I’ve often marvelled at the different body shapes which have been in fashion over the decades: from the skinny boyish figure of the 1920s and 1960s to the fabulous hourglass figures of the 1950s. It also got me wondering why people don’t look like that today.
Above: 1950s model and pinup Betty Brosmer. Image courtesy of BettyBrosmer.com
It was quite a revelation to discover the practice of waist training. Of course I’d heard about corsets but I hadn’t realized the body-modifying effects they had on models and the part they played in creating those amazing tiny waists.
It was even more of a surprise to find that this practice is still widely used by models, pin up girls and burlesque performers today.
I was determined to find out exactly what was involved, so when I met Ben Gallivan and discovered that he was an expert on corseting and waist training it was a great opportunity to get the low down on this secretive art …
Here’s what he had to say:
Training corsets can be used for different reasons but ultimately the same end product; body modification. The two main reasons that they are used are no doubt obvious to most; many are used for medical reasons for instance to correct curvature of the spine or suchlike but also they are used more and more often for cosmetic reasons. We’ll be concentrating on the latter here.
Firstly it’s important to know the jargon. Waist training can also be known as corset training, waist cinching and waist reduction; it is more than likely that you’ll hear these phrases or variations on them at some point but essentially they mean exactly the same thing. It is also important to understand that you can’t just pick up any old corset online or in-store and expect it to work wonders on your figure – some are merely fashion corsets and will have no effect at all in shrinking that waist down.
This is where we need to start talking about boning (no laughing at the back, this is serious!). The boning of a corset is what keeps everything in place, and waist training corsets generally have a steel boned structure. Even when the corset is tightly laced up, the steel boning prevents anything sticking out (so no unsightly bulges!) or anything sticking into you. If you find exactly the right corset for waist training it is more than likely that you could eventually take 4 or 5 inches off your current waist size, they really are that effective.
If the whole idea appeals to you, then there are a few things to consider before you get your credit card out and order one from the first site that you come across. Firstly, it is very important that you seek medical advice before going down the waist training road. This isn’t meant to put you off, but it is essential that you get plenty of advice and do your own research into it before taking the final step.
The phrase ‘steel boned corset’ doesn’t exactly conjure up images of beautiful, floral pieces of clothing but that’s just your mind playing tricks with you. Steel boned corsets don’t only come with a choice of gorgeous patterns and strong, sturdy fabrics, but also a choice of underbust or overbust.
Quite self-explanatory, the underbust corset concentrates on solely that – anything under the bust. The breasts won’t be any more supported as with any other clothing, this is purely all about the waist. Therefore, you might want to wear something underneath the corset should you be venturing out in public. The overbust corset not only pulls the waist in (more comfortable than it sounds!), but also supports and accentuates the breasts and they can be worn alone – providing of course you’ve got something on below the belt.
This may all make it a little more confusing and difficult a decision than you were expecting when you first started reading, I’m sure; but if you speak to the right people and look in all the right places then you could be getting that hourglass figure that you’ve always dreamed of in next to not time, and with only the smallest expense.
Ben Gallivan is a dedicated follower of vintage fashions. He writes for Corset-Story, an online corset and accessories store which specialises in waist training corsets as well as those in the fashion and burlesque style.
You might also like: Waist training: a visual history of corsetry
Yuk! I don’t like it that women strap themselves into waist cinchers to fit clothing. Better to tailor the body than the clothing and that comes with good diet and fitness training. I still have my 18 year old physique and waistline at 61 years because I exercise and eat well. With a good body you can look good in a gunny sack as my husband says I do. Also, what do we have to conform to fashion for? Better to be ourselves in all our natural beauty whether large or small; we don’t need cinched waists.
I must admit, I’m not sure it’s something I would choose to do either Annie, but I’m kind of relieved to discover that the tiny waists you saw in 1950s fashion photos weren’t natural!
In the same way we all know that modern fashion images in magazines are photoshopped and manipulated (right or wrong), those 1950s models didn’t spring into this world looking like that either!
Corsets are not intended to cheat your way to being in great shape. It’s a completely different look. It has to do with small waists, sometimes to an unnatural degree (on purpose) and curves. Different methods for different results. Don’t confuse them.
Hi Ava
Thanks for your comments, do you have experience of tight-lacing yourself? 🙂
I do! I’ve been tightlacing for 7 years and since before that I’ve been reading absolutely anything about it I can get my hands on. I write about corsets a fair bit on my blog, and have been posting my best friend’s tightlacing journal too 🙂 http://avastrange.com/category/underwear/corsets-underwear/ I also strongly recommend checking out Lucy’s Corsetry, she has the largest and most well-informed pile of info I have ever seen.
Thanks Ava, I’d be interested to find out more, I’ll check out those links 🙂
We can wear girdles and corsets today if we wish – and many do!
However, we have not been brought up to the 1950s idea that a small waist and completely flat stomach were ideals of beauty. I caught the end of this period and can remember that girdles were “absolutely” necessary once you arrived at the age of 14 or so. At that time it was normal / usual / accepted that your best clothes would be a little (or a lot!) uncomfortable. Therefore women accepted that they needed an ordinary girdle for everyday wear, and a firm control girdle for best wear.
….and that’s not saying anything about those adorable / hated long line bras….oh boy!
It was the same in the Victorian age, except the corsets were tighter, stiffer and longer.
Betty
I believe today that women do make a very major mistake not wearing vintage girdle daily. Wearing a girdle everyday does for sure have some health benefits. It has a lot to do with the fact that we as humans stand erect. Standing and sitting erect has actually a very negative effect on your joints, back, and internal organs. Wearing daily a decent well fitted girdle will off set this negative effect by supporting and holding you internal organs in their normal natural position. You will noticed a dramatic improvement in your posture with no more lower back pains. May people make a major mistake that a girdle should be worn just for getting dressed up and going out, but to truly benefit from being girdled a girdle should be worn everyday even when just relaxing around your home.
Yes it does take a little time to get use to the benefits a vintage girdle offers, but keeping a open mind, getting a well fitted garment going through some girdle training is well worth the time the benefits for sure are there.
Can you exercise with a waist trainer?
No you don’t. You do not have the body of an 18 year old.
If you are 61; you were obviously a dirty hippy who just doesn’t understand.
Why do you attack Annie so angrily? You essentially are calling her a liar, and a “dirty hippy”. What gives you the right, you do not know her at all. If she has worked at it, she could very well have the same measurements as when she was young. I have seen it many times. She obviously advocates exercise and healthy eating as an alternative to unhealthy corseting. She also believes in self love and tolerance of others rather than conforming to these corporate money making images of perfect women that are thrown at us at every turn. You are the one that doesn’t understand. Until you do, keep your name calling to yourself.
Although I don’t agree with Treasures name calling, i sure don’t agree with Annie or you making great assumptions and judgments either. We don’t corset for other people, or to fit into some ideal of beauty (which, recently has been stick thin, not the curves that the corset creates… so already there’s a problem with that argument) we do it because we enjoy it. No one is forcing us to do it. Some of us like the curves it creates (for women who feel they have a very straight or boyish figure), some of us like the “hug” feeling, and I personally like having that little extra back support while I’m at work on my feet for 8 hours a day. Waist training takes serious dedication, and anyone who thinks we do that for anyone but ourselves is sadly mistaken. Corsetting may not be for you, but don’t judge us because we do it.
As for wearing corsets to waist train I doubt very much that corsets would be worn if only women inhabited the planet. Of course it’s done for someone else, male sexual approval and attention. Why do women want to look like 1050’s pin up models? Because men find them sexy and they want men to find them sexy – it’s about attracting men and female competition.
The so called obsession with ‘boyish’ figures (insulting, they are still women) is only within fitness circles and fashion because the clothes drape better on a straight frame to show the actual item not the body and very athletic and strong women will have strong cores and strong hip stabilisers for functional strength. They are still just as fertile as 0.7 whr women but a hell of a lot more stronger in their core thereby reducing pain and injury.
Andi, if you need back support at work this shows your core is weak. Planks, bridges and other core building / strengthening exercises will provide that natural support BUT at a cost to the man eye magnet waist. Ongoing corset support eventually a trophies t
Ongoing corset use provides a lazy environment for the body’s core stabilisers, it’s a false support so the muscles atrophy somewhat leaving weakness.
There has been a more recent obsession with the hourglass figure, which I believe is just as harmful to women as other ‘ideals’. Only around 10% of women have that figure. Does that mean other shaped women can’t get a husband? Of course not. Ultimately women have to decide for themselves how far they are prepared to go to be acceptable to men and to outcompete other women for male attention.
Personally, I think the strong yoga / athletic body of any weight is more likely to be experienced by its owner as a more pleasant living experience, great movement, less pain and stamina/strength more many activities ( just not solely focused on tickling male primitive brain parts).
A lot of women had a ruptured liver in these days, because of the thight corsets.
Ouch!
Proof?
if you have your 18yr old body at 61…that is great. (hard to believe but great)
but it looks like you have your 18yr old mind as well!
what’s the point in judging others for their choices like this…obviously your era worshiped the sun and other such mind blindingly stupid things…so live and let live…
This isnt about be a skinny stick figure like you and lots of people were at 18 years old. its about having WOMANLY Curves not a GIRLISH Figure. I was a bartender at a club/ lounge for years and we were required to wear corsets and it kept my waist slim I got complements all the time on how curvy I was ..
That’s all well and good for those people able to do just that. However in the real world many will struggle to eat healthily and excersize just because life interferes or because they have bad genes. I would say that providing there is no medical reason preventing doing so then why not help yourself look and feel better in whatever way is available to the individual. You can be overweight and feel, and be, as healthy as someone else at their ideal weight. Of course there are limits but as individuals we should not be dictated to by those who are lucky enough to be physically fit and able themselves – were all built differently!
From skull binding to foot binding to tattooing, we humans have apparently been modifying and ornamenting ourselves since we have been human. My two favorite books on the cultural ubiquity of body modification are The Unfashionable Human Body and Body Packaging. >^..^<
oh my goodness, I’d never even heard of skull binding. Don’t like the sound of that very much! Yikes!
My grandmothers and great-grandmothers practiced this and discovered a horrible side effect –fallen uterus. So although I’m intrigued by the look and love pin-up girls, I won’t be trying this at home.
Prolapsed uterus will NOT result from responsible tightlacing unless it’s from the aggravation of a pre-existing issue.
Prolapsed interns happens as a result of particularly stressful (on the body) pregnancies. My Mum has a prolapse and only had myself and my brother (7yrs apart!) and she has never worn girdles let alone corsets. Women in previous years were expected to have as many children as humanly possible and it’s that which truly caused prolapse not corset wearing. I’ve yet to see any medical evidence for prolapse occuring in women who wear corsets but who have never had a child. There is a huge distinction to be made between a woman having weakened ligaments after childbirth eventually developing a prolapse after then corseting and corsets causing prolapse. My Mum’s prolapse actually first occurred not immediately after the pregnancy but later when a bad cold caused her to have a massive sneezing fit. You wouldn’t warn women against sneezing saying it can cause prolapse now would you?
Urrghh why did it autocorrect uterus to interns? Wtf?
Ouch. Really. Seriously. OUUUUUCCHHH! I can’t breathe just reading about it.
What a fantastic article! I myself use corsets as a means of reducing my waist size, after.four years I’m down to 25″ roughly, laced up. If you like, take a peek at my blog scarletpout.blogspot.com/, I document my waist training in amongst alternative fashion posts 🙂
Hi Amii
Thanks for your comment, it’s good to hear from someone who actually does waist training – I’ll definitely check out your blog!
I am a maker of custom corsets. I’m here to tell you that a basic principle of waist training also pertains to tight clothing of any kind, particularly those that are so commonly referred to as “muffin top”-making garments. Wear enough of these styles on a daily cycle and you will gradually notice a displacement of soft body tissue (OK, fat deposits) in the places where there is no restriction, often the back, arms and stomach.
Exploding livers? Wow. I’ll have to look into that…
As much as I love the esthetic beauty of corsets and small waists, it’s not a healthy thing to do to one’s body. Unfortunately I saw a documentary of the use of corsets in the old days, and what most people who do this forget is, your waist and your internal organs are quite soft.
If you do the waist training on long terms, apparently you’re internal organs (stomach, intestins, liver; etc.) move up to the chest area, since they need space in the body as well, they simply cannot function in an unnaturally small waist. And the “fallen uterus”, yes it is very possible that it will happen too.
There’s a reason why we were born with the body proportions we have 🙂
I like fashion corsets, and they seem to be good for my posture. I don’t wear them just chillaxing around though. 🙂
I just wanted to mention… I stumbled on to your page while looking at photos of Playboy Bunnies on Pinterest, I assume somewhere in here I’ll find them… I was looking because a friend told me she’d found herself pinned on the page of a stranger. I’ve noticed that many people refer to the bunny costume as a sort of corset. Let me just be clear that we did not use them as such; although they contained boning that was to keep them in place. Each costume was made to fit the individual who wore it and of hundred of former bunnies I know through the internet, none of them ever felt it was in the least uncomfortable. Many feel it was the most comfortable piece of clothing they ever wore (and some of them are in their 70s now). We were all very thin when hired, and the cleavage, not the waist, was where the illusion came in; most of us stuffed the cups. See explayboybunnies.com (I am not affiliated) for confirmation of this.
I very much appreciate and enjoyed your article regarding waist training. I far prefer maintaining my feminine curves and appreciate the aid of corsets. I once had a naturally small waist but childbearing has altered the natural proportions of my body. I am so very thankful for the resurgence of corsets to help me gain back what was once mine naturally.
That’s good to hear, I’m a bit apple shaped after having a baby so perhaps a corset is what I need!
I would not try waist training but I also think many of the 50s women had natural hourglass figures that nature no longer replicates. The average 50s woman was 37-27-39. Those are my exact measurements and I have never waist trained in my life, and I actually had 3 kids. I am half cuban and I do see many cuban and brazilian women with similar shape so I think its genetic so its not always fake. Also, many women today lose too much weight and so their hourglass figures cannot show. This is particularly common among caucasian women. I am 150 pounds of beautiful hourglass so I guess its a combination of luck, exercise and not starving myself.
What a refreshing comment Kassandra! Sadly when I put on weight it goes straight round my middle making me barrel-shaped 😉 I’m probably the perfect candidate for a corset but just don’t fancy it much…
I wouldnt either. It sounds uncomfortable. If i was your shape id simply lose a bit of weight and show off my legs instead of waist. I have hourglass but I dont have long thin legs. I dont wear mini skirts and theres some cellulite on upper thighs. I will never have thin thighs. Its all about showing off what you do have instead of mutating your body lol.
absolutely! I’m loving sixties-style shift dresses, I don’t have to suck my tummy in then 😉
Those are similar to my measurements (although I get confused about bust measurements and what counts for this purpose, not bra sizing). I am really petite too. When I gained weight while stressed (before I learned about cortisol) I gained tummy fat but kept the little waist ratio / front visual, which I still have after dropping weight. I think I am more of a pear than other types – but I’m me, curvy and hot regardless. 🙂
I’ve always had a hugely dramatic small waist to large hips and chest – naturally. Unfortunately it got me nothing but abuse at school as I was not straight up and down – I wish more people would learn to appreciate this body shape which can be natural.
wow, lucky you! The first place I put weight on is around my tummy so my waist is always the first thing to go! All body types can be wonderful can’t they 🙂
Believe it, I appreciate it. From me, you’d get full attention, zero abuse.
I have pectus excavatum, a disorder that I was born with. My sternum isn’t flat, it dips into my body, the area between by breasts looks like a bowl!! As a result, my ribcage flares at the bottom and my chest contents bulge out into my waist area. I have always had a large waist even when I was 16, at 96 lbs., and 32 -28- 32. No curves at all, I wanted a smaller waist to make things look proportional. I still do!! I bought a tight lacing underbust corset maybe 5 years ago, but the thing is so tricky to put on!! Plus, even though it makes my waist smaller, it pushes my tummy bulge down to my pubic area! Not attractive nor does it feel good. I seriously think I need a different corset, but money is a problem. Plus, I hate feeling hot and sticky and the things require dilligence to put on every day. So, I remain a potato.
Please write me and I will help you 🙂 measurements 36-25-37 5’7″ 125 lbs. I eat and do moderate exercise and consequently this diet keeps me in remission from stage 4 breast cancer. check out the ketogenic diet from Dr. Mercola. I eat a little more veggies and drink Doc Broc from phmiracalliving . com I beat cancer that had a death sentence without chemotherapy. My tummy more defined than many teenagers. The first thing I kicked out of my life was starch sugar. The holidays are coming up and friends will challenge you. I even have friends say “Your too skinny!” I gnore them because I eat very healthy and I think their just may be a little more to that and I do not think they are genuinely worried about my weight. I am learning to IGNORE FINALLY. Slowly but surely I am listening to my own inner voice and trusting it. It’s not easy but you can do it.
I also kicked out anything colorful to drink bought in a grocery store. It usually has artificial sweetener or too much sugar. It is scientifically proven that artificial sweeteners are a culprit in adding to the problem of weight gain. Please research it. I do not eat anything that says fat-free or sugar-free. I drink water and if I didn’t make the juice myself which would be juice from one orange at the most and water or raspberries and water (You get what I mean) I just don’t drink it. Exercise is important but you don’t have to go crazy, it can be jump rope or dancing to a WII game (many people have Wii) a few days a week. HAVE FUN GET DANCE ON BROADWAY OR COUNTRY!!!! You must have a CHEAT DAY EVERY 10 days or when you decide. Eat what ever you want that day and then get back on track.
Keep a journal and you will notice what foods you eat. packaged anything,chips cereal, cookies, crackers all are a no. Remember, I really mean this. People will say stuff to you when you lose weight. It’s crazy how wired most of us are. As you begin to look thinner people will try to get you to eat more, put the food you don’t want in front of you, make comments and you’ll eat it just to pacify them. DON’T. It is okay to do what you want, own it and say”thanks for your opinion I appreciate it, would you like me to tell you what I think about your weight next?????
I wish I could wear corsets, but I’m 140 pounds and I’d look weird and fat as heck 🙁
LOL since when is 140 pounds fat..?? Besides, nipping in your waist is about creating a contrast between your waist and hips/bum/boobs, it has nothing to do with your size 🙂
Depends on height. I think it’s near-obese for someone just a bit under 5’0″.
It depends on body type, not weight. Im 5’4 150lbs but my waist is only 27 inches so I dont look fat, just voluptuous in the right spots. But if I carried weight on my stomach or arms, then 150 would look too heavy.
I’m 140lbs and 5’5″ and I think I’m just fine the way I am 🙂
I’m around 140 and only 5′, but I’m 16 so I’d have to wait a few years before I can start can’t imagine my mother would like me training.
Give yourself a few years and you may find your body reshapes itself and becomes a little more what you like… I’m 5’2, 175 lbs and have a pretty curvy figure before i put my corset on, but in highschool I was pretty much a tube!!
So basically it really depends on the ‘distribution’.
Same case with me…5′ 1″ and 110 lbs, 24 inch waist. I don’t look heavy. And my more straight-ish friends look heavier at that weight.
lol 140lbs? ok. anyway, anyone can wear a corset and train their waist.
Weight has absolutely nothing to do with it.
In fact, curvier women are able to waist train to a more dramatic difference. I weigh 196lbs and i’m in a 30″ steel boned under-bust and my natural waist is 37″. Also, you said below that you are only 16, maybe 17 now, your body as a female can change into your early twenties. Eat clean, lift, and try corsets when your body is more settled into its final shape. : )
The human body comes in all shapes and sizes. Movies and fashion magazines select the shapes that are fashionable at the time. There are women today with small waists, but that is not ultra fashionable today. In the 1950s you would have been more attractive in the selection process.
A bit sad really?
Betty
It may not be fashionable, but men still prefer a slim, curvy pin-up figure to the sleek & chic modern one.
Not all men have the same tastes.
Sorry. That should be most men.
Not even most.
Useless to generalize.
Not all men have the same tastes. Curvy pinup figures are better. Also it not all about weight. It depends on distribution of mass and height I believe.
So true..Even when it is useless to generalize, we have to admit there is a pattern in the female body types popular among men through the decades. True, it was plumper in the 50s, it is skinnier now. But either way, men’s ‘ideal’ figure is curvy- and curvy has nothing to do with weight.
I have a theory about women today and waist size….
—
Today’s fit woman works her abs to death. Muscles in the mid torso are increased all the way around (front and sides) When you look at a female bodybuilder (my daughter is in physique contests all the time) all those competitive women are hard core muscular in the midsection and have no hips. Hips are the rounded fat deposits above the butt. In the 50’s men loved hips on a woman and women took pride in their rounded hips — that’s what gave them the hour-glass figure. Todays fit woman is not curvy, she’s muscular and pretty straight in a frontal view.
I have stretchy, front fastening waist trimmers, but the trouble is, they cause a bulge under my arms! I’m not even fat, but the excess has to go somewhere!
An Angel Bra will smooth that down and give a seamless look. Paired witht he Body Magic.
I’ve wanted to waist train but how do I conceal the fat bludge I get from the top of my back with those trainers and corsets. It doesn’t look flattering at all under my clothes.
Drink 5 glasses of green tea a day….
Trust me, it brought me down to 22 inches in just 3 months…..
”Miracle drink”
BTW, the model is leaning forward, thus creating an optical illusion. And it appears she has a hip-padded swimsuit, which I’m for, cute! Why not?! 😉 (Well, maybe not for swimming, but under/in other clothes.)
Five 1960s Burlesque Icons - Burlexe
[…] (Main image from We Heart Vintage) […]
the model is wearing a very soft, lightly boned underbust corset. The leaning forward is basically the posture a very very tight laced corset will force you into. As a corset maker and a beginner of waist training myself, I can notise these things pretty easily. Beautiful lady, and really nice suit though!
No. If you google her, there are photos of her in a bikini. Same body.
If you are a constant waist trainer, you create a semi permanent change to the shape of your body – basically Betty without a corset didn’t look much different because it can change your actual shape over time, but only if you keep wearing corsets on a regular basis.
Waist Idols and How to Get Waisted |
[…] How did 1950s models get such tiny waists? The low down on waist training […]
The model shown above naturally has an extreme hourglass shape, plus the corset makes her waist looks even smaller ofcourse. Just corset training alone does not create an hourglass figure. It is mainly genetics.
And her waist looks so tiny it is freaky 😮 She doesn’t really need that corset.
I think that the obsession with tiny waists is very disturbing and sick. While a corset can make you look smaller, it is not necessary to having a voluptuous hourglass figure. Lots of women have sexy hourglass figures without the use of corsets. In my opinion, a corset deforms the natural proportions of a woman’s body.
I think that the obsession with tiny waists is very disturbing and sick. While a corset can make you look smaller, it is not necessary to having a voluptuous hourglass figure. Lots of women have sexy hourglass figures without the use of corsets. In my opinion, a corset deforms the natural proportions of a woman’s body.
PoloMan
I’m sorry, but history is against you! For thousands of years women have been coloring their skin, hair and altering the real of or perceived shape of their bodies. All this to catch a better/stronger/richer male.
Also, I’ve met men who speak like you about ” wanting women’s natural body” and then their eyes fall out of their head when they see a long legged, high heeled women with a wonderbra under the chin, tight skirt over waist and buttocks. Actions are stronger than words!
I could give more examples, but I’ll wait for other posters to join in.
Betty
How did 1950s models get such tiny waists? The low down on waist training | We Heart Vintage blog: retro fashion, cinema and photography | hypnoticcurvesboutique
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I don’t want to jump into an argument I don’t have time to read to see who is arguing what, but studies starting with Singh (1993) and expanded & replicated through Furnham (2002) and since show that cross-culturally both men and women rate a waist-hip ratio of 0.5 to 0.7 as most attractive. This includes subjects in places where a heavier body type is preferred, such as Uganda. Please note that this does NOT delve into *why*.
I suspect that study is complete crap. When I was in my 20s, I was 5’7″, weighed about 140 pounds, and measured 36-26-36. That’s a 0.73, above your “max” attractive ratio. If I understand correctly, your hypothesis is that I would have been considered more attractive had I had an 18″-22″ waist. Frankly, I find that assertion ridiculous. I also don’t know a single adult human being who naturally has a 36-18-36 figure.
At 0.73 you naturally have that attractive shape. You wouldn’t need to have an 18″ waist to fit the range. My natural waist is 26″ and hips are 38″ which puts me at 0.68. The study results should be written the other way around actually. 0.7 is the lower number in this situation. 0.5 is the most extreme ratio people voted as attractive when shown photos of people with those ratios. It’s possible for me to get in the 0.5-0.6 range just by wearing one of my corsets at 22″. There was a point when I was naturally 24″ waist, 36″ hips and that put me at 0.66
I want to try it, I hate my apple shape body
Check Out The Crazy Ways The “Ideal” Body Type Has Changed Over The Last Century – Beauty tips with ART
[…] era emphasized large busts and hips, but the tiny waist makes its uncomfortable return. Our old friend the corset saw something of a resurgence around this time […]
While this is all “fine and dandy”, I have to agree with one of the comments on here that read what happen to dieting and exercising? This is no “surprise” to me, I always knew these 1950 Plus Models wore corsets to accentuate their tiny wastes. It is a no-brainier. What interests me more is what do the men (if any of you are reading) think of this corset(s). A not so thin or tiny wasted women literally squeezes into one of these garments, now she looks great. What happens when she gets intimate with the man and its time for this corset to come off. Will the man be unpleasantly surprised or even disappointed to realize that the women is not who she appeared to be. Will that be a turn off where all of the extra fat and pounds comes out..? Any comments from men would be appreciated. Not hating the corset , just curious..
I wear corsets for myself. I couldn’t care any less what my boyfriend thinks of how I look in or out of it, nor would I care what my girlfriend would think if I were in a relationship with a woman (I’m bisexual and wish people would stop assuming there has to be a man involved somewhere).
I repeat again: IT IS NOT ABOUT MEN. It is not about what others think of us. We have autonomy you know. We don’t exist purely for men nor purely for others. Stop reducing us down to our physicality. All of us are people with minds and not just bodies. It’s incredibly shallow to ignore that.
The shape of a woman’s BODY has NEVER been what determines whether she is beautiful or not!! Wake the hell UP people and introduce yourselves to reality!!!!!!! A woman’s CHARACTER is what makes her either beautiful or ugly, and ANYONE who would put someone down, or even SUGGEST there is anything wrong with someone’s body is themselves one of the UGLIEST people born!
Interesting subject and blog! There seems to be a resurgence in the small waistline. I have seen TV advertisements lately of waist trainers. When I was young in the 50’s I was lucky enough to have had a natural small waistline with my 5’6″ frame 36″ 21″ 34″ 110 lbs I was a Model but never wore a corset, only cinch belts that made my waistline 19″ I still have the belts but certainly can’t wear them anymore! Most bodies change when you have children. I kept my shape fairly good with a 23″ waist till I was about 45. I did have health issues from wearing my cinch belts, it caused me reflux and later in life the opening to my stomach prolapsed causing me to have Barrett’s esophagus. Everyone has a different skeletal frame and that’s what gives you your figure…. however it’s up to you to eat and excercise to keep healthy….and of course that can all change with health issues.
Love the dialog! Informative and entertaining.
For all the ladies that read this: A man – ANY man – notices your inherent ‘womanliness’ first (eyes, hair, breasts, hips, legs…sometimes feet… whatever gets them going) And regardless of the extra pounds or flaws you think matter to us that is not why men love women. There is more to you than a pin-up image can sustain. Let us love you for who you ate. A mature gentleman will find, and understand, what a beautiful, albeit, complex person you are. Power to those that like this practice. Power also to them that know themselves and are OK with it….jm2¢.
‘Who you are…’ I hate typos!
When I was a child my Great Aunt May would come to visit every year. Aunt May was in her 70’s, was quite over weight, and snored loudly in her sleep, but the thing that I found most amazing about Aunt May was her corset. It was a large white garment, with what seemed like 50 hooks. It took Aunt May an astounding amount of time to take off that corset every night, and even longer to put it on again the next morning. The corset didn’t give her an hour glass figure, but it did keep her from looking sloppy.
Check Out The Crazy Ways The "Ideal" Body Type Has Changed Over The Last Century - Super Tasty Recipes
[…] era emphasized large busts and hips, but the tiny waist makes its uncomfortable return. Our old friend the corset saw something of a resurgence around this time […]
First of all, thank you so much for sharing this article with us about fashion. As far I think gothic clothing for women is one of the best fashion trends in the world. Especially, corset is used by every age of women.
I also feel that wearing a corset balances the water in our bodies. Do you know why women are so fat and out of shape? Because they don’t wear a corset to keep themselves from overeating.
Memes and Trends, Dior – Olga A
[…] (2012). How Did 1950s Models Get Such Tiny Waists? The Low Down On Waist Training. Available at: http://weheartvintage.co/2012/07/16/how-did-1950s-models-get-such-tiny-waists-the-low-down-on-waist-… (Accessed: 15 May […]
Baroque meme/baby trend – Doris
[…] (2012). How Did 1950s Models Get Such Tiny Waists? The Low Down On Waist Training. Available at: http://weheartvintage.co/2012/07/16/how-did-1950s-models-get-such-tiny-waists-the-low-down-on-waist-… (Accessed: 15 May […]
ANYONE – SO corset helps overweight gut which would be majorally uncomfortable or for small or average waists to make them smaller?
Anything like this for upper thighs?
I personally think that model looks weird! Her waist is too small! If she was a 22 – 26 she would look great, but she looks bizarre with that waist, what was it? Like 10 – 15 inches?! But hey, maybe some people like it? To each her own.
Until recently a family member in her 80’s still wore a girdle because that was what she thought her husband wanted. I see young women now not only wearing waist trainers, ( see Kardashians) but also having a rib resection to make their waist look smaller. Spanx is a good option and not nearly so uncomfortable or costly.