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Corsets Aren't Just for Tiny Women
NEWSLETTER
7/16/20262 min read
This one is for the women that disqualify themselves from certain styles before they even really get started.
I've been sharing more about custom corsets, and a pattern has shown up in my inbox. Women reaching out who are genuinely interested in a corset, but include a metaphorical asterisk in their inquiry. They tell me: They're larger busted, have a fuller waist, or are a bigger person overall. Underneath it, they seem to be asking, is a corset even possible for me?
It’s not surprising. The fashion industry has spent a long time making women in larger bodies feel less than. Many women have absorbed the experience and gotten used to clothing being unavailable to them.
It pisses me off.
At this point, you probably know I’m a bit corset obsessed. Here’s another reason to love them. Corsets are a historical garment. There are hundreds of years of women wearing corsets and stay-like pieces. And larger women existed then too.
Corsets were an undergarment for all different sizes of women. They always have been. To be painfully clear, larger women wore corsets too.
Some perpetuate this idea that corsets are only for smaller women utilizing fashion history. They’ll note that many of the historical corsets that are still around today were fit to a 20” waist and conclude that most women from this time were quite slender.
But digging deeper, we know that the pieces most likely to survive hundreds of years are the ones worn least — a teenager's corset she quickly grew out of, for example. Smaller, less worn, better preserved. The everyday garments of larger women didn't make it to museums the same way. And photographs from that era were retouched to reflect the ideal shape of the time, not unlike what happens today. The historical record we inherited was already edited.
Honestly, saying corsets are only for certain figures is like saying bras are only for certain sizes of women. That sounds ridiculous, right? Bras are something almost every woman wears. So were corsets.
Modern corsets are also adding fuel to this fire. Many modern corset patterns are constructed in a more tubular shape compared to historic ones, which can make them uncomfortable — especially for women with fuller figures. Historical corset patterns often include a much larger difference in waist to hip ratio and did a better job of conforming to a variety of body types.
So, please hear me clearly. Corsets have been, and continue to be, for all shapes of women — or person, really. Men wore them too sometimes.
If you've been quietly talking yourself out of asking about a corset, please allow yourself to at least explore a different clothing experience. Send me a note and let's chat. I always enjoy a corset project, no matter the shape or size.
