"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 the 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. This book is a study of these shapes and how they were produced, how simple laced bodices became corsets of cane, whalebone, and steel, while padding at shoulders and hips gave way to the structures of farthingales, hoops and bustles. Since paintings, prints and photographs of these props are not sufficient to convey their three-dimensional form, Miss Waugh has provided structural drawings and patterns, always made from existing specimens. Each period is enlivened by quotations from contemporary sources -- from letters, diaries, satiric poems, tailors' and dressmakers' bills, as well as journalists' accounts, often very amusing in themselves. These describe the garments and their under-structures and show how they were viewed by the people who saw them. Added are an index, a glossary of terms and materials, appendices on the repair and manufacture of corsets and crinolines, on whalebone and the whale fishery that supported it." --

Ever since Eve's first blush, clothes have girded, graced and transformed the female physique. Fascinating and insightful, The Corset and the Crinoline is an illustrated history of clothing's attendant underpinnings—especially those that whittled the female waist to its most slender proportions. Reproduced from a rare 1868 fashion publication, each page reveals how the use of wood, whalebone, steel, hoops, and tight laces had a gripping influence on shaping the figures of women from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Vienna. Enlivened by excerpts from authentic letters, magazine articles, and satiric poems, over fifty exquisite black-and-white engravings highlight the wardrobes—and what was worn underneath them—of a Persian dancing girl, an ancient Egyptian woman, a Roman lady of high rank, Queen Elizabeth, Marie de Medici, a woman of the French revolutionary period, and many more. Costume designers, artists, and anyone interested in the history of fashion will be captivated!

This is an invaluable treatise on corsets and crinoline. Popular mainly in the 1800s, the corset is a woman's tightly fitting undergarment worn to shape the figure, and the crinoline is a stiff petticoat used to hold out a woman's skirt. This work presents the history of these pieces of clothing, their construction, use, and their impact on shaping the body. In addition, the writer aimed to provide the readers with all the essential information about the harm corsets can cause to women's bodies as they mold their waist and restrict their moment for as long as they're wearing them. This work talks about how one can acquire the desirable without causing any injury to the health.

Corsets and Crinolines is a study of the changing shapes of women's dress and how these were produced, how simple laced bodices became corsets of cane, whale-bone and steel, while padding at shoulders and hips gave way to the structures of farthingales, hoops and bustles. Added are contemporary tailors and dressmakers accounts, illustrations, index, a glossary of terms and materials, appendices on the repair and manufacture of corsets and crinolines.

Two dolls model 14 elegant ensembles with billowing skirts. Includes elegant dinner and ball gowns, an equestrienne outfit, a lavish bridal gown, and more. Male figures in period attire accompany the ladies.

Profusely illustrated fashion history examines how the use of wood, whalebone, steel, hoops, and tight laces had a gripping influence on shaping the figures of women from ancient Greece to 19th-century Vienna.

The genius of the young artist who has illustrated this book may be left to speak for itself, as it assuredly will: but I would say a word about the title, which is also of his invention. When Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton told me that Mr. Kay Nielsen wished to employ his pencil upon a volume of Fairy Tales, to be called In Powder and Crinoline, I answered that the title and the notion it conveyed were, in my opinion, capital; that no-one with forty-one volumes of the Cabinet des Fées on his shelves (to name that collection alone) ought to find any difficulty with Powder save the pleasant difficulty of choosing; but that if anyone knew where to find in the age of Crinoline a stock of such tales as we wanted I should be obliged by the information. There was no doubt they ought to exist, but I doubted very much if they did. -- Preface.