Pauline+Thomas


 * 1) Greek women were corseted. Under the Greek Chiton a leather band style corset was worn and this gave definition to the hips and bust. From birth, girls were swaddled. For six months their arms and legs were bound in swaddling cloths restricting their movement and keeping limbs straight. Adolescent Greek girls were forced to keep trim. Their Greek mothers used woollen bands to keep the developing body slim.
 * 2) In the Middle Ages the idea prevailed that the body was sinful and underwear something rather shameful. But towards the end of the Middle Ages clothes were carefully cut and shaped to the body. Part of this shaping was achieved by cutting cloth on the true cross or the bias of the fabric grain.
 * 3) In the 13th century a corset was worn, but as in later centuries it was sometimes worn as an outer garment over robes like a waistcoat is worn. From the 14th century onwards costume began to introduce new elements simply for the sake of variety and change rather than function.
 * 4) By the start of the16th century Spanish fashions influenced Italian and English ladies. An iron hinged armour like corset was worn to flatten the body giving a smooth outline beneath gowns.
 * 5) Corsets of the late 16th century would be more recognizable to us today than the iron version. These later corsets incorporated materials such as whalebone, bone, wood and flexible steel. The patterns on the corsets showed the placement of the chosen support and were elongated after a fashion trend set by the boyish figure of Queen Elizabeth I.
 * 6) The heavy iron corset which flattened rather than shaped, gave way to corsetry that emphasised the waist and full skirts.
 * 7) Well cut corsets, more often called stays until the 18th century, were made with boning. A corset or a boned lining supported the shaping of the bodice which after 1620 had a higher waistline and a longer stomacher.