Corsets: Tight Lacing!

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American Victorian women loved their tiny waistlines and high fashion (and certainly, so did men). I’ve shared a few blog posts, already, about the ills of corsets, the campaigns of physicians and other dress reformers against health-destroying corsets. But billed as health-promoting as well as fashionable, corsets were deeply rooted in American Victorian society, and no one wanted to be the first with a thick waistline. Heaven forbid they “go natural” when waspish waistlines were the height of fashion.

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Corsets: Tight Lacing, or Tightlacing:

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Tightlacing (also called corset training) is the practice of wearing a tightly laced corset. It is done to achieve cosmetic modifications to the figure and posture.

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~ Wikipedia

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1879 Poetry about Corsets

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American Victorians loved poetry. This poetic look at “What Beauty’s Lines in Her Destroy” blames everything that could go amiss with a woman’s appearance and health on blasted tight lacing. Published in The Des Moines Register on June 10, 1879, this poetry illustrates both the Victorian sense of humor and the growing awareness that corsets may well be at the root of a woman’s worst health challenges.