One piece of clothing that drove women to
self mutilation. THE symbol of the social
subjugation of women, for generations and yet
we still love it. So much so, that even after
it died, we revived it several times.
Women’s clothing have always been
controversial. Trying to balance comfort and
beauty has never been the goal of top
designers. Corsets, today, are a choice and a
fashion statement. They also don’t
necessarily mean body modification, by way of
cinching the waist, although some go for this
unhealthy practice. As a wise commentator
said, on the YouTube page of the video to the
left:
“Very
sensual, but after a point it becomes
grotesque. Part of the art is knowing how far
to go and have it still look good, not
deformed.”
Polaire - Taking Cinching to the
Limit
Apparently such high strain on the abdomen
doesn’t effect your sining and dancing. At
least, it didn’t seem to hinder stage
performer- Polaire’s entertainment career.
Taking cinching to its limits, Polaire
achieved (?!) a reported 14 inch waist.
Attractive? You tell me. Nevertheless, images
of Polaire were produced way back at the end
of the 19th century, and
Polaire was quite the pinup.
Early 20th Century
It’s hard to fathom, but in the early
20th
century, corsets were still a must
undergarment for a woman. While the 1910’s
were still sporting some bizarre and painful
curves, by the 1920’s corsets would be more
about support than modifying the body. In the
1920’s, however, as the androgynous look was
coming into fashion, corsets would be used
mainly to bind the bust.
Mid 20th Century
Cup sizes and under
wire would be developed in bras, which-
accompanied by the girdle, slip and teddy-
became the preferred under garment. Aside for
a brief period in the late 1940’s and early
1950’s, with Dior’s New Look, corsets
wouldn’t come back until the 1980’s. The
movie industry, of course, doesn’t really
care for practicality:
The 1980’s and Beyond
Vivienne Westwood would actually rekindle the
corset flame, way back in the 1970’s, when
punk was breaking all borders. But it would
be Jean-Paul Gaultier in the 1980’s, who
would bring it back to life. And Madonna who
would popularize it in the 1990’s, turning
its meaning on its head:
“The results were absolutely stunning,
the corset had become an 'objet d’art',
with a new meaning, artistic of course but
also social and political--almost a
statement. No longer the symbol of women’s
oppression, the corset had become the
'symbol of sexual empowerment'.”
~The Victoria and Albert Museum
Fetish Corsets
Being one of those archaic, overdone
garments, corsets are a perfect piece of
dramatic fetish-wear, widely embraced in BDSM
culture. Westwood’s, Gaultier’s and Madonna’s
reinterpretation of the corset, as an item of
empowerment, probably also had a lot to do
with it. In fact, Madonna herself would model
BDSM culture in her infamous book, Sex. Neo
pinups have also embraced the corset, mostly
as part of Neo Goth culture.
Enjoying a good history lesson,
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