What I Learned By Sewing and Wearing An 1890’s Working Woman’s Corset
I’m just going to say it, I really like the way I look in a corset.
A confluence of things six months ago first lead me to the strange thought that I could sew a corset. The thought that I could sew one lead me straight to the idea that I should.
I’m not alone in such notions — there’s been such an explosive interest in the integration of historical clothing into modern wardrobes that it has its name, ‘history bounding.’ There’s also no shortage of YouTube tutorials for corsetry that covers everything from sewing techniques to an in-depth analysis of how each corset style affects the body’s shape.
There’s also a fair amount of misinformation about corsetry, and learning how to spot the myths made the project exceptionally enticing.
Interestingly, our society tends to acknowledge the quackery rampant in the time while simultaneously upholding some of the ‘science’ around corsetry that was produced.
In the most simple terms, a corset is a structured support garment that molds the torso into a particular shape.
