THE VICTORIAN INFLUENCE ON THE CORSET

BY MISTRESS MICHELLE

[ part 2 ]

`An elastic stiffening of a vegetable substance has been invented, instead of that spiral brasswire now used for shoulder straps, glove tops, corsets etc ...

`Patent caoutchouc instantaneous closing corsets; this novel application of India rubber is by far the most extraordinary improvement that has ever been effected.'

These advertisements appeared in 1836 ... yet by no means all women took advantage of the comparative relaxation then available. Five years later a fashion magazine was reporting:

`The modern stay extends not only over the bosom but also all over the abdomen and back down to the hips; besides being garnished with whalebone to say nothing of an immense wooden, metal or whalebone busk passing in front from the tops of the stays to the bottom; they have been growing in length by degrees; the gait of the Englishwoman is generally stiff and awkward there being no bend or elasticity of the body on account of the form of her stays.'

During the next ten or fifteen years the battle between the old rigidity and the newer, more elastic materials continued. There came `The Corset Amazone' which by the aid of elastic lacings yields to every respiration, and by pulling a concealed cord can be shortened three inches.'

`The elastic bodice with front fastenings was another substitute. Yet, during the same period, there was advertising for `100 patterns of stays for ladies and 50 for children 7/-for eighteen inch waist rising 6d. an inch.'

We come now to an interesting point. Despite all the advertising and all that has been written about the astonishing slim waists that tight-lacing produced, we must ask, were the Victorians deluding themselves? At least to quite a considerable extent. One must ask this in view of a most interesting exerpt from Elizabeth Ewing's fascinating book, `Fashion in Underwear!'

`A revealing footnote to these and a host of other accounts of Victorian tight lacing has been provided in our time by Doris Langley Moore, a leading costume expert. In order to find out the facts about the reputed eighteen inch waist, she measured more than a thousand waisted women's costumes from the Victorian period. She failed to find any less than 201/2 inches round. The Gallery of English Costume, Manchester, bears out her findings; it has no dress on show which measures less than 21 inches at the waistline. To minimise measurements is an enduring and not wholly unendearing vanity - did the Victorians indulge in self-delusions about their waists in the way that many substantial ladies of today will, without batting an eyelid, declare themselves size twelve and never never admit to being a self evident sixteen?'

Be that as it may, there is no doubt at all that there was a vast amount of very tight lacing and corseting right through the 19th century. And, after all, a 21 inch waist is a pretty slim one, is it not?

By 1867 there was a `glove fitting corset' which had front fastenings held together bya spring latch. There was also, about this time a French back-fastening corset with a long steel busk down the front. Until 1875 the corset, as a general rule, had remained fairly short. Now it began to lengthen to give a long, slender figure. Apart from the physical, some saw it had a moral restraining influence as well. `It is an ever present monitor indirectly bidding its wearer to exercise self restraint; it is evident of a well disciplined mind and well regulated feelings.' Further evidence of the fantasy world in which so many Victorians seem to have lived!

In around 1887 came an innovation which was to have a marked erotic effect on the minds of men for generations to come. The suspender was invented. Hitherto, of course, garters had held up stockings but now suspenders of satin and elastic with clips for the stocking tops made their appearance. Great exciteent was caused by Offenbach's Grand Opera Bouffe, presented at Leicester Square with `French dancers with naked thighs with suspenders stretched across them to keep up the stockings.

At first these suspenders were not always attached to the corset, but to a separate harness which went over the shoulders and crossed at the waist. A variation was a waist belt worn over the corset.. . which was very much like the small suspender belt which was to make its appearance many years later. By and large, however, it was the corset which became the suspender and stocking holder at this stage . . . and, practical as it might have been in its origination, its sexy effect was, and still is most powerful.

The colouring of corsets became very popular during the 1880's and they came to be made of luxurious materials like silk, satin or brocade. For some reason yellow became a favourite colour in the 1880's . . . and large frills and rosettes were attached in abundance. In short, the corset had become not only a garment to emphasise the lines of the figure . . . thrusting out the breasts and buttocks while it slimmed the waist . . . it had now developed into something which had a sexual attraction of its own. Men fell for it hook, line and sinker.

The majority did so as it made their lady-love more femininely shapely. Also the very restrictive nature of it gave them a feeling of possessive superiority. In a way, the body of the woman they desired was `caged' . . . held ready to be released by them and sub-sequently enjoyed.

On the other hand, there were, and are today, a considerable number of men who view the corset quite differently. Strange as it may seem, for them it is not a garment which renders the woman submissive, quite the contrary in their view it emphasises their dominance! The `Mistress' whom they yearn to prostrate themselves before is a woman of Junoesque proportions which are enhanced by the tightly laced corset she wears. Most probably the corset is one of black leather . . . a material which appeals to the masochistically minded. Naturally there were women and brothels who catered for such men and they knew how to dress appropriately to satisfy their clients, many of whom paid handsomely for the privilege of becoming made -temporarily at least into submissives. For, as is well known, the Victorian reign was not only the age of the corset, it was an age of flagellomania as well. Indeed, it became known as the `Vice Anglais'. The following is an account (possibly partly fictional) given by a young aristrocratic entleman who had a taste for such things nd could afford to indulge them in a well-quipped brothel: `The Madame who received me was a woman of appropriately severe looks which immediately sent a shiver of mingled apprehension and pleasure up and down my spine. I would have guessed her age to be something like 45 years, which was perhaps rather older than I would have preferred. She was garbed in a corset of black satin, heavily reinfoced with whalebone which stretched from her ample breasts - which were thrust high by it - down to the tops of her strong white thighs. The waisting was tight enough to give her an hour-glass effect, but was not over-tight. Black satin and elastic suspen-ders, taut to her stockings, were in stark contrast to her bare flesh. There were four attached to each stocking. The ankle boots she wore had something like a dozen buttons on them and the heels were unusually high.

She ordered me to divest myself of my clothing, which I did promptly and she then produced a birch-rod composed of about half a dozen slim switches, held together by a red ribbon binding at the handle end. She announced she was going to give me half a dozen strokes `as a preliminary' and as a means of impressing her authority on me. These strokes I received kneeling over a low stool. They stung and smarted painfully, but I made not a sound. I am hardened to such things and, strange as it may seem to many, pain provided it is kept within limits - gives me pleasure. No doubt, by that preliminary beating, the Madame was also testing out my powers of endurance.

"I have many girls here to serve me," she then announced, "but you, abased wretch that you are, are going to be honoured by serving one of them!"

"I was both intrigued and excited by this. It was a diversion I had not experienced before. The Madame then conducted me to another room where I found waiting one of the young ladies of her house. She was pretty, about 20 or so and quite naked. This girl went on her knees before the Madame but was told to rise. It was I who had to go on my knees before the girl. In effect I had been made the slave of the slave . . . and, upon Madame's orders and under her watchful eyes,I had to kiss and tongue the girl from her feet up to her waist line. Naturally enough it was an exercise which roused me greatly and I received several slashing strokes of the birch which were intended, no doubt, to subdue my ardour. If anything, they had the opposite effect!

My final act of abasement was to have to garb the girl in similar fashion to the Madame. That is to say, fasten on and lace up a short, waist-nipping corset . . . attach the suspenders to stockings which I had previously drawn on . . . and then button up her black boots. Perhaps something of my agitation can be imagined. All of her body was constantly exposed to my gaze and repeatedly my hands and fingers were forced to come into contact with her young flesh. Yet . . . I knew well enough . . . that young body would ultimately be denied me. A slave such as myself would never be permitted to enjoy such a thing. That, believe me dear reader, is how I wished it to be difficult though you may find it to understand.

Throughout this dressing process, the Madame's orders were precise and strict. If ever I was slow or erred, the birch was swift to fall. Again and again it contorted me with fiery pain. When lacing was not tight enough ... or suspenders not taut enough . . . buttons clumsily hooked. But I struggled on till my task was complete.

The climax of my humiliation and suffering came when the girl was permitted to flog me with the birch for the `honour' I had been giving in so serving her. The torment became almost unbearable . . . and the ultimate release I sought came suddenly and spontaneously. The flogging ceased immediately. After numerous salves had been applied to my lacerated flesh I was permitted to leave. And I left well satisfied."

This account well illustrates the strong, erotic power of the corset. Here it is doubly strong, for two women are encased in the tight leather. There can be little doubt that the author's bizarre satisfaction would have been considerably lessened if he had undergone this treatment in the absence of a garment which had such special significance for him.

The corset as an erotic garment continued into the Edwardian era . . . and, of course, beyond that. It still had its practical uses for shaping the figure but its severity lessened.