"The Correct Corset" (Australian Home Journal, October 1921)

 To corset or not to corset—that was the question in 1921.  The answer was yes... and no.

American Lady Corsets, 1921

The Corect Corset

Girls in general, says a writer, are divided to-day into two classes—those who wear corsets and those who don't!

Both, I think, are wrong, or rather, both are sometimes right and sometimes wrong, for corsets are like all other garments—there's a time to wear them and a time to take them off—even in the daytime.  Everyone should wear them in the daytime, and, this, for two reasons—if you don't you lose the support they give and therefore get twice as tired.  And also if you don't you will—whatever you like to say—get bigger, I mean, of course, bigger round the waist.

But—don't wear the terrible arrangements which some misguided people fasten themselves into.

Your corset should be short as possible, and above the waist be made of only a narrow band of elastic.  They should, when on, come barely above the waist.

And below it they should be very, very short.  As short as possible.

When evening comes and you get back from business, dress for dinner, go to the pictures, or do whatever you do of an evening, take them off.  Never wear corsets with an evening dress.

It's perfectly true that corsets, in reality, should be made of muscle—your own muscles—and not of whalebone, so, if your muscles are in proper working condition, you'll see no difference in your silhouette.  Which strikes me as a rather a nice way of putting it.

If you do see a difference—for the worse—it means that you haven't been doing those daily exercises you swore you would do—and so it serves you right.

National Style Book, Spring-Summer 1921

Also, upon reading this, it becomes very clear that the "corset" of 1921 was a very different beast from its Victorian predecessor.  It was well on its way to becoming the "girdle" of the mid-twentieth century.

"How To Put On A Corset" (McCall's Magazine, August 1908)

 This one speaks for itself!

National Cloak & Suit Company, 1908

 Much depends on the way in which a corset is put on.  The following hints may be useful:

Fasten the abdominal hooks first, lifting the body, with a long breath, at the same time, and holding the head well back.

After the top of the front is hooked, draw the looped laces from eyelets slightly below the waist, pulling the bottom of the corset much tighter than the top.

Through this simple means healthy breathing is permitted, for bodices are so loose that it is only at the waist and hips the figure needs to be held taut.

To keep the corset in good shape when off the person, many women use a block of wood, round which the corset is wrapped tightly and kept in place on the block with a ribbon or pins.  It is then wrapped in tissue paper to preserve cleanliness, and put away perhaps in a drawer faintly scented with orris-root.  There is no better perfume than orris-root for all the secret matters of woman's dress.

A Look At Corsets (1920)

"Half the ungainliness of movement and of pose, of which we are hearing so much of now, is to be put down to the ill-advised choice of corsets.  If one sees, as one so often does, a woman sitting with her knees too far apart, the ugly pose is generally brought about by corsets that are cut unduly long, and so prevent free movement of the limbs.  If she sprawls at table instead of sitting upright, it is just as probable that they are cut too low in the back, and so afford her insufficient support.  If she walks from the waist instead of from the hips, the chances are that the figure below the waist is too firmly corseted.  That is what a corset expert told me."

Australian Home Journal, July 1920

 

There's an urban myth that corsets disappeared from women's wardrobes with the start of the 1920s.  While some younger and more daring flappers might have given their corsets the flick, most women were still lacing themselves up in boned "foundation" garments.  The difference was that they were using them to flatten their curves rather than obtain a tiny waist, as you can see in this advertisement from 1920.

Later in the decade it became possible to buy undergarments to flatten breasts as well as abdomens.  With the development of stretch materials the corset gradually morphed into the elastic girdle, then into "control top" pantyhose.  The latest versions of figure controlling undergarments are known as "shapewear", but thankfully they aren't as prevalent as corsets were!