Some have expressed difficulty and confusion having pages on my Eugenie D. West blog that are about my 18th century historical fiction, my work at The Oldest House, and my scattered musings and eclectic research on a plethora of 18th century subjects.
Therefore...here is my new blog, called dlc18thcentury.blogspot.com
Actually the title is Lacing Up a Modern Woman: Adventures in the 18th Century.
This is my first post on this blog, and it's all about corsets.I shall try to be discreet.
Anyone who has read anything about or from the 18th century knows that back then women wore corsets. Let's just get that right out there. However, I have been exploring corsetry and have discovered a few interesting facts.
First, I didn't know that corsets in the 18th and 17th centuries (and I think prior to then as well) were more supportive than restrictive. Yes, they were made from stiffened pieces of cloth and yes, they did eventually have 'bone' (and later metal) stays, but they were more for support than anything else. The word 'stay' in the corsetry sense comes from the Germanicestaie, which became Old French estaier, and in Middle English staien. There's also a nautical application referring to a heavy rope or wire cable used as a brace or support for a spar or a mast. This is from the Middle English stæg, but bothstæg and staien derive from the old Germanic root word.
You knew I'd have to work in mediaeval linguistics some how, didn't you? Can't waste the education!
At any rate, the corsets of the18th century and before were intended to support the upper torso of the female form; depending on what the fashion was at the time, it extended up or down, featured a flattened front or a more natural one, and was more or less naturally shaped.
In the mediaeval period women wore separate skirts and bodices along with chemises and all sorts of other garment pieces. The bodices were in effect corsets: they were stiffened with a paste like substance that had a controlling and supporting rôle.
After the discovery of the New World, and especially after the Crusades opened the East to Europe, newer, more pliable materials like cotton and silk were introduced, albeit not to the common woman, who still wore hemp, or flaxen garments. However, the aristocracy wanted the cotton and silk and recognized immediately the need for firmer corseting. Italy and Spain were at the forefront of developing corsets that used the strong yet flexible substance found in the jaws of baleen whales: baleen, commonly called 'whale bone.' And even though they didn't really need such strong support with their heartier fabrics, the common woman followed the fashion and she, too, began to wear stiffer corsets.
The design possibilities led to some 'V' shaped corsets, and these were still bodices and not separate undergarments until the 1600's. In the 1600's what we call the corset came into being and was called 'stays' since there were several (usually 6-8) vertical pieces inserted in an undergarment of fitted cloth.
In the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century these 'stays' continued to help women stand and sit upright, and look smooth and, well, contained. Any particular shape for the female form that came into fashion was achieved, therefore, with the use of padding (like hip rolls and, later, bustles) or crinolines, hoop skirts or wire mesh cages under the skirts to provide the hugely wide hip effect so popular in Marie Antoinette's time.
It was only after the middle of the 1850's when the Victorian Era in England made the teeny tiny waist desirable and fashionable that tightly cinching the waist was done.
So, back to the period I'm delving into now, the late 18th and early 19th century, say from about 1780-1850. During this time women wore supportive corsets that shaped to their natural figures and ended at their natural waist lines. A brief anomalous couple of decades emerged between 1795-1815 when neo-classicism ruled and 'empire' waist gowns were the rage; this was inspired by the French Revolutionaries' desire for a style radically different from the one favored by the French Aristocracy (the billowing wide skirts in particular). However, even during this radical time in fashion, women still wore their 'stays.'
The Oldest House was built in 1781 and its first inhabitants would have worn gowns and dresses modeled on the European fashion of the time with wide full skirts, low necks and boned bodices. This style represents the bulk of the garments I own and wear when I'm on duty at the House.
In my book A RIVER IN TIME which is set at The Oldest House in 1795, we see the female characters wearing various types of clothing, but the most fashionable is the higher waisted, 'empire' style gown.
While writing A RIVER IN TIME I had to refer to corsets and undergarments in the course of the narrative, and that got me thinking about getting a corset myself to wear with my period outfits. Because I don't generally do things half way, I was surprised, actually, that I hadn't done this before, because I do try to be as period correct as possible when dressing for House events and to give tours. But truly, I'd resisted even thinking about a corset. But A RIVER IN TIME piqued my curiosity: what would it be like? So I finally succumbed and ordered one last year.
It took me until this week to actually fit and fasten it--I had to adjust the lacing up the back and figure out the easiest way to get into it on my own, since I don't have a maid to dress me! (The secret is, open the corset on your bed, lie down, and hook up the front once you've more or less adjusted and tied the laces in the back.)
But I am happy to report that, not only does wearing the proper undergarment give my period dresses and gowns the correct look, the corset is--
wait for it--
COMFORTABLE.
It really is. I'm not joking! I even 'road tested' it yesterday, wearing it under a modern day dress for work and I hardly thought about it after a while. And my back wasn't sore, either. Getting in and out of my car is a bit of a challenge, but once you figure out how to do it, it's easy. And it looks quite lady like I must admit.
So there you have it: the lacing up of a modern woman! I feel more prepared, now, to discuss this particular element of fashion when I talk about the House's vintage clothing display, and more in tune with the way life really would have felt for a woman back in the 18th century.
I hope to see you this season when the House is open for tours and events, and I hope you read my book, A RIVER IN TIME to get a real flavor of the House and post Colonial Pennsylvania. All royalties from the book go to the House, too!
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