During
the 19th century the way people dressed and displayed themselves was
very important. This was at a time when class was a big issue; so many middle
class people would buy the best and most expensive clothes. They did not want
to be associated with the working class who were the people who worked for them
and they did not want to socialise with them. In order to impress their peers,
society would go to great lengths to come out on top. At this time women could
have up to 8 changes a day[1];
because they viewed clothing as having so much importance they changed for each
event in the day [1.1].
[1.1] various styles of clothing of 19th
C
For
women good grooming and modish hairstyles were a key element in their function
of identity and psychic survival. Clothes got to a point where the women’s
wardrobe became so organized that there were significant differences within a
code and they represented status symbols within a hierarchy.[2]
Women were forced to conform to the rules of society, they did not have much of
a life as most of their day was made up of wardrobe changes and sometimes it
could take up to 2 hours for them to get ready, because of the number of layers
of clothing they had to wear. They wore an average of 14-16 layers of
underclothing which was an extra 2-3lbs of weight added solely onto the waist
and the average woman’s winter street costume weighed 37lbs.[3]
So much work was put into these women, it sounds ridiculous because it was all
to put on a front and display how wealthy and well bred they all were. It was not
because they saw it as being pleasurable; it had been drilled into them since birth
to wear tightly laced corsets and marry a rich, well-bred man to live a good
life.
During
this period women emphasized their bosoms and behinds, but their legs were
completely hidden and it was their face that suggested what the garment was
hiding. "Clothing is ambivalent. It reveals
as it veils, and showcases the sexually charged body parts it conceals. Thus it
becomes a crucial tool in seduction and yet constitutes the ultimate obstacle
to desire."[4] As men were the dominant characters at this time and were
seen as better than women, they just looked on women as sexual objects. The
most alluring part of a woman, as it is still today, is the hour-glass figure created
by wearing a corset.
For many years, especially through the 19th century,
women were obliged to wear corsets as they were told it helped their posture,
supported their back and all in all created the “ideal” woman. The act of
lacing and unlacing a woman’s corset was treated as a symbol of sexual
intercourse.[5] Most women wore corsets their whole life, as it was
considered the norm. A quote from Anna Sewell (author of Black Beauty)
describes: “Humans are enslaved like horses and horses are
made into machines”[6]. Essentially meaning that
people have become slaves to society, because they choose to conform to what is
considered acceptable and the norm, to a certain extent, because slaves are to
society much as horses are to us.
Ashley J
[1] Perrot P, Bienvenu R,
translator. Fashioning the Bourgeoisie:
The history of the clothing in the nineteenth century. Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press; 1994.p.91
[2] Ibid.p.8-9
[3] Kunzle D. Fashion & Fetishism: Corsets:
Tight-lacing & other forms of body sculpture. United Kingdom: Sutton
Publishing Ltd; 2004. p.38
[4] Perrot P., Bienvenu R.,
translator. op. cit., p.12
[5] Steele V., The Corset: A Cultural History. New Haven (CT): Yale University
Press; 2001. p.45
[6]
Dorre G., M., Horses and Corsets: Black Beauty,
Dress Reform, and the Fashioning of the Victorian Woman. Victorian Literature and Culture. 2002; 1060-1503 (02): 157-178. P.168
