Since my Winter of Pandemic hobby is apparently corset making...NEW!

Corset Myths Monday!

This week: CLEARLY only rich people in the past wore corsets because you have to be laced into them. By a servant, bien sur.

Hoooo boy I've seen so many variations of this one, cropping up in conversations of costuming in movies and TV, and often when someone new to historical costuming really, really wants to avoid making or wearing a corset and so looks for a "historical" reason not to.

(PS If you have physical, mental, or emotional health needs that involve NOT wearing a corset? You don't need to justify yourself to anybody, I will fight anyone for you.)

But here's the thing. It's just....not true.

Historically, people of all socio-economic demographics wore corsets. Servants wore corsets. Farmers wore corsets. Factory workers wore corsets.

How do we know this? Well, we have monumental amounts of pictorial evidence that shows figures in all sorts of socio-economic statuses, doing all kinds of jobs, who are clearly corseted.

Before photographs, we have sketches. We also have household inventories of even very poor people that give us a clear sense that they owned corsets (meaning they were, likely, wearing them).

This doesn't mean that EVERY person wore a corset ALL of the time (beware absolutes in historical clothing, folks), but it does mean that MOST people wore one MOST of the time.

"But that doesn't make sense! You need HELP to get into a corset!"

Ok, first, you don't.

Let's work backward. From the mid 19th century on, corsets were made with metal "busks" in the front that fastened, allowing a wearer to put one on WITHOUT unlacing and simply tighten the laces behind them and tie.

Before this, it was still possible, though a little more unwieldy, to get into your corset. Abby Cox demonstrates on the Two Nerdy History Girls blog: https://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-lace-your-stays-by-yourself-c.html

Basically, lace loosely, pull over your head, and tighten and tie. This would work for stays up through the innovation of fastening busks.

For the less flexible among us, there were also front-lacing stays available through the end of the 18th century.

I'm very fond of the boning pattern in these lovelies.

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/47781/

You also find front-lacing regency and "transition" period stays (seem to be a bit less common, but hey, they're there!) From the V&A:

But here's the thing. Even if you HAD to be laced into your corset (and you usually don't) this wouldn't be a problem. Why?

People didn't often live by themselves.

This is kind of weird to a modern human person, but historically, many if not most people would never have lived completely alone.

As a corset-wearing woman, you would have grown up living with family...who helped with your stays.

When you hit adulthood, you'd either continue to live with family (see above), get married, or, possibly, get a job. But getting a job did not typically mean living alone.

For example, in the 18th century, you might apprentice with a tradeswoman. Or you might go into service, living with a family as a servant. But in both these cases, you're moving into a new household, not living by yourself.

The idea of "moving out" was very different in the past and usually didn't involve going to live alone in an apartment...it involved melding into a new household or creating a new household.

Which means helpful hands for staylaces.

So--myth busted. Most women in corset-wearing historical times wore corsets, not only the rich. You don't need someone to lace you into your corset, and even if you did, you probably had someone living with you with willing hands.