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These are advertisements for the famous “Coraline Corset”, patented by two brothers, Dr Ira and Dr Lucien Warner. It was created in 1873 & marketed as a “health corset” as it allowed some movement and reduce injuries caused by previous designs.
Corset Thread!
Corset Thread!
Corsets became a staple of women’s fashion (and some men’s) in the 16th century & stayed in fashion until the early 20th century - especially amongst the aristocracy.
Corsets were generally made from a stout fabric, with bone or metal inserts. Fastening at the front with hooks, the back closed with adjustable laces.
In 1828, corsets with metal eyelets were invented in France. This simple innovation meant that the corset could now be tight laced and bodies were increasingly constricted.
By the 19th century, the “ideal” waist for women’s fashion was around 18 inches. In the book Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara boasts about her tiny 17 inch waist!
But this all came at a huge cost. Women were often laced so tightly they couldn’t breath properly & were prone to fainting. The compression of the internal organs also caused digestion problems and muscle atrophy.
Long term tight lacing, especially when the bones were still developing, could led to the rib cage becoming deformed. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/effects-of-the-corset/
Dr. Lucien Warner, a prominent American physician who lectured about the dangers of tight lacing. Seeing that women didn’t seem to listen, he decided to try a different approach.
In 1873, he designed a corset that provided hourglass shape but was also flexible because the boning was made of Coraline, a product of the fibers of the Mexican Ixtle plant. He called it “Dr. Warner's Coraline Health Corset”
The following year, Lucien Warner and his brother Dr. Ira De Ver Warner went into business together and founded Warner Brothers Corset Manufacturers.
The success of the Warners’ designs made the brothers millionaires. By 1876, their corset was so popular that the company moved its manufacturing operations to Bridgeport, CT, & employed 1,200 people working 12hr days to produce 6,000 every day.
Many of the women who made those corsets lived across the street at a place called the Seaside Institute. The Warner Brothers built it to provide free rooms for their female workers. Today, it’s a private prep school.
They also provided free education and schooling to their employees. This may have backfired in 1915 when more than a thousand women went on strike at the factory. They won an 8-hour workday and a pay raise. https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/eight-hour-day/
In 1894, the brothers retired and turned control of the company over to De Ver’s son, D.H Warner who added new corsets - such as a rust proof corset, a combination corset, and even a hose supporter.
In 1913 Warner Brother's bought the patent for the brassier from Mary Phelps Jacobs, and they ended up making $12.6 million by 1920.
But the fun was not to last. The Jazz Age and Flapper movement of the 1920s saw women ditch the corset altogether in favour of breast-binding bandeaus and step-in panties.
The Great Depression of the 1930s was difficult on the clothing industry and Warner was no exception & by 1931 the company was losing millions every year.
The company's troubles were made even worse by the behaviour of the CEO, D. H. Warner, who was a terrible alcoholic & determined womaniser (not a good look for someone in the underwear business).
After his wife died in 1931, D.H. continued to finance his debauchery with company profits and drink to excess before dying in 1934 at the age of 66. Control of the company was handed to his son-in-law, John Field.
Seeing there was no market for corsets, healthy or otherwise, Field stopped producing them and focused on underwear and swimwear instead.
The company eventually changed its name to
The Warnaco Group & at its height Its products were sold under several brand names including Calvin Klein, Speedo, Chaps, Warner's, and Olga. It was finally acquired by PVH in 2013.
The Warnaco Group & at its height Its products were sold under several brand names including Calvin Klein, Speedo, Chaps, Warner's, and Olga. It was finally acquired by PVH in 2013.
Today the Warner Brothers clothing factory is empty & dilapidated. There are future plans to renovate it into apartments. These pictures were taken in 2015. https://www.wshu.org/post/story-bridgeports-revolutionary-corset-factory
And before corset Twitter comes at me, the damage done by corsets was very specific to the metal, whaleboned “tight laced” corsets of the 19th century, not corsets in general.
Alright. This is getting nasty now. I know ppl really like corsets but there is no need for threatening messages like this. Suffice to say, there was a real concern that corsets *could* cause damage - even the Lancet ran articles on it
One on June 14, 1890, entitled Death From Tight Lacing and the second on January 16, 1892, called Effects of Tight Lacing.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(02)19631-0/fulltext
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673602122768
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(02)19631-0/fulltext
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673602122768
Here are other sources discussing the dangers. If they weren’t true or were exaggerated, that doesn’t mean they weren’t real concerns - nor does it make the point of the thread on manufacturing redundant
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=12921&context=rtd
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10253866.2018.1497988?forwardService=showFullText&tokenAccess=GQUmcBtECKa3FwFgZM8A&tokenDomain=eprints&doi=10.1080%2F10253866.2018.1497988&doi=10.1080%2F10253866.2018.1497988&journalCode=gcmc20 https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/effects-of-the-corset/
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=12921&context=rtd
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10253866.2018.1497988?forwardService=showFullText&tokenAccess=GQUmcBtECKa3FwFgZM8A&tokenDomain=eprints&doi=10.1080%2F10253866.2018.1497988&doi=10.1080%2F10253866.2018.1497988&journalCode=gcmc20 https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/effects-of-the-corset/
I’m always happy to debate the things I post and to listen to other evidence, but when I’m getting messages calling me a fucking stupid bitch about a sodding corset, I’m not interested.
What is going on??? I’m closing down my messages until this has calmed the fuck down.
