Comparing Modern to Victorian Corsets (and why not all corsets are ok)

"Not everyone squishes the same way " is a quote I didn't know I needed in my life but now definitely do

Corset padding: "If you don't have homemade curves, store-bought is fine."

In ancient times clothes were tailored and made to fit the person. Today the trend is to make every person fit the same clothes. My favorite quote in this sense has always been: "One size fits all", which it ironically never does.

when she said "non heteronormative historical fiction" my brain short circuited, because that's something I'm very passionate about and I never really expected Bernadette to mention it

As a corsetmaker I think the real distinction shouldn't be between historical and modern corsets, it should be between functional corsets and fashion corsets. The difference between a 'real' modern corset and a fashion corset is a lot greater than that between it and a historical one.

Corset wearers always say corsets are fine, but nobody asks the corset if it is fine.

For some reason every time period has its own iconic and fashionable silhouette but we nowadays want to have fashionable body type, not silhouette.

"Not everyone squishes the same way" is an adorable phrase

Designing clothes for people, not designing people to fit clothes!

Bernadette: "Thank you for listening to yet another one of my corset rants." Everyone in the audience: "We will listen to anything you have to say on anything"

i hope some day we can go back to having clothes tailored to fit the bodies. i understand it would be expensive but id rather spend money on well fitted clothes over feeling like my body proportions are wrong because i cant fit into anything off the rack.

I'm late - as per the usual - but thank you for this thoughtful comparison / analysis. Having put my body into a butt-ton (very scientific unit of quantity) of corsets, both OTR and custom, I agree with everything said here - especially the spectrum of relative comfort (and the subjectivity of comfort based on body size and compressibility). Regarding the modern overbust's pressure on your side-front rib causing discomfort, I recognize that corset as one that was very likely draped on a mannequin whose "rib cage" is laterally more narrow, and thicker along the sagittal plane. While the total rib circumference might have matched your own, the distribution in the panels was probably not anatomically designed. Speaking for myself - if a corset fits my wasp-waist dressform like a glove, it's not going to be a fun time for me (even though our general measurements are similar). Also thank you for the shoutout in the dooblydoo 🙊

Kind of obsessed with the look of Steampunk Victorian Goth Trash Teenager Bernadette though...

I feel like as clothing became less restrictive, the cultural view of "how to look fashionable" went from "of course you'll use padding to achieve the fashionable silhouette" to "you need to change your own naked body to achieve the fashionable silhouette". I haven't done that much research into the history of diet culture, but it feels like this might be the case.

People often forget that when clothes are made to your body, it's almost like second skin.

As a THICC & busty perrson & a corset wearer from my early 20s to this day [34] I must admit we have great corsetry culture here in Poland... and we really put a pressure on educating people who want to join the wagon. I was given all the knowledge I might need, I was helped to find the right corset maker for my shapes, and by them - the right corset. Therefore I never had a corset that would cause me a pain, and I wear them more or less full day if I decide I feel like wearing a corset :-) As someone said in comments - it is not about modern vs historical - it is about well-made or not corset. I have several "off-the-rack" corsets from polish companies, that fit me well and cause no discomfort of whatsoever... but it is because 1. they are properly sewn and 2. I was given help to pick the right piece for me

I gave a virtual high five to Noelle when she said "I want snack room for tacos" in my corsets because YES! Because as a squishy person, I too, want snack room. That is one thing I love about the Victorian era is that they padded out the areas that needed help and gave grace in clothes for it to be let out for when a woman gained weight or the dress was passed around. They knew that the gown or clothing wasn't going to have a singular owner.

Me as male 30' working on the construction site as an electrical engineer. hhhmm this polite lady make corset thing interesting

you give all the pros and cons of corset wearing

“Not everyone squishes the same way” I like this