Corsets and Crinolines

by Norah Waugh

The first of Miss Waugh's important books on historic costume, "Corsets and Crinolines," set a new standard of accuracy and lively interest. Showing that the silhouette of women's dress has been in a state of continuous change, allied to economic and architectural evolution as well as changing ideas of sexual attractiveness, she itemizes three cycles in the last 400 years in which women's silhouette was blown up to the utmost limit, by artificial means, and then collapsed again to a long straight line. At these points and extremes were invariably considered absurdities and the corsets and hoops were discarded by their users, so that in actuality very few specimens from the earlier periods at least have come down to us.

Genres: Fashion, History, Nonfiction, Sewing, Fashion History, Reference, Costume History

Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Eyehavenofilter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historic costumes are my passion and this one is filled to the brim with photos and patterns of under pinning that really sets a new standard of accuracy and lively interest. It shows the silhouette of women's dress from 1670 through 1912, and what a vast charge occurred during that time period. Continuous change, parallel the "economic and architectural evolution as well as the ever changing ideas of sexual attractiveness." From the corseted made of metal, to the panniers that kept men at least at arms length, to the flat chested flappers, women's shapes were pinched, stuffed, fluffed and bound, to fit the fashion.
(Not that it still isn't done today. )
Simple lightweight bodies became corsets of cane, whalebone, and even steel, while shoulder and hip padding gave way to the structures of farthingales, hoops and the bustle, that even "Sir Mix a Lot" would envy.
Include are structural drawings and patterns always made from existing specimens along with an index and a glossary of terms and materials, appendices on the repair and manufacture of corsets and crinolines and historical notes.
There is so much more to this book including poems to the female form, it's just delightful. The illustrations include drawings, engravings, caricatures, prints, illustrations from catalogues, advertisements, patterns, and photos from the Gallery of English Costumes.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, though it can be hard to follow, slow and careful reading highly reccommended

[Barbara Dubravec]

Wonderful resource! You can tell it's well researched, and has many details, but is still easy for the beginner to read and understand. Great for experienced, academics and beginners alike.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caveats; the patterns are a bitch (you have to really know what you're doing, as they haven't been tested or trued properly) and non-representitive (the crinoline pattern is ball size i.e. ENORMOUS). Also the sources are occasionally presented in the original, untranslated 18th and 19th century French.

Overall, though, this is pretty much the definitive work on the subject, with loads of first-hand sources and drawing on extant examples. All of my 18th century undergarments came out of this one, despite the number of more recent publications and patterns I could have used.

[Phair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice detailed line drawings showing shapes and construction of stays, corsets, girdles, skirt supports, etc from Elizabethan era to early 20th century. Added illustrations include period art, catalog and magazine illustrations, photos of museum pieces. Bulk of the text consists of excerpts from period sources (literature, letters, diaries, inventories, etc) but Waugh does include introductory overviews to each section. Glossary and index.

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for historical costuming! There are patterns you can follow, but strictly for the more experienced. The diagrams, historical drawings and photographs are of extent pieces and unparalleled in the representation of the past. Some of the period quotations are not translated, so be aware of that.

[Sparrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this was written in the 50s, you need some background knowledge in garment construction to follow along with the instructions provided. The contextual examples and descriptions are illuminating!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful dive into the evolution of historical undergarments.

[Allison6876 · Rating 4 out of 5]

good research text

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a good book if you are only looking for research material, but if you are expecting a lot of illustrations or patterning/construction details this isn't the book for you.

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

History and technique combine for a wonderful read. I always enjoy reading about the evolution of the waistline and petticoat. The illustrations are so good that you could make your own corset, if you so desire.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a lot of good information about both the history of body-shaping undergarments and how-to costume direction, but if the book had focused on one or the other instead of both it would have been much stronger.

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly fascinating and informative read with a range of insightful tips and useful patterns. This book brings together contextual knowledge and technical advise is a succinct and cohesive format.

[Jennipher Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book on the history of underpinnings. Wish it had more concrete explanations for structure of garments.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong 3.7

This was an interesting little read, though I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that it only had a few patterns. I was expecting there to be patterns for both corsets and well crinolines. Though the wealth of information was very interesting to learn more of. I have many pattern books and some that really don't explain how to assemble corsets or dresses, or whatever. I will say that is a really nice aspect of this book. The personal commentary from contemporaries was nice at first, even funny but after awhile I got that since the 16th century woman didn't like corsets and men really didn't like farthingales, pantiers (especially pantiers), or bustles.

I mean one guy practically writes a book about it, but with that said I'm probably being to harsh on it. Though it wasn't "everything I wanted and more" it was still a good book to learn from and I'm glad I read it.



One of my favorite patterns!