The Corset

Valerie Steele

1. Steel and Whalebone: Fashioning the Aristocratic Body 2. Art and Nature: Corset Controversies of the Nineteenth Century 3. Dressed to Kill: The Medical Consequences of Corsetry 4. Fashion and Fetishism: The Votaries of Tight-Lacing 5. The Satin Corset: An Erotic Iconography 6. The Hard Body: A Muscular Corset. The corset is one of the most controversial garments in fashion history. This study explores why women continued to don steel and whalebone corsets for 400 years, and why they finally stopped. It also discusses the cultural history of the corset, demolishing myths and revealing its significance.