Corsets

Corsets

Corsets were a very important part of a woman's fashion in this era. It helped to shape her figure into a respectable hour glass figure: big bust, tiny waist. However it was very hard to breathe in them and many women became light headed and fainted. Sometimes their bodies were even morphed into this hspae permanently, For example:

There were different types of corset, one famous one was 'The S bend'. This corset shaped the body so that your bust was pushed more forward and it made your bottom stick out, hence why it's called the S bend because it forced your body into an S shape.

However, women were allowed some rest from this torturous attire for a couple of hours every afternoon while they had their afternoon tea, they then wore their 'Tea dresses' which were not structured at all and were made out of a soft fabric which let the body relax.

Other fashion statements

Another fashionable item of clothing at this time was 'Hobble Skirts'. these were skirts that were to the floor and went straight down, which of course did not allow a lot of room for walking and caused the women to hobble.