Corsets and Bustiers Are Not Good For You

What do you think about if you hear the words, Corsets and Bustiers? Until I learned about them, I honestly did not think much about them. But, I decided I needed to do some studying when, out of curiosity, I just wanted to know more.

Corsets were an awful creation. These were made with heavy material which had to wear calluses on the body of the individual who had to wear them. In order to achieve even more rigidity bone and metal were used. This created “board-like” conditions in which a poor woman had to suffer.

Yes, women went to extremes to achieve, what was considered, then, the perfect body. It was, more or less, a facade. The corset gave the illusion that a woman had rounded breasts, a voluptuous derriere and a “tiny” waist. Of course you could only get so small. They manipulated the body just as plastic surgery, stomach banding and liposuction do in our day and age.

Now, let me break off a minute on the subject of bustiers. These seemed to be more kind because they were used with the intention of raising the breasts. It worked very similar to the bras women use today. It gave a measure of fullness and also kept the breasts from “jiggling” so much. So, I will have to say that of the two, bustiers seem to be nicer.

Corsets were made from course fabric and were made stiff with the help of whale bones or metal. The metal had a tendency to rust and the fabric to shrink if they were washed so, that chore was mostly left undone. These were hardly ever passed from mother to daughter or grandmother to granddaughter. Corsets had the habit of forming to the body of the original owner so, it was not practical to had it down. Second hand corsets were very rare.

Bustiers on the other hand were more delicate to a woman’s skin. Bustiers were used to hold up the bust. Any woman who has run without wearing a bra can understand the need to protect the breasts. It may be sexy to some to see a woman who does not use a bra and has them bouncy around but, truth be told, that is not good for the woman’s bosom. The difference between corsets and bustiers is corsets squeezed the body, bustiers lifted the breasts.

I have found it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to find an ancient corset. Apparently, when a woman was through with hers, she was through! It usually wound up in the garbage heap. I can not say I would blame them. Even if for sentimental reasons, I think I would also just do away with it. Who wants to remember a device that instills this type of affliction.

I believe most people have someone in their ancestry who has worn types of corsets and bustiers. Bustiers seem to be the most comfortable of the two. I am not sure how I would have felt had I lived in the times which have passed. Women have gone through so much to try to be appealing to men in their society. It had to have taken most of their day to accomplish such beauty. Was it worth all the trouble?