Corsets are bad, right? Bad for your health, bad for feminism, just plain bad.
According to Wikipedia, “A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes“. Historically, a corset was made of wood, horn, whalebone, metal, or ivory and was most often laced in the back. The word itself is derived from the Latin corpus: and means "little body".
It’s no wonder this term can be offensive. Corsets are associated with unrealistic goals for women’s bodies including record attempts for the smallest waist! Of course, there are medical corsets that serve a purpose. We’ve written about Frida Kahlo before and the corset she wore for most of her life after suffering injuries in an accident.
But does any of this translate to a fashion corset? A fashion corset is less about function and more about asthetics. In our case, they should not be over-tightened because our tops and dresses are not designed to handle those stresses. The fabric will tear and the piece will be ruined! Yes, there is boning and lace. Our boning is made from thin plastic with wire sides and our lace is simple ribbon. In the context of a fashion corset, these are providing shape and form to the garment rather than achieving a physical restriction for the wearer.
Again Wikipedia sums it up nicely: “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.” We want you to feel good and look good in the fashion corsets and dresses we make, but please don’t hurt yourself. You are beautiful just the way you are.