corsetrefguide

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Corset Reference Books

Cunnington, C. Willet and Phillis Cunnington. The History of Underclothes. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1992.

Ewing, Elizabeth. Dress and Undress: A History of Women’s Underwear. New York: Drama Book Specialists, 1978.

This book is full of drawings, images, and text that detail women’s undergarments from 3000 BC to 1978. It is an excellent resource to understand corsets throughout the time that they were popular, alongside other undergarments and support garments that were being worn. It is also a source where the reader can watch changes in terminology—such as from stays to corsets. Dress and Undress by Elizabeth Ewing—a fashion historian and journalist—is based on a previous publication by Ewing and is a detailed timeline of women’s underwear throughout most of modern history. Each chapter follows a certain garment within the timeframe it was most worn and tracks the details of its changes, who was wearing it, and what was (or wasn’t) worn with the garment. There is also a bibliography for both the US and the UK and an index. This resource is great for readers who want a deep understanding of the history of women’s undergarments.

Lord, W. B. The Corset & the Crinoline: An Illustrated History. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2007.

This book is a republished version of an 1868 book by similar name. It is almost entirely text, though there are a few accompanying fashion plates. It follows the change in undergarment fashions from ancient civilization through to shortly after 1865. There seems to be a fascination with tight lacing, as that subject appears in almost every chapter. This source is valuable because while it is a reference on corsets, it is also of the era and thus without a modern-day bias. It is, however, by a man which is important to note only in that he would not have been the target audience for much surrounding corsets. The Corset & the Crinoline is a book by William Barry Lord, a British author who wrote a wide variety of texts. This book is about the corset, and lesser so the crinoline, throughout history and as they came to popularity in women’s fashion in the 19th century. The chapters are organized chronologically, and when approaching the time in which it was written, breaks into different chapters for France and England. There is also an index. This text is intended for those with an interest in fashion history, especially undergarments such as the corset and crinoline, but probably best for those who already have a general understanding as Lord writes with an obvious distain for corsetry.

Steele, Valerie. The Corset: A Cultural History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

This book is mostly text, though it also includes an abundance of cartoons, advertisements, and photos of and about corsets. The book focuses on corsets from the 19th century onward in the context of their cultural effect on the populace. Its subjects include tight-lacing, satin corsets, and corset controversies. This book is a resource for those looking to go beyond the general knowledge of what corsets were as a garment. The Corset: A Cultural History is a monolith by the renowned fashion historian Valerie Steele. It is about corsets and the cultural impact on subjects like iconography and the whaling industry. While it is slightly chronological, it is mostly organized by topic with chapters on things like “The Hard Body: A Muscular Corset” and “Dressed to Kill: The Medical Consequences of Corsetry”. There is also a selected bibliography and an index. This book is intended for a fashion historian-adjacent audience.

Waugh, Norah. Corsets and Crinolines. Edited by Judith Dolan. London: Routledge, 2018.

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Fashion Reference Books

Edwards, Lydia. How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century. London: Bloomsbury, 2017.

This book is a guidebook to the basics of the changing silhouette from the 16th to the 20th century. It is based on western fashions from those times and each chapter encompasses about 15-20 years of fashion. It highlights different aspects of each dress and how they have changed across time using a combination of text and labeled images of extant garments. It will allow its reader to begin to understand how to classify a garment on sight. How to Read a Dress by Lydia Edwards—a fashion historian—is a basic guidebook on what aspects of a garment make it unique to the time in which it was created. It is organized chronologically, and each section covers about 15-20 years in fashion history. The sections feature an overview of the period and images of extant garments with diagram-like arrows pointing out what was discussed in the overview. There is also a glossary, bibliography, and index. It is for a reader who is doing beginning research or who has a casual interest in historical fashions.

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Extant Garment Reference Books

The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century Volume I: 18th and 19th Century. Hong Kong: Taschen, 2002.

This book consists mostly of images with a few paragraphs of accompanying text. It follows the changes of Western fashion from the 18th and 19th centuries. Extant garments are an important part of studying corsetry as it is necessary to understand what work the garments were doing, a student doing research on corsets needs to understand why corset shapes changed so much during this time. Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century is a published version of part of the Kyoto Costume Institute’s collection. This collection is world-renowned for its thorough archive and detailed publications. This reference book is a volume on 18th and 19th women’s Western garments. There are some photos and information about men’s garments, though less. The book is divided into two sections: the 18th and the 19th centuries. Within those sections, the photos are still mostly chronological, but they also follow themes established in the few paragraphs of text. This book is for someone who would like to see the Kyoto Costume Institute’s collection for whatever reason, casual or professional, but is unable to.

Johnston, Lucy. Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail. London: V&A Publications, 2005.

This book is mostly photos of extant garments with some accompanying text describing the fashion trends as the garments move through time. It focuses on the 19th century fashions through the lenses of “the male image”, historicism, Romantic styles, exoticism, innovations, construction details, and the natural world. This book shows the changes in silhouette throughout the century and how support garments changed to best accompany those changes. Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston—a former curator at the V&A—is a book from 2005 that watches the changes in fashion throughout the 19th century. Organized more or less chronologically, each chapter is named thematically. There is a glossary and suggested further reading at the back of the book. There is also an introduction that overviews what will be discussed later in the book. This book is perhaps a type of handbook, as it guides the reader through different fashion styles. It is intended for those with any level of interest in historical fashions.

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Web Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Bass-Krueger, Maude. “Vogue’s Fashion Encyclopaedia: The History of the Corset.” Vogue, April 17, 2019. Link

This website is a translated version of a Vogue France article that outlines the history of the corset. It is half a short summary of corsets in historical use and half a look into more modern uses of corsets (Rocky Horror, Madonna). This website is an easily accessible web source that includes basic information from a lens that wants to hold onto the idea that corsets were harmful to women. While perhaps not all the information is accurate, it is good to know what information Googling folks will find. This article is “Vogue’s Fashion Encyclopaedia: The History of the Corset” by Maude Bass-Krueger, who is a professor at the University of Ghent. This article was published in April of 2017. It semi-chronologically covers the major topics of corsets throughout history and more modern-day. While Vogue is a business and publication, this article specifically does not seem to be selling or promoting Vogue as a company. Bass-Krueger references well-known fashion historians, such as Valerie Steele, however, some of her information presents a negative view or corsets that is not widely held by the group. Additionally, there are no explicit citations. This article is intended for the general public who are interested in corsets, perhaps those looking to incorporate them into their own wardrobe in a “history-bounding” style.

O’Hara Callan, Georgina. “Corset.” In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers, 2nd ed. London:Thames & Hudson, 2008. Link

This fashion dictionary entry is a basic overview of the corset, from the 19th century through to the 1990s. It is an excellent introduction to the basics of what corsets are and how they changed throughout the decades they were popular. It is an excellent place to begin research for a better understanding of how broad the topic is. “Corset” is an entry in World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers, by Georgina O’Hara Callan, who is the author of a few fashion history books. This entry broadly covers corsets, though the dictionary as a whole covers different styles, fabrics, and garment types. The information provided in the entry is clear, accurate, and presented without implicit bias. It is an excellent resource for beginning research.

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Sewing Guides

Hill, Margot Hamilton and Peter A Bucknell. The Evolution of Fashion: Pattern and Cut from 1066 to 1930. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1968.

This is a book that gives sewing patterns for male and female garments from 1066 to 1930, centered around English fashions. Each fashion era (about ever 30-40 years) has two or three fashion patterns, scaled down to fit in the book, as well as a short summary of what was happening in fashions at the time. While not directly related to corsets, understanding the build for outerwear is also important when learning about how corsets go together. The Evolution of Fashion by Hill and Bucknell—established pattern drafters—is a book of patterns for women’s and men’s fashions throughout the better part of English history. It has many sections, most of which are about 40-50 years apart. This is also an introduction, instructions to cutting out and using the patterns, and a bibliography. This handbook is intended for (I assume skilled) sewists who are creating these garments or those who want to understand how historic garments went together.

Mead, Shaerie. “Lessons Learned from the Art of Making Corsets.” Seamwork, January 31, 2016. Link

This is a blog post that discusses the author’s personal journey into corset-making and what she has learned about the craft, and about herself. The main points of the article include quality materials and tools, precision, patience, fit, and body issues. For those setting out on a corset-sewing journey, listening to those who have already made some mistakes is a good place to start. Written as anecdotes, Mead very clearly tells the reader many mistakes she made when she was first starting. This blog post is, “Lessons Learned from the Art of Making Corsets” by Shaerie Mead, who is a “pattern maker and sewing educator” (from her bio on the blog). The article covers her experience and growth throughout her corset-sewing career. It is organized thematically and is easy to read and understand. While Seamwork (the website) seems to be a subscription-based sewing service, this blog itself is not explicitly trying to sell anything. The information contained within seems up to date and reliable, as it is mostly anecdotal, and it does match with common knowledge of sewing basics. This blog is a good resource for sewists at any level.

Salen, Jill. Corsets: Historic Patterns and Techniques. Hollywood: Costume & Fashion Press, 2008.

This book is patterns for historical corsets with basic instructions on how to interpret the pieces and build the garment. It also includes basic historical context for each garment, though that is not the focus of the material. These patterns are based on extant garments, so they are of great use to anyone who is hoping to build a corset. They’re also a nice visual to see how corset construction and shape changed over the years. Corsets: Historic Patterns and Techniques by Jill Salen—a British costumer and guest lecturer—is a book filled with patterns based on extant garments for corsets from 1790 to 1917. The patterns do not seem to be organized in any particular way, though each pattern includes a short description of what extant garment it is based on and the pattern itself. This book is for an experienced sewist who is familiar with building terms, sewing with few instructions, and scaling up patterns.

Sparks, Linda. The Basics of Corset Building: A Handbook for Beginners. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009.

This is a guidebook that walks through the most effective tools and techniques to make any style of corset. The chapters include topics such as fitting and styling corsets, what tools and textiles to use, and working with each piece of the corset-such as grommets and boning. This is an excellent and well-known guidebook that is a must-read for anyone setting out to sew a corset. The Basics of Corset Building: A Handbook for Beginners by Linda Sparks—a fashion historian and corset-making teacher—walks through every aspect of making a corset, from explaining all of the materials and tools that are needed for making a corset to the finishing steps and properly wearing the garment. It is divided into four sections: tools and materials, building a corset, construction techniques, and pattern alterations and fit. There is also a glossary at the end. This is a handbook based on Sparks’ years of experience sewing and building corsets. It is intended for those who are beginning to sew corsets, but already have experience sewing garments.

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Links to Museum Collection Searches

Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

The Met

Museum Fine Arts Boston

V&A Museum

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This page focuses on corsets as a historical garment and includes a few guides to modern-day construction/building. For broader reference, there are a few sources on outerwear for time periods where corsets were popular (around 1840-around 1920), as the corset shape changed to suit the fashionable silhouette.

Corsets are a support garment that have been worn throughout history, though today the term usually refers to the hourglass-shaped item worn between the 1840s and 1920s. While much of the discourse around corsets today paint them as a torture device inflicted upon women by the patriarchy, this is incorrect. While some women did tight-lace, and others found the garment restricting, these women were the minority. Corsets should instead be viewed as a precursor to the modern-day bra. They helped distribute weight borne from wearing many layers of clothing and provided back and bust support. A corset that fits properly is not uncomfortable.