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The Corset

13/08/2021

Many people remember Madonna’s the Blonde Ambition Tour in 1990, when she stepped on stage in a Jean Paul Gaultier corset, but when we think about the history of corsets, we go back in the time when they were actually seen as very controversial. For some people, corsets were a terrible instrument that deformed a woman’s body, but years later such perception changed.

Madonna on the Blond Ambition tour, 1990 © Getty Images

Corsets were born by women and sometimes men used to wear them too. Catherine de Medici is known for introducing the corset as an undergarment in France in the 1500s. These corsets had shoulder straps and ended as flaps at the waist.

Through the corset, women had the possibility of having a more shaped waistline, which was very popular in the 16^th century and it continued until the early 20^th century.

French Corset, 1891, courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art

English or German corset made between 1895-1900 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A corset in the pages of a 1939 issue of Vogue
© Getty Images

Over the years, the shape of the corset changed many times. You could see many variations including the longer version that covered the hips and the shorter version that centred on the waistline.

Sophia Loren in the 1960 film The Millionairess
© Rex

John Galliano SS93
© Getty Images

The corsets highlighted a woman’s silhouette in such an impressive way. For example, in the 1800s the hourglass shape was very famous, whereas in the 90s the S figure was more popular. They also made possible to show the cleavage part in quite a beautiful and sensual way.