📖[PDF] Corsets and Crinolines by Norah Waugh | Perlego (2024)

1 THE WHALEBONED BODY

The soft, flowing lines of the mediaeval period followed the natural figure; no artificial shape was given to the body. Of course it is quite likely that about the middle of the fourteenth century, when clothes began to mould the figure, the older woman who had lost her shape, or the woman who had never had one, wore her under-robe of stouter material and laced it more tightly; and when in the fifteenth century the waist became high and small an extra band of stiff material may have helped to make her “middle small”; but it is unlikely that any artificial stiffening was added. Such an undergarment was called a “cotte”, an early French word for any close-fitting garment (Fr. côte—rib)—various names for dress are derived from it, e.g. petticoat, waistcoat, etc. The word “corset” when found in mediaeval texts applies to an outer garment and was not used in the modern sense.

By the middle of the fifteenth century the long, spiring mediaeval lines had been stretched out to their utmost limit, e.g. by means of hennins, peaked shoes, etc., until finally a reaction set in and towards the end of the century both men’s and women’s clothes began to assume a new, broad, straight silhouette. This silhouette was very much influenced by the Renaissance style which was slowly spreading northwards. The great development of the silk industry in Italy and Spain had made rich silks, brocades, damasks, velvets, etc., the fashionable materials, and their stiffness, weight, and elaborate patterns required a more severe treatment than that used for the softer woollen materials more commonly worn earlier. The new style of dress came from the south, so it is not surprising that Italy is usually credited with the invention of the “busc”, the first artificial support to the body, and Spain the “farthingale”, the first artificial aid to the skirt. It is said that Catherine of Aragon brought these fashions to England, while the Italian wars of the French kings Charles IX and Louis XII brought them to France; they would probably have come anyway.

When in England and France at the beginning of the sixteenth century the separation of the bodice and skirt became fashionable, it was possible to make the bodice straighter and tighter and the skirt fuller. In order to keep the bodice straight and tight a heavy under-bodice was now worn, and in this the women were imitating the men, who from mediaeval times had worn such a garment under their outer ones; it had been known by various names—cotte, gambeson, doublet, pourpoint, etc.—and in the sixteenth century they began to call it a “waistcoat”. This waistcoat was made of two or more layers of heavy linen, quilted together and often padded, and usually with a short basque provided with eyelet holes to which the hose were laced; at the end of the fifteenth century it was the fashion to wear the outer robe open, and consequently the fore part of this waistcoat began to be richly embroidered and jewelled, laced up the sides, or, if laced or fastened in front, an extra decorated piece was worn to hide these fastenings: this was the “stomacher” or “placard”. When the women began to wear this garment they called it a “pair of bodys”, sometimes just “body”, though “body” was more usually applied to the upper part of the outer robe. The French used this same word corps for both upper- and under-bodice, and it was always in the singular.

FIGURE 2 Body of yellow-brown silk, edged with silk ribbon; the lining, probably of linen, has perished; the whalebone or other stiffening used has also perished, but the stitching—back-stitch in silk—remains to show where it had been inserted; the centre front would have had a broad busk—wood, whalebone, or horn. The eyelet holes are stitched over iron rings, those round the waist for the laces tying the body to the petticoat or farthingale, the two centre front for the busk lace (early seventeenth century)

This early form of “corset” was probably quite simple in shape; it would be made from two pieces of linen (sometimes stiffened by paste), stitched together and shaped to the waist at the sides. To keep the front part really rigid a “busc” was added. This was a piece of wood, horn, whalebone, metal, or ivory, usually thicker at the top and tapering towards the point, often beautifully decorated; it was inserted between the layers of linen of the fore part of the body and tied there by a lace. The busc could easily be removed, and the “busc-lace” was frequently worn by the gallants of the period tied round the arm, or to their hat band, as sign of their lady’s favour. In the second half of the century the pair of bodys was further reinforced by adding whalebones to the sides and back; the side lacing of the early period was changed to the more convenient centre back or front opening (Figure 2). When gowns open in front became fashionable the “stomacher” piece would be added to disguise a centre front lacing.

In the next century the “pair of bodys” was called a “pair of stays”, a name which has been used down to the present century to denote any under-bodice with artificial supports or stays. In England the word “corset” may occasionally be seen from the seventeenth century onwards, but it is always used in the plural, or a “pair of stays”. France retained the old form corps until the end of the eighteenth century; after that “corset”, always in the singular, is used.

The fashions at the beginning of the seventeenth century were very similar in shape to those worn at the end of the previous one. The neckline became much lower in front and about 1620, after the farthingale was finally discarded, the body of the gown was worn much shorter. The stays followed the fashionable waistline but kept the long centre front stomacher, and the basque was replaced by long side-tabs, to which the full petticoats were still tied. In the portraits of the period these stays, covered with rich material, can easily be seen worn under the long, open robe. A short bodice, with tabs, like the man’s doublet of the same period, appeared about 1630, and was worn throughout the middle of the seventeenth century, and by the bourgeoisie and lower classes long after the woman of fashion had discarded it; it was either boned or worn over a separate pair of stays (Figure 3).

FIGURE 3 White satin bodice with basque and large sleeves. The short body only (see pattern) is mounted on a stiff inter-lining made from two layers of stiffened linen, between which are inserted very thin strips of whalebone (c. 1630)

During the seventeenth century a softer, more rounded silhouette was gradually coming in; the stiff, patterned brocades and velvets were replaced by simpler materials. It must be remembered that the best silks, velvets, brocades, laces, etc., still came from Italy. In England the Civil War and the coming to power of the Puritan regime put an end to extravagance in dress; in France the import of foreign merchandise had reached such a scale that edicts had to be passed prohibiting the wearing of such goods, with the result that the French home-produced silks, simpler in design and inferior in quality, were worn and created a new fashion.

In the late thirties the fashionable Englishwoman favoured a very simple style of dress; it had a very low-necked and short-waisted body, without tabs, full skirts, and large, unstiffened sleeves. As the whole silhouette became longer and straighter stays almost disappeared and, in fact,...