A Brief History of Innerwear

If fashion had a diary, corsets would take up at least half of its pages because there are only a few garments that have been as controversial, as loved, and as endlessly reinvented as this one. This little piece of controversy has constantly stirred debates and transformed bodies, symbolizing everything from beauty and power to oppression and liberation. The corset never truly went extinct; rather, it simply shapeshifted to match each era’s idea of perfection, something even the biggest brand names in fashion continue to reinterpret. Let’s trace the journey of the corset through the centuries, from cinched silhouettes and fainting couches to TikTok revivals.

Around 1600 BCE, before corsets were even a thing, the Minoans of Crete adorned themselves with garments that resembled corsets. Although calling them “corsets” would be generous, their function was similar to that of a corset - they were used to emphasise the waist and were often worn with full skirts. But here’s what truly makes the two different: while one was about restriction, the other was about celebrating shape. These pieces didn’t aim to shrink women into fashion ideals; instead, they focused on displaying strength, fertility, and vitality. Fast forward nearly two millennia, and we finally see the corset, as we know it, make an entrance during the European Renaissance. Just like the birth of the clock, which led to the tyranny of time, the birth of the stay (a stiffened undergarment reinforced with materials like horn, wood, or whalebone) brought with it discipline and hierarchy.

Unlike the celebratory waist belts of the Minoans, a rigid torso during this period turned into a physical manifestation of those restrictive ideals. If you think about it carefully, even getting dressed for a woman was a symbol of dependence, because laces were usually at the back, meaning women could never tighten their stays without help. By the 17th and 18th centuries, corsets had turned into the daily armour of the European aristocracy. Shaping the torso into an immovable cone, these corsets were often paired with wide pannier skirts and powdered wigs, thus giving rise to the visual spectacle of the Baroque and Rococo courtly aesthetic. But beyond being a striking spectacle, the corsets were a marker of more than just beauty; they were a marker of status, the kind that the biggest brands still sell as exclusivity today. A woman tightly bound in a whalebone corset didn't say “I work day and night on the fields and labour in workshops”, rather, it announced that she had the luxury of leisure, the privilege of fashion and the means to wear it. 

While it did speak of class, these garments also reinforced strict social roles for women. They were expected to play the role of a woman who was beautiful, composed, and contained. These roles, however, didn't stop the rebellion of a few women who bent the rules by loosening their stays when no one was looking, as their letters and diaries revealed. Moving onto the 19th century, we have the most dramatic chapter in the history of corsetry- the Victorian era. Before Kim Kardashian’s Mugler corset moment, and Bridgerton’s empire-line fantasies, there was the iron will of the Victorian waist. The hype around hourglass figures started here and still lives on in the silhouettes created by the biggest brands of today. Waists were pinched, busts lifted, and hips accentuated, and with the invention of steel busks and metal eyelets, corsets became both sturdier and capable of far tighter lacing. This period raised a lot of controversy related to the corset. Critics suggested the corsets were not only harmful to women’s identity but to women themselves.

The tight lacing caused fainting spells and other health concerns ranging from discomfort to long-term physical strain. However, even then, many women paid no heed to these dangers as they saw corsets as a tool of self-presentation, a way to sculpt the fashionable ideal and claim visibility in a society that otherwise kept them confined. The 1920s sounded the death knell for corsets, as the new generation of women wanted freedom, not curves! Yet, just like Cher, "Queen of the Comeback," Corsets refused to die down, because great fashion icons never die. Christian Dior’s legendary “New Look” brought back cinched waists and full skirts; this comeback aligned with the fastest-growing post-war appetite for glamour and femininity. But what made it different was the softer construction, shutting down previous criticism. By the late 20th century, corsets reemerged in punk, goth and high fashion; this time used as outerwear rather than innerwear, reflecting the early stages of the premiumization of fashion, where everyday garments gained luxury status. Madonna wore them on stage, Vivienne Westwood made them art, and the biggest brands on the runway turned corsets into modern icons; this garment no longer meant control; rather, they were about style and spectacle. Today, corsets no longer act as an everyday necessity but as the fastest growing fashion statements seen on red carpets, music festivals and yes, even on TikTok, thus embodying the premiumization of fashion. From Bridgerton-inspired cottage core aesthetics to waist-training fitness influencers, corsets live many lives today.