Talk:Corset

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): MaxBaker1123, Chilogan, Madisonappel. Peer reviewers: Caithurwitz, Ansilvern.

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Men beginning to wear corsets?

How common was the use of corsets by men during the Empire style period (1790 – 1830)? I can’t remember any contemporary depictions showing men with any exaggeratedly narrow waist. If you compensate for the typical three to five layers of clothes their waists become comparable to those of indigenous peoples living in areas so hot that humans don’t need any clothes. Consequentially, these peoples ether practice natural nudity or wear only a loincloth or a clothing item comparable to present Western underpants. Since they wear very little – if anything at all – their waists probably represent the natural state of the male body. It was not until after 1830 that Western men begun to be portrayed with an exaggeratedly narrow waist. Then I can imagine them wearing corsets but before that it would have been superfluous. Anyone who can verify?

2009-08-23 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.114.155.69 (talk) 12:03, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

I know many books which tell about the use of corsets by men during the Empire style period (1790 – 1830), but the only primary source is a printed joke by a lace scene. I have two photos of men by exaggeratedly narrow waist. Haabet 20:56, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/haabet/3335966311/in/set-72157608328223268/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/haabet/3336797276/in/set-72157608328223268/

I consider these to be exceptions from the norm of indigenous peoples in hot climates having natural waists.

2010-02-17 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.247.167.71 (talk) 15:32, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

I think even if they are exceptions to the norm, they are still important to include in the article. This way people can know about, consider, and discuss it. Paigee33 (talk) 11:06, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

Are the Nude pictures really nessesary?

Do we have to have those? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.84.8.67 (talk) 17:04, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not censored. --Qsaw ^(talk) 18:07, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

LOL pwned. 24.251.33.38 (talk) 02:41, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

The Nude pictures are important to show of the effect of corsets.Haabet 16:20, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

image display

Would it make sense to move the column of images on the right, which randomly illustrate corsets, into a gallery section? As they are now they muck up the "edit" buttons for about 5 sections. Huw Powell (talk) 02:12, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Most of the "History" section have need to move to the Corset History article.Haabet 07:55, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

is the image of the 'corset made by corseteirre in 2005' etc etc really needed? it seems like someone is using wikipedia as a free edvertising place...121.208.89.168 (talk) 12:08, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Corset vendors

I've removed the sections containing links to corset vendors, per WP:SPAM. I do not believe that links to vendor web sites are appropriate. --Nuujinn (talk) 22:52, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Seconded. Ian.thomson (talk) 23:14, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

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Bum link

In the Notes section the fourth bullet- "History of Tightlacing". Retrieved August 11, 2015- doesn't link to anything, or it is expired. Without reference to more scholarly work, or anything to back up the claim, no one can trace the work. I don't know what the original site was so I cannot go out to find it but updating sources so that people can follow the thought process.Kennedke (talk) 16:51, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

I have tagged the deadlink at both occurrences. GrindtXX (talk) 00:18, 2 February 2018 (UTC)

New Idea!

My ideas would be to inform readers how the corset evolved over time. I can add some sort of timeline that allows readers to visually see the evolution of the corset and how they are viewed.Chilogan (talk) 00:01, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

Peer Review Suggestions and Questions

This overall article is very objective and encyclopedic in its language. Can more be added to the medical section? This may be a work in progress still, but it seemed quite short. Perhaps the fact the men claimed their corsets helped alleviate back pain could be mentioned in that section. With the Fetish section, "tightlacing" was never explicitly mentioned but it seemed appropriate to either move the explanation of it there or at least mention it to tie the article together. The distinctions between the types of corsets is very interesting and well detailed.Ansilvern (talk) 01:07, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

Western view hatnote

The hatnote states that the article "deal[s] primarily with Western Europe and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject." Weren't corsets almost exclusively worn by women in Western society? I'm unable to find any sources for the time period when corsets were culturally popular that indicate women from Asia, Africa, or other non-European cultures wore corsets. The article Corset controversy states, "Corsets were worn by European women from the late 16th century onward." I think the hatnote is inaccurate and should be removed. — btphelps ^{(talk to me) (what I've done)} 21:16, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• Shortline custom-made overbust corset.png

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 06:21, 30 July 2019 (UTC)

Addition of historical content to article

Hello! In hopes of aiding this article's content, particularly with reference to it's status as vital, I have added referenced content relating to early bodies, stays, and corsets. Image added to illustrate (stays), and links to related Wikipedia articles also made.  

Hope to make it back here soon to add more concerning nineteenth century use of the corset. Many thanks to @Urbanracer34 for suggesting work here! Diary of a Dress Historian (talk) 21:45, 30 July 2023 (UTC)

@Diary of a Dress Historian I'm glad you took my suggestion to heart. Your support for these articles is appreciated. Urbanracer34 (talk) 22:26, 30 July 2023 (UTC)

Situating historical corsetry in reference to modern underwear

Hello all! I noticed throughout the article that corsetry is not considered in the same light as we consider modern undergarments. I think its purpose as a fashion item is somewhat overstated, or just out of balance, because nowadays corsets are worn as fashion items more often than as everyday supportive underwear. I added a short section under the ‘Health effects’ heading titled ‘Comfort’ as a place to balance the issue described above and voice the experience of recreative historians. I also added a section entitled ‘Controversy’ which I think is relevant and necessary as a place to consolidate the longstanding and ongoing myths, accusations, morality, and symbolism of the corset. I think these changes will help readers understand the continuity of clothing over time and voice a woman's understanding of why corsetry was such a longstanding item in the western woman's wardrobe.

I think there are a few other places where certain roles of the corset are overemphasised, or where context, especially about class, isn’t offered and skews the reader's understanding of common practice, but I don’t want to make too many changes without checking in with wider opinion. For instance, I wonder why ‘Waist reduction’ is given it’s own section and isn’t under the banner of ‘Uses’? Sophievanbird (talk) 21:56, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Hello, I appreciate your attention to this article, which could definitely use more love. However, some of your additions are repetitive of other areas of the article, aren't adequately supported by the sources provided, or have other issues.

For instance, the section "Comfort" is largely about the experiences of modern actresses and refuting the idea that their experiences with corsets is equivalent to what was experienced in historical wear. As Wikipedia editors we should avoid making original arguments or doing original research and instead focus on summarizing reliable sources (WP:SYNTH). While the topic of comfort might be worth addressing somewhere in the article, neither source provided really covers this issue, and the issue of modern actresses wearing corsets is addressed in the section "History#Late 20th and 21st century".

Controversy around corsets is also covered under the history section under the subsection "Corset controversy and dress reform", which links to the full corset controversy article. Corset controversy, being noteworthy enough to have its own article, is probably significant enough to warrant its own section, but to avoid repetition this topic should be fully moved to a new section or new information integrated into the old subsection.

Additionally, I encourage you to review WP:RELIABILITY and to fully examine the connection between sources used and statements made as I found that some of the additions you made were not adequately supported by the sources provided. For example, under "Controversy" there is a statement that corsets were mocked during the 18th century and until their decline; the citation is to a blog post which describes a few cartoons mocking corsets and shoes in England in the early 1800s which I don't really find to be a substantive source for this claim. In fact, a source that is used immediately afterwards, "Society, Physicians, and the Corset," actually contradicts this statement:

Toward the end of the 18th century, the corset was so much a part of fashion and culture that its wearers, male or female, wasted very little critical thought on it. It was an instrument of esthetic display and invited few negative comments.

Under the "Support" section I also found that the source cited did not fully support the claim that "The corset was necessary for most women to support their breasts and the weight of heavy skirts." In the cited article, Biggs is making an argument that corsets - or some form of abdominal support - are necessary to correct medical issues ensuing from humanity's evolution to walk upright. So when she describes "a girl or a woman [that] can do without corsets altogether" she is not referring to someone who does not need breast support or skirt support, but rather those who are young enough to have sufficiently strong abdominal muscles to prevent these issues, which is obvious when one reads the preceding sentences ("During development and growth the viscera are not liable to lapse, and the abdominal walls in youth are invariably competent. Therefore I am of opinion that corsets, physiologically, are never actually required before adult life."). So while the quote seems to support the idea that corsets were necessary for women due to the clothing they wore, it is actually taken out of context and she is simply referring to the age of 16 or 17 as the age when women at the time began to wear corsets and makes no reference to breast support or the weight of skirts. It's also important to note that a letter to the editor generally should not be taken without context as a reliable source as they lack editorial oversight and can only be seen as a statement of the writer's opinion (see Wikipedia:Reliable_sources#Editorial_and_opinion_commentary).

The second claim in the "Support" is lacking a citation (WP:WEASEL) and is also a bit confusingly worded.

As for the "Waist reduction" section, I agree that it could potentially be a subsection under "Uses". However, due to the prominence and close connection of the topic of tightlacing, it is also arguably useful to have a section to cover that and direct readers towards that article. Additionally, the "uses" section is more about different areas of life where corsets are used (for fashion, for fetishism, for medical reasons) whereas waist reduction is an aspect of corset usage which could fall under the categories (fashion or fetishism) and doesn't really fit in with that list since it's not an end unto itself, so to speak.

Since these are some of your first contributions to Wikipedia I'll avoid reverting your changes and wait for you to respond and make edits accordingly. Here are some other guidelines for contributing to Wikipedia that I recommend you review:

• Introduction and Getting started
• Contributing to Wikipedia
• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• Simplified Manual of Style
• Writing with a neutral point of view
• Verifiability

Again, I appreciate your interest in contributing and I hope this lengthy response was not overly discouraging. Cheers!

Luiysia (talk) 22:20, 25 December 2025 (UTC)