Corsets

First sign of corsets/stays

1500

A "pair of bodies" (stays, a garment predating corsets but served the same purpose) first became popular in sixteenth century Europe.

Time context: Mona Lisa

1503

Leonardo da Vinci started painting the Mona Lisa to finish it 3 to 4 years later.

A women owned business

1550

Fashion was a women owned business at the time (one of many reasons to be skepticized by men of the time)

Fashionable corsets

1600

Corsets were now coming into place as well as stays even as occasionally men's fashion to hide their beer belly. (Which is quite ironic seeing as men were the main contributors to scepticism of corsets.)
An important thing to note is that corsets and stays were mostly practical clothing garments however, having a small waist was fashionable even then.

The medical revolution

1700

When the medical revolution started, it gave a "factual" way to "prove" the dangers of corsets. It was in this time period were a lot of famous drawings and diagrams of women with organs moved to un-natural spots whilst wearing corsets were born.

Time context: The Industrial Revolution of Great Britain

1760

The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain began. Textiles were the dominant industry of the early Industrial Revolution. The textile industry was also the first to use modern production methods.

Mass manufactured clothing

1800

Fashion become mass manufactured; clothing was produced that didn’t need to be fitted but bought ready to wear. (Corsets had to be a very well trailered garment to work, you could not buy hm pre-made)

Time context: The invention and first use of technology

1820

Steam locomotives, the battery, photography, sewing machines, pasteurization, dynamite, the telephone, first practical car using internal-combustion engine and Coca Cola are just a few examples.

The corset and the crinoline [book]

1868

"The corset and the crinoline : a book of modes and costumes from remote periods to the present time" by Lord, William Barry was published. This book follows the ideas of corsets being painful and other false myths that still are present today.

Gone With the Wind

1940

"Gone with the wind" came out, this movie was and still is one of the most famous depictions of how corsets are presented in cinema, this movie heavily shaped people's ideas and opinions on corsets that are completely based off fiction.

Out of mainstream fashion

1965

Women started to lose interest in all shape wear like girdles as fashions changed.

Modern day fashion corsets

2022

Corsets have become one if the biggest fashion trends in 2022, opening up the conversation of the ethics of corsets again.