Curiosities ~
Interesting facts and documents

I’ve collected some websites for you to visit if you want to learn more about the business, design, history and evolving purpose of the corset.  Feel free to send other links my way and I’ll curate a collection here.

The Corset Stays the Course

A profile of New York City’s corset retailer Orchard Corset, in business since 1968.

A Vancouver corset historian and corsetiere

“The Antique Corset Museum collection has grown to become the largest private collection of it’s kind with over 350 examples of corsets plus all of the other foundation garments and underpinnings a lady would use in her wardrobe over the centuries.”

Why the Corset Keeps Coming Back

“As we trade sweatpants for formality and fun, corsets are one of the things to reign supreme.”

Woven Corsets! Visiting the Corset Museum in Heubach, Germany

“One of the highlights of 2018 was my trip to the Structuring Fashion conference in Munich, Germany. An optional side trip to the Miedermuseum in Heubach was offered, and since I’d vowed to do All The Things offered as part of this trip, I took it. And I’m so glad I did!

The Underpinnings Museum

“This exhibition is split into chapters, which can either be navigated page by page or through your area of interest with a full list of links at the bottom of each page. Clicking on images will take you to their dedicated object page, where you can learn about the individual piece in detail.  All photography by Tigz Rice Studios.  Curation, object descriptions and commentary (highlighted in white) by Karolina Laskowska.  Introduction by Lorraine Smith.  Extended essay by Marianne Faulkner. Click here for the website.

The Symington Corset Museum Studies exhibition website

“Welcome to the Symington Corset Exhibition Site. Feel free to browse the gallery, timeline, oral histories and information about both the Symington Company and Miss Perry Gold, the matriarch of the workforce, but also the creation and design of the exhibit.”

Bound By Fashion:  the Corset in European Art

“Who among us hasn’t wondered at one time or another about the lengths some people go in order to be fashionable? John Garton’s Clark University art history seminar look’s at the Museum’s collection of European painting’s to guide us through depictions of female fashion from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, probing the psychological and physiological dimensions of binding fashion (the corset) in the lives of women.”  An exhibition that ran from September 2009 to January 2010 in the Worcester Art Museum.

Corsets and Bustles from 1880-90 – the Move from Over-Structured Opulence to the ‘Healthy Corset’

“The idea of wearing ‘healthy corsets‘ is an alien and contradictory concept to us. But in the late 19th century, innovations in design and the widespread advertising of less restricting styles were evidence of a new way of thinking which was to contribute to major changes in fashionable dress.”

Southern Utah museum features corsets throughout history

“Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), on the campus of Southern Utah University, is currently presenting a historical timeline and contemporary perspectives of corsetry with the exhibition, “The Corset as Art: Past & Present.”  (exhibit that ran through September 2021)

Corsetiere.net – about Spirella corsets

corsetiere.net  another great resource, this one in the U.K.:  “Our interest goes back to my husband’s aunt who ran a corset shop in Glasgow through the 1960s to 70s. This introduced us to Spirella and their legion of corsetieres. We initially planned to keep the memories of these ladies alive and our web site and researches have grown from there.”

How Products Are Made:  Corset

This article provides much detail on the evolution of the corset over the years, back to ancient times.

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Corset.html