Corset
A corset is a close-fitting undergarment stiffened with boning and laced tight to shape the torso, especially the waist.
A corset shapes the body with vertical bones, once whalebone (baleen) and later steel, sewn into channels of strong cloth, and with lacing, usually at the back. Nineteenth-century corsets curved to the body with gores and a front busk, a flat steel fastening.
How is it different from stays?
“Corset” became the usual English word in the nineteenth century. Earlier, stiffened bodices were called stays and had a different, more conical shape.
Sources
- Corset (AAT 300210582). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Corset (Q180225). Wikidata
See also
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