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So we're watching "Outlander" and in that era, all the women wore corsets. When asked in an interview about what clothing made the actor feel most "in character", the answer was putting on the corset.
This actor who played Claire, is a former runway model and very thin so why would she even NEED a corset, even in the past? She probably doesn't even need a bra, though my understanding is the corset functioned as a bra.
Was there any reason for a thin woman to wear a corset?
I'm old enough to remember my mother wearing a girdle but she had a belly from childbearing. Later in life she quit wearing it...
So we're watching "Outlander" and in that era, all the women wore corsets. When asked in an interview about what clothing made the actor feel most "in character", the answer was putting on the corset.
This actor who played Claire, is a former runway model and very thin so why would she even NEED a corset, even in the past? She probably doesn't even need a bra, though my understanding is the corset functioned as a bra.
Was there any reason for a thin woman to wear a corset?
I'm old enough to remember my mother wearing a girdle but she had a belly from childbearing. Later in life she quit wearing it...
If you notice all the low cut dresses, well, wearing a corset under them would shove your "girls" up so they would be shown nicely at the neckline. After all, brassieres weren't invented until 1889.
The purpose of the corset was to. create an exaggerated hourglass figure. So a thin woman would still want to cinch in her waist, to make it look smaller. If she had a small bust, there's not much the corset could do for that. Not everyone had the ideal Victorian figure: full on top with a small waist. When you think about it, not much has changed, lol. Full on top with a small waist was still popular through the 90's. Now it seems like the trend is for "thick" everywhere.
My daughter wears corsets sometimes. She's fairly thin, so it's not to make her look smaller. She likes to wear Victorian clothes and you need a corset to achieve the right shape. She also has to wear a bustle cage to hold the skirts up.
I think what would have been worn during the years Outlander was supposed to be set in were stays, which would have created a rounded figure and lifted the breasts, but not made the exaggerated hourglass figure that corsets create.
The purpose of the corset was to. create an exaggerated hourglass figure. So a thin woman would still want to cinch in her waist, to make it look smaller. If she had a small bust, there's not much the corset could do for that. Not everyone had the ideal Victorian figure: full on top with a small waist. When you think about it, not much has changed, lol. Full on top with a small waist was still popular through the 90's. Now it seems like the trend is for "thick" everywhere.
Actually, women would sew in ruffles of fabric at the bottom of the cup of the bust in the corset to act like a push-up bra. Where there's a will, there's a way.
I've been doing Renaissance Faires for about 20 years. When I started out, I was a size 8 (a little *too* thin, looking back on pictures from then), and I wore a corset. It was to achieve the figure that was in style in that era--and they *do* push up the girls (I was a B-cup at the time, but in a corset, you'd swear I was a D-cup.)
Corsets are still sold - for women who want to improve their silhouette. They just don't look the same.
I have one at home to wear with my formal long gowns. The gowns are fitted and corset makes them look flawless.
BTW: anytime I wear dress or skirt, I also wear pantyhose no matter how hot is outside. Even when I am free to choose, I simply don't like to go bare-legged (except when wearing long dress/skirt for a beach kind of outings). Real 100% silk in Summer keeps my legs cool.
First, people wear things because fashion dictated it. Why did all men use to ear hats, before JFK?
Second, even thin women may not have had the unrealistically tiny waist that a corset would create.
Third, you don't know for a fact that all thin women would have worn corsets. You're using an example of a contemporary actress, where it's part of a costume.
By the way, women also wore girdles so their butts wouldn't jiggle and to hook up stockings, not just to appear thin.
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