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| Keywords: TheFamilyDoctorDec21 1889page255.png Image TheFamilyDoctorDec21_1889page255cut png THE FAMILY DOCTOR AND PEOPLE'S MEDICAL ADVISER No 251 SATURDAY DECEMBER 21 1889 PRICE ONE PENNY THE CORSET QUESTION SIR --I now send you my promised sketches of the pernicious and proper shapes for corsets what I may call the hygienic shape for tight stays This may seem to many of your readers a contradiction in terms but when one sees the vast quantity of badly - shaped corsets that are the cause of half the ills ascribed to tight-lacing The properlyshaped are distinctly hygienic compared with the badlyshaped The shape besides varying according to the natural form of the wearer should be formed on certain common sense lines thus -- The waist should be in ita natural place There should be plenty of room for the chest The curve at the waist should not be too sharp The corset should go well down over the hips The busk should be flexible at the top and firm at the bottom The front should support the bust We will see how far the requirements are adhered to in the sketches of types annexed What I have called the Flat Chest is too often found among cheap stays particularly in the country and with the old fashioned nonfront fastening It cannot be too strongly condemned The High Curve is a slight exaggeration upon another common form and of course cruelly contracts the ribs and all vitals therein and would cause a host of troubles to liver stomach kidneys c not to mention the lungs and heart The Long V was the form very common in Hogarth's time but it contracts the ribs a great deal too much for tight lacing or even ordinary wear though it has a nice appearance and is much to be preferred in the matter of health to the other two It is not a form of cheap stay The two Hour-glass forms long and short are again still better particularly the short They have both the objection of being too sharply curved at the waist and not spreading out sharply enough over the hips thus pressing the waist up a little They also particularly the long form are not eased to the shape of the ribs They unduly squeeze the lower ribs without any corresponding advantage of form This is of course less marked with the short Hour-glass --that is one of the easiest shapes to wear The Hygienic Curve is nicely eased to the ribs and hips and only small where the body can easiest stand pressure without harm It is shown with shoulder-straps which I think ought to be put to all stays to draw the shoulders back and prevent the pernicious hahit that so many women have of leaning the body forward on the busk when tired This is the most fruitful source of indigestion and a stooping habit To all the advantages of this style of form may be added last but certainly not least a most graceful form full of Hogarth's line of beauty viewed from every direction Hoping that you may be able to find use for the above remarks and for the drawings I am yours faithfully SCIENCE AND ART VOL X Drawings of women in corset Tightlacing The Family Doctor 1889 from Science and Art PD-Art Artworks missing infobox template | ||||
