to shape the figure by swathing and supporting bands… When any active exercise is in progress, as running for example, the first thing the athlete does is to tighten his waist-belt, this gives the support required and materially aids his efforts… [T]here is now so large a choice of corsets that the most opposite figures can be suited with perfectly fitting corsets." — Myra's Threepenny Journal, June 1, 1882, p. 105.
"Modern staymakers thoroughly understand the proper proportions of riding-corsets [for equestrianism], which, like many other articles of dress, have been immensely improved in the direction of elasticity and comfort since the days of our grandmothers. The one golden rule to be adhered to is, that the wearer —mounting, mounted, or dismounted— must feel perfectly comfortable, that is, with the full use of every limb and of every muscle." —S. Sidney. The Book of the Horse, 1893, p. 322.
Myth: "Only women who didn't have to work wore corsets."
Fact: One of the most popular brands of corset was specifically designed and marketed towards working women:
Even nurses wore corsets!
Nurses on break The Peterson Magazine, December, 1897.
"That the wearing of corsets is a gain to many women is evident enough from the fact that they are worn under conditions in which the wearers are regardless of mere personal appearance. For instance, we may cite the working peasant-women, unmarried as well as married, of France, Switzerland, the Tyrol, Austria and Hugary, etc., etc., who wear stays during the performance of very laborious work, yet who, one could not suppose, would do this if their stays interfered with their comfort or movements.
Another example of the same fact is illustrated by the very poor workingwomen of our own nation [America], who, when obliged to sell their clothes, or, when these hang about them in rags, still, as a rule, stick to the use of stays." —C.S. Roy, M.D. "The Physiological Bearing of Waist-Belts and Stays.", 1889.
Myth: "You can't have a nice figure after you have a baby."
Fact: Women wore corsets all throughout their lives.
There were even special maternity corsets:
In modern times, Clive Spence-Jones, consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician at The London Clinic, recommends corsets to new mothers to help their muscles recover from pregnancy. Jennifer White, a women’s health specialist at BMI The Sloane Hospital also encourages women to wear corsets, saying, ‘They may also give support to the back, help with posture and encourage the muscles to work properly.’ <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2334335/Jessica-Albas-right--corset-help-flatten-post-baby-bump.html>
"[P]roperly constructed, corsets are, as articles of dress, the most beneficial that can be constructed."—Madame Roxey A. Caplin, Health and Beauty: Women and Her Clothing, 1864. p. 82.
"Women will wear corsets; they always have, and they always will. We may as well consider this a settled fact. There are good and sufficient reasons why they are a necessity to the women who dress as the civilized women have for the past two hundred years." — Ira De Ver Warner, M.D. Talks Upon Practical Subjects. ed. Marion Harland. 1895. p. 119.
"[I]n all times when beauty and comfort are studied, corsets will undoubtedly be worn, and there are many reasons why they should be."—Madame Roxey A. Caplin, Health and Beauty: Women and Her Clothing, 1864. p. 82.
"[W]hile society imposes upon us clothes, it also imposes upon us the obligation to manage them as well as we can. I don't think it is either neat or modest to do without corsets." —Margaret B. Harvey. "Young Ladies' Department." Arthur's Home Magazine, January, 1880, p. 53.
Myth: "If a woman in an old photograph is doing an activity I don't associate with corsets, she must not be wearing one. People just looked different back then."
Fact: A corseted silhouette is clearly visible on nearly all women in 19th-century photographs and many from the early 20th-century. Look for the shape!
Archery at Summer Olympics, 1908
"Some… people say that corsets should be discarded for cycling. This is not correct… a pair of woollen-cased corsets afford great support; they keep the figure from going all abroad, and protect the vital parts from chills. Special woollen-cased corsets are made by at any rate two manufacturers, who have spared no pains to provide a safe and good corset for cyclists." —Miss F.J. Erskine, 1897.
Erskine, F.J. Lady Cycling: What To Wear and How to Ride, Walter Scott Ltd., 1897. p. 10.
"…j'ai pensé que le meilleur moyen de fabriquer un bon corset était de juger par moi-mème et j'ai apprix à monter…je fais sans fatigue mes 20 kilomètres à l'heure.… n'en suis qu'à ma septième leçon!" —Excerpt from "Causerie du Docteur: Le Cyclisme et la Femme." La Bicyclette. August 17, 1894. p. 3503
The above excerpt is from an 1894 French cycling magazine. Dr. Léon Petit had written up the following anectdote: Knowing Dr. Petit to be a proponent of bicycling, a Parisian corsetière (a lady) had asked for his advice on designing a corset for cyclists. Dr. Petit responded that as he was hostile against the use of corsets he had no advice to give her. She decided that since he wouldn't help her the only thing to do was to follow her own judgement and learn how to ride a bicycle. She returned to Dr. Petit later to show him the cycling corset she'd created and worn throughout her cycling lessons. She boasted that wearing this corset she could make a 20 km / hr pace without tiring —and she'd only had seven lessons so far!
"Were the gift given us to look a bit into the future, what should we probably find the middle-of-the-twentieth-century girl wearing on her wheel - bloomers, very short tunics, or trouserettes and similar abominations in the sight of grace and sweet femininity? Not if she is the direct descendant of her nineteenth-century grandmother, who here in these United States, spite of talk to the contrary, and of the efforts of fashion, still sticks to her traditions and her skirts. Long may they wave, the petticoats in modest ankle-length folds of brown cloth or gray, since those are the best colors for cycling! In time may petticoats triumph over the women who fail to recognize that bloomers are too great a sacrifice for our sex ever to make, and that in skirts only can they maintain at once in the eyes of men their womanliness and their independence." —Mary L. Bisland, Godey's Magazine, April, 1896, pp. 385—388.
Myth: "Women had to wear corsets to please men."
Fact: Women wore corsets for a wide variety of personal reasons: most of all, they wore them to please themselves.
"The principal writers upon the subject of Corsets have been… men, who, great as is their knowledge of their part of the question, certainly know nothing of ours; and hence what they have written has been almost entirely without practical utility." —Madame Roxey A. Caplin, Health and Beauty: Women and Her Clothing, 1864. p. viii.
"By patronizing the women of the past as the passive "victims" of fashion, historians have ignored the reasons why so many women were willing to wear corsets for so long…"Fashion" can not logically be reified as a magic power that causes women to behave in ways contrary to their own best interests."—Valerie Steele, curator of the museum for the Fashion Institute of Technology.
The Corset: A Cultural History, New York: Yale University Press, 2001, pp. 2, 35.
"To speak of the subordination of woman's desire to men's fantasies is to apply a sociological model to the workings of the unconscious, one which overlooks its structural autonomy and negates the way in which fantasies circulate between subjects—the fantasy production of one inflicting that of the other."
—Francette Pacteau, The Symptom of Beauty. 1994.
"I refuse to accept a hypothesis predicated on the assumption that women are victims." —Sarah A. Chrisman, 2018.
www.ThisVictorianLife.com
*****
In a seaport town in the late 19th-century Pacific Northwest, a group of friends find themselves drawn together —by chance, by love, and by the marvelous changes their world is undergoing. In the process, they learn that the family we choose can be just as important as the ones we're born into. Join their adventures in
The Tales of Chetzemoka
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Non-fiction
Victorian Secrets:
What A Corset Taught Me About the Past, the Present, and Myself
By Sarah A. Chrisman
(Non-fiction)
On Sarah A. Chrisman’s twenty-ninth birthday, her husband, Gabriel, presented her with a corset. The material and the design were breathtakingly beautiful, but her mind immediately filled with unwelcome views. Although she had been in love with the Victorian era all her life, she had specifically asked her husband not to buy her a corset—ever. She’d heard how corsets affected the female body and what they represented, and she wanted none of it.However, Chrisman agreed to try on the garment . . . and found it surprisingly enjoyable. The corset, she realized, was a tool of empowerment—not oppression. After a year of wearing a corset on a daily basis, her waist had gone from thirty-two inches to twenty-two inches, she was experiencing fewer migraines, and her posture improved. She had successfully transformed her body, her dress, and her lifestyle into that of a Victorian woman—and everyone was asking about it.
In Victorian Secrets, Chrisman explains how a garment from the past led to a change in not only the way she viewed herself, but also the ways she understood the major differences between the cultures of twenty-first-century and nineteenth-century America. The desire to delve further into the Victorian lifestyle provided Chrisman with new insight into issues of body image and how women, past and present, have seen and continue to see themselves.
Editorial Reviews:
"In a personal account of the social and historical evolution of the corset, Sarah Chrisman provides a distinct and revisionist analysis of Victorian attire. This book encourages us to put aside our assumptions of the oppressive nature of fashion. Chrisman thoughtfully focuses on the ways women of many classes within society sought to create impressions, still critical in today's political economy." — Christine Ingebritsen, professor, the University of Washington"Reading this book reminded me of just how much what we wear shapes us—both figuratively and literally. . . . Chrisman’s experience pushed me to be not only confident in what I choose to wear, but knowledgeable as to why and how I am choosing to wear it." — WORN Fashion Journal (Toronto)
"In Victorian Secrets, Sarah Chrisman shares what it’s like to live a Victorian life in today’s modern world. In an attempt to further understand the nineteenth-century lifestyle and truly connect with the past, she began wearing a corset on a daily basis—and now rarely takes it off! A stately lady with the twenty-two-inch waist, she uses her experiences to teach others about the past, the present, and the future. You won’t regret—or forget—reading this book." — Hilda Meryhew, treasurer and historian, Neely Mansion Association
"Wherever Sarah Chrisman goes, she turns heads. Now, you can turn pages to find out why that is. What has been viewed as restrictive has freed her to live a life of her choosing—that elusive thing we all seek. In her fascinating book, whether you agree with her or not, Sarah captures the essence of living a truly authentic life." — Terry Murphy, Seattle TV Producer/Writer
"While it seems these days everyone is trying some sort of personal challenge or experiment to blog about it, Chrisman's experience is much more genuine. She didn't challenge herself to 'a year of corset wearing' to advance her fame and fortune. Her memoir of her transformation into a twenty-first-century Victorian lady is candid, funny, and offers new perspectives on the assumptions and biases of our own era and astute observations on timeless human tendencies." — Debra Alderman, The Woman’s Century Club
WORN Fashion Journal (Toronto)“Reading this book reminded me of just how much what we wear shapes us—both figuratively and literally. . . . Chrisman’s experience pushed me to be not only confident in what I choose to wear, but knowledgeable as to why and how I am choosing to wear it.”Christine Ingebritsen“In a personal account of the social and historical evolution of the corset, Sarah Chrisman provides a distinct and revisionist analysis of Victorian attire. This book encourages us to put aside our assumptions of the oppressive nature of fashion. Chrisman thoughtfully focuses on the ways women of many classes within society sought to create impressions, still critical in today's political economy.”Hilda Meryhew“In Victorian Secrets, Sarah Chrisman shares what it’s like to live a Victorian life in today’s modern world. In an attempt to further understand the nineteenth-century lifestyle and truly connect with the past, she began wearing a corset on a daily basis—and now rarely takes it off! A stately lady with the twenty-two-inch waist, she uses her experiences to teach others about the past, the present, and the future. You won’t regret—or forget—reading this book.”Terry Murphy“Wherever Sarah Chrisman goes, she turns heads. Now, you can turn pages to find out why that is. What has been viewed as restrictive has freed her to live a life of her choosing—that elusive thing we all seek. In her fascinating book, whether you agree with her or not, Sarah captures the essence of living a truly authentic life.”Debra Alderman“While it seems these days everyone is trying some sort of personal challenge or experiment to blog about it, Chrisman's experience is much more genuine. She didn't challenge herself to 'a year of corset wearing' to advance her fame and fortune. Her memoir of her transformation into a twenty-first-century Victorian lady is candid, funny, and offers new perspectives on the assumptions and biases of our own era and astute observations on timeless human tendencies.”
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