Corsetry

I am quite interested in looking at traditional corsets for inspiration when it comes to the shaping and design of it. There are many similarities which can be drawn between a corset and a back brace including shaping, structure and in many ways function.

A corset is intended to enable the wearer to gain as small a waist as possible, a back brace is intended to stabilise the spine by providing support and tension to the torso of the patient.

In particular I would like to look more at the structuring, the way they use panelling and fixing mechanisms. One thing that fascinates me is their influence on society. In the Victorian era the use of a corset was basically mandatory for woman and also openly accepted and worn by males as well.

There were corsets for all situations including children and maternity wear. It has been well recorded the negative effects a corset can have on a pregnant woman (something which was sometimes capitalised upon by women to induce a miscarriage). At the same time it had a positive impact socially allowing the woman to stay working and actively engaging with society (although this says a lot about the cultural views as they were basically concealing the fact they were pregnant!) In some ways I think this mirrors cultural attitude now, with respect to the fact that in order to ‘fit in’ or be engaged with society people with impairments have to conceal who they are or issues that they have.