| Pre - 1500 | | | | court or dress occasions. Both corset and the dress |
| Corset - like 'idols' have been discovered on the Greek | | | | of the time were very heavy, and considerable |
| island of Crete that date back to around 2000 b.c. By | | | | padding had to be worn underneath, the whole lot |
| placing two ceramic pots together by their bases, a | | | | being decoratively covered with silk. Silk was a an |
| waist shape was obtained, with the handle of the | | | | expensive luxury, which indicates again the status of |
| upper pot representing the nose. The hour - glass | | | | the corset then. |
| shape was a traditional primitive Cretan style, and not | | | | Only when worn by women was the garment |
| necessarily representative of the local women. Earlier | | | | referred to as a corset, it being called a waist coat or |
| icons were decorated with loincloths, with later | | | | vest when sported by men. |
| examples wearing a loincloth and open lace tunic. | | | | Corsets with Stays 1550 - 1890 |
| Traditional garb for some 15th Century virgins was a | | | | Stays were worn externally laced over the clothing |
| tightly bound dress, evocative of a corset. | | | | (dress or skirt), unlike more conventional corsets which |
| Iron Corsets | | | | extended over the hips. Stays of the time were hand |
| Several museums today have examples of iron | | | | crafted from whale bone ( baleen ) and were popular |
| corsets. Some historians claim these to be everyday | | | | around 1860. Eventually, stays became shorter, and |
| wear for European women and girls throughout the | | | | evolved into a type of brassiere, with shoulder straps. |
| sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but such a | | | | Victorian era corsets, 1831 - 1901 |
| garment or device would have been costly and | | | | When most people imagine a corset, they are most |
| beyond the pocket of everyday women. Such a | | | | likely to think of a corset from Victorian times. The |
| corset would more likely to have been an orthopaedic | | | | Victorian era lasted some seventy years, during which |
| tool to correct posture or obesity. | | | | time the corset underwent many changes of style and |
| Assassination was a real threat in those days, and an | | | | fashion as it evolved. One notable style was the |
| iron corset as armour provided protection from bullet | | | | 'horizontal waist', popular from 1850 to 1899. This |
| and knife. Favoured initially by men, the iron corset | | | | complemented the fashionable 'bustle' of the day. |
| went on to be worn by both women and men on | | | | |