Corset Tops

After 1998, the category changed to "smallest waist on a living person". Cathie Jung took the title with a waist measuring 15 inches . Other women, such as Polaire, also have achieved such reductions (16 inches in her case). Corsets were and are still usually designed for support, with freedom of body movement an important consideration in their design. Moderate lacing is not incompatible with vigorous activity. In the past, a woman's corset was usually worn over a chemise, a sleeveless low-necked gown made of washable material .

Modern updates to these styles, like corset tops, have made them sexy pieces that can be worn on their own or over other apparel. Bustiers will have structured and wired cups to provide support, and a corset top usually has structured boning detailing. Both styles can have sleeves or be sleeveless, and have embellishments. For dress reformists of the late 19th century, corsets were a dangerous moral evil, promoting promiscuous views of female bodies and superficial dalliance with fashion whims. However, tightlacing was very scandalous and was extremely uncommon. The large majority of women wore corsets every day without extreme detrimental effects.

Since the late 20th century, the fashion industry has borrowed the term "corset" to refer to tops which, to varying degrees, mimic the look of traditional corsets without acting as them. While these modern corsets and corset tops often feature lacing or boning, and generally imitate a historical style of corsets, they have very little, if any, effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corsetmaker and are frequently fitted to the individual wearer. Corset tops are the perfect way to spice up any outfit and turn your style from drab to fab!

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Plus, because the color is still fairly neutral, you won’t feel too out of your comfort zone. This sage green color acts as a neutral in your closet, so you can style it cozyvenus with almost any accessories. This criss-cross laced-up top can be worn with jeans for a night out or with something that shows a little more skin for a flirty night in.

However, in some periods, bodies have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involved minimizing the bust. With the advent of metal eyelets, in 1827 tightlacing became possible. The corsets of the 1850s–1860s were shorter, because of a change in the silhouette of women's fashion, with the advent of the hoop skirt or crinoline. After the 1860s, as the crinoline fell out of style, the corset became longer, to shape the abdomen, exposed by the new lines of the princess or cuirass style.

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In 1968, at the feminist Miss America protest, protestors symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can". They included corsets, which were among items the protestors called "instruments of female torture", and accoutrements which they perceived to enforce femininity. Until 1998, the Guinness Book of World Records listed Ethel Granger as having the smallest waist on record at 13 inches .

Eventually, the reformers' critique of the corset joined a throng of voices clamoring against tightlacing. Doctors counseled patients against it and journalists wrote articles condemning the vanity and frivolity of women who would sacrifice their health for the sake of fashion. While tightlacing is dangerous, it was fairly uncommon, and was seen as quite shocking by the majority of women, in addition to men.

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Consequently, her husband, Samuel Barnes, designed "reinforced steels" for Egbert's corsets. Barnes filed a patent for the invention 11 years later, and Egbert collected the royalties on this patent for 15 years following his death. Following the case of Egbert v. Lippmann, the US Supreme court deemed Barnes's and Egbert's patent as "public". People with spinal problems, such as scoliosis, or with internal injuries, may be fitted with a back brace, which is similar to a corset. However, a back brace is not the same thing as a corset.

Some women made their own, while others bought their corsets. Corsets were one of the first mass-produced garments for women. The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women, this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure by reducing the waist and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips.

Corsets were not worn next to the skin, possibly due to difficulties with laundering these items during the 19th century, as they had steel boning and metal eyelets that would rust. The corset cover was generally in the form of a light chemisette, made from cotton lawn or silk. Modern corset wearers may wear corset liners for many of the same reasons.