#i’m gonna go on a fucking rant about modern shapewear when i have the spoons for it

[discountalien-pancake]

Historical corsets ≠ modern elastic shapewear. Body talk below the cut.

The most similar comparison would be a modern longline bra, and even then it’s not the same because most modern bras are elasticated. Corsets are cut to fit you. They are cut. To fit. The person wearing them! What I mean by that is Spanx and other elastic shapewear is literally cut so much smaller in circumference than the body meant to fit into it. Corsets were sized smaller only at the waist, where the body is capable of squishing around quite a bit. The hips and bust were generally cut to either fit or be larger than the actual measurements of the person!

A corset is recommended to measure 4” smaller at the waist than the person it is intended for. 2” of that is to be left open at the back as gap. This can increase or decrease as needed as the shape of the wearer changes day to day. The remaining 2” are the standard reduction for an average adult cis woman.

But crucially, a corset is self-supporting. It stays up on its own. You don’t need shoulder straps or grippy silicone or a super tight elastic band to keep itself up the way a modern bra does. You wanna know why? Because it sits on your fucking hips. It’s not going anywhere. Even if you only lace it down to where you get no reduction whatsoever, it will not slip down or fall off. You do not need to reduce anything when wearing a corset! You can make/buy a corset that fits you exactly with no reduction!

The same is not true of a modern bra. The band size is physically always smaller than your actual body. You cannot functionally wear a modern bra that has a band that is actually as long as your underbust circumference because it will gape. The straps are usually also elastic, which means if you tighten them to the point they stay up, they are digging into your shoulders and if you loosen them until they’re comfortable they slide right off.

I’m not saying corsets work for everyone or that they are universally comfortable. There’s definitely things about them that some people will never be comfortable with, just on a sensory level. But they are not spanx, which is the fucking devil.