The corset is a supportive undergarment for women, dating, in Europe, back several centuries, evolving as fashion trends have changed and being known, depending on era and geography, as a pair of bodies, stays and corsets. … See more

During and shortly following the French Revolution, rationalists and classicists criticized the glorification of an artificial body shape, created by stays, as more beautiful than the natural human form. Fashion trended towards loose, thin dresses which … See more

The dress reform movement of the 1850s and 1860s opposed corsets and advocated against their use, particularly the high-fashion trend of tightlacing to achieve ever-smaller waistlines. While support for fashionable dress contested that corsets … See more

The English word corset is derived from the diminutive of the Old French word corps, meaning "body," which itself derives from the Latin corpus. The term "corset” was in use in the late 14th century, from the French "corset" which meant "a kind of laced bodice." The … See more

The earliest known representation of a possible corset appears on a figurine from Minoan art made circa 1600 BCE. The article of clothing … See more

For most of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries corsets were known, in English, as bodies or stays. These garments could be worn as under or outer wear. The women of the French court saw this corset as "indispensable to the beauty of the female figure." See more

By the 1820s, the high waisted gown fell out of fashion and what we now think of as corsets returned, along with the elaborate, structured gowns … See more