The next photo shows a lady with a naturally small waist. She was a maid and housekeeper at Napa Mental Hospital around 1906, and was a friend of Lena (see the earliest blog posts).
The second photo demonstrates how the corset could artificially produce a tiny waist.
The corset was worn continuously from the 1600s to the 1960's by most ladies aspiring to women's own dictates regarding the Well Dressed Lady. If worn correctly, the corset was supposed to produce a waist the size of which a man could enclose with his two hands.
Women (generally seamstresses) actually designed and sewed most of the corsets themselves. The dowagers and mavens of high society enforced the definition of the successful lady in those circles, which included a tightly laced corset. Doctors and other outspoken gentlemen generally decried the use of corsets, but for a misogynist reason: they felt that women would be able to produce fewer children if their "womb was pressed upon." Since churning out babies was considered the female's primary task, and value, one can find a lot of literature objecting to corsets, especially during the Victorian era.
Those women who succumbed to society's dictates certainly experienced some major physical problems. Fainting and shortness of breath were inevitable, considering how tightly the corsets were laced. Stomach and bowel problems were constant, given the much diminished internal space allowed for those organs. All this contributed to men's admonishments against corsets, and contrarily made women who wore them seem more "delicate," which was valued by the male sex as it made them feel more masculine in comparison.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Chris
The original intent of corsets sounds so painful! Glad they've evolved into pretty, decorative garments (sometimes uncomfortable, but definitely not a health risk) instead.
ReplyDeleteit's a great way to preserve old photographs on a blog! i like the fact we know more about these people. it's also like a history lesson to me :)
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