Corset were made of a variety of materials, depending on the time period and the fineness of the article. The main fabric for the body of it might have been linen, stiffened with paste or starch. Lower-class women would have worn them of a cheap, sturdy cotton cloth. they were also made of decorative fabrics like satin or silk.
A corset is a garment worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effect). Both men and women are known to wear it, though this item was for many years an integral part of women’s wardrobes.
Since the late 20th century, the fashion industry has borrowed the term to refer to tops which, to varying degrees, mimic the look of tradional without acting as them. While these modern corsets and corset tops often feature lacing or boning and generally imitate a historical style of the cloth they have very little, if any, effect on the shape of the wearer’s body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corsetmaker and are frequently fitted to the individual wearer.
The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women, this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure by reducing the waist and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips. However, in some periods, corsets have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involved minimizing the bust and hips.
For men, corsets are more customarily used to slim the figure. However, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 — ranging as late as the late 1840s in some instances — when a wasp-waisted figure (a small, nipped-in look to the waist) was also desirable for men; wearing a corset sometimes achieved this.
An “overbust corset” encloses the torso, extending from just under the arms toward the hips. An “underbust corset” begins just under the breasts and extends down toward the hips. A “longline corset” – either overbust or underbust – extends past the iliac crest, or the hip bone. A longline corset is ideal for those who want increased stability, have longer torsos, or want to smooth out their hips. A “standard” length corset will stop short of the iliac crest and is ideal for those who want increased flexibility or have a shorter torso. Some corsets, in very rare instances, reach the knees. A shorter kind of corset that covers the waist area (from low on the ribs to just above the hips), is called a waist cincher. A corset may also include garters to hold up stockings; alternatively, a separate garter belt may be worn for that. (This was in the days before pantyhose or tights.)