Metal corset

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Iron corset in the Musée national du Moyen Âge . Drawing from 1893 by Saint-Elme Gautier.

Metal corsets (also known as iron corsets ) are a variant of historical corsets or bodices that are made entirely of metal - mostly iron or steel. The theory that these garments were worn for fashion reasons is controversial. They may have been used as orthopedic braces for medical reasons.

Medical metal corsets were made until the late 20th century. Fashion designers like Alexander McQueen and Issey Miyake created contemporary metal bodices and corsets made of wire and aluminum spools.

Some of the extreme models are believed to be later reproductions that were made for sexual fetishism rather than as garments.

origin

Caterina de 'Medici, 1555

Early fashion historians had attributed the introduction of fashionable corset-wearing to Caterina de 'Medici , who is believed to have brought metal corsets from France to Italy in the 16th century. According to fashion historian Valerie Steele , after the 19th century, authors began to supply their audiences with tightlacing and sexual fetishism and spread the sadomasochistic idea that this "cruel, awkward fashion" was enforced by a dominant queen who demanded unrealistically narrow waists from her subjects. This legend took hold in the public imagination and became part of fashion mythology.

Today it is widely believed that authentic metal corsets were intended as a form of orthopedic support for back problems such as scoliosis . In the 16th century, the French army surgeon Ambroise Paré described metal corsets as a means of correcting body curvature, recommending that the iron should be perforated to make it easier to wear and that the corsets should also be tailored and padded for comfort. Paré criticized the concept of wearing corsets as a means of waist reduction and warned of the risk of possible deformation of the body through such practices.

16th and 17th centuries

Foldable iron corset with back closure. 1580-99. York Castle Museum.

A steel corset from the Stibbert Museum in Florence is dated to the middle of the 16th century and is considered to be the same model of a armorer ( corazzaio mastro ) as the one made in 1549 for Eleonora of Toledo . Since Eleonora's cloakroom records do not contain any stiff corsets or corsets without bones , her steel corset was probably developed for medical and therapeutic reasons.

Illustration from 1868 indicating a 16th century steel corset

Steele believed some of the extreme and elaborate specimens believed to date from the late 16th and early 17th centuries to be fakes from the 19th century that feed into fetishistic "fantasies about women trapped in metal corsets." One such iron corset with a 14 inch waist (about 36 centimeters) was purchased from the FIT Museum and dated from 1580 to 1600. It is now considered a fake from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Steele noticed striking similarities between this corset and an illustration from The Corset and the Crinoline , published in 1868 - a "fetishistic" book that drew parallels between such corsets and fake medieval chastity belts . Even Harold Koda (former curator of the Anna Wintour Costume Center of the Metropolitan Museum of Art ) saw in the excessive, mechanically produced uniformity of the garment structure evidence of a factory in the 19th century. He assumed that numerous metal corsets from the 19th century, which are imitations of models from the 16th century, were made to supply a special market - possibly as part of chambers of curiosities .

The fashion historian C. Willett Cunnington and his wife Phillis also considered iron corsets for non-medical purposes to be "fantastic replicas" that were probably never worn. Despite the clear skepticism of these fashion historians, scholars from other disciplines sometimes consider these corsets to be legitimate fashionable items of clothing. The anthropologist Marianne Thesander considered them authentic, since such corsets fit the fashionable figure of the age and would fulfill the same goals as other corsets.

18th and 19th centuries

In Peter Rondeau's French-German dictionary from 1739, the French term corps de fer was explained as a "lace burst, with small iron sheets, for malevolent women". For David Kunzle this implied that the iron plates were part of a fabric corset rather than an all-metal piece of clothing. He also justified this thesis with a lack of literary evidence that metal corsets were also worn for fashion reasons. He believed that metal clothing that was not worn for medical reasons served masochistic gratification. He thought it possible that - like z. B. the intentionally inconvenient and cumbersome silicon , which combined a fashionable silhouette with the purpose of penance - were worn in convents . Kunzle based this thesis on an article from The Times from 1871. Here it was reported that the Garde nationale found two iron corsets, a rack and other utensils in the convent of the White Nuns in Picpus during the Paris Commune . The Superior's declaration that the items were intended for orthopedic purposes was dismissed as "a superficial lie" at the time.

Metal corsets for medical purposes continued to be used in the 18th and early 19th centuries, although comparable linen garments were being replaced. In 1894, AM Phelps (American Orthopedic Association) recommended an aluminum corset coated with waterproof enamel and made from a patient's body impression for the treatment of tuberculosis or curvature of the spine. The benefits were that aluminum was light, durable, and thin enough to be worn under clothing and while bathing. These corsets were recommended as being cheaper and more durable than plaster molds in the early 20th century, despite their higher initial cost.

20th and 21st centuries

The Coiled Corset, Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen , 1999.

Since the 20th century, modern metal corsets have occasionally been made for contemporary wear. Around 1930, metal corsets were made for the corset fetishist Mrs. Cayne. Between 1933 and 1940, Mrs. Cayne advertised a brochure in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News describing her 14-inch waist and offering other services.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, corset wearer Cathie Jung wore a silver corset sleeve over her laced corset.

Metal corsets were used as a medical garment until the 20th century. The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was a well-known wearer of such medical corsets as a result of a car accident. In 1944 the doctor recommended that she wear a steel corset instead of a plastic one. Kahlo used the new corset as the basis for one of her most famous self-portraits, The Broken Column . She portrayed herself, weeping in agony. In the picture she depicted her torso divided and her back as a brittle Ionic column held together by a steel corset .

A form of metal corset or orthopedic brace that was used in the second half of the 20th century was named the Harris brace after its inventor (RI Harris). Harris braces are designed to immobilize the waist during healing and are made from two bendable metal straps that are worn above and below the waist and connected to immobile metal parts.

20th and 21st century designers such as B. Alexander McQueen , Issey Miyake, and Thierry Mugler occasionally showed metal corsets and bodices as part of their presentation. One of McQueen's best-known pieces in 1999 was an aluminum corset called a "Coiled Corset" - designed in collaboration with the jeweler Shaun Leane and the artist Kees van der Graaf . Built around an imprint of model Laura Morgan's torso, the corset has a 15-inch waist and was assembled from 97 stacked coils that were screwed onto Morgan's body. The "Coiled Corset" was inspired by neck rings worn by Ndebele women . They are stretched to encase the wearer's entire torso. In 2001 this corset was part of a live presentation at the Victoria and Albert Museum .

Corsets and bustiers can also be made from wire. So z. B. an aluminum wire bustier from 1983 by Miyake, which is surrounded by a spring-loaded garment around the torso. This is part of a bird cage theme.

In museums

Metal corsets are part of many museum exhibitions around the world. Some museums, such as the Museo Stibbert and the Kyōto Costume Institute in Japan, present their metal bodices as fashionable garments of the late 16th century. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London describes their iron corset (formerly owned by painter Talbot Hughes ) as a meeting of 18th century fashion and likely intended orthopedic purposes. Other models, such as the iron corset in the Fashion Institute of Technology, are presented as fakes.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herbert Norris: Tudor costume and fashion , 1997 reprint. Edition, Dover Publications, Mineola, NY 1938, ISBN 978-0-486-29845-0 , pp. 222-223.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Valerie Steele: The Corset: a cultural history , 2nd print .. Edition, Yale University, New Haven 2003, ISBN 978-0-300-09953-9 , p. 5.
  3. ↑ a b c Staff writer: Iron Corset 1875–1925 . The Museum at FIT. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Ewing: Fashion in underwear: from Babylon to bikini briefs , Dover. Edition, Dover Publications, Mineola, NY 2010, ISBN 978-0-486-47649-0 , p. 28.
  5. ^ A b c Roberta Orsi Landini, Bruna Niccoli: Moda a Firenze 1540–1580: lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza ( Italian ). Pagliai Polistampa, Firenze 2005, ISBN 978-88-8304-867-8 , p. 132: "Tuttavia Eleonora possiede anche due busti di acciaio (62), consegnati il ​​28 febbraio 1549 dal corazzaio mastro"
  6. ↑ a b c d e Harold Koda: Extreme beauty: the body transformed . Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2003, ISBN 978-0-300-10312-0 , pp. 75-76.
  7. ^ C. Willett Cunnington, Phillis Cunnington: The history of underclothes , 1992 reprint. Edition, Dover Pub., New York 1951, ISBN 978-0-486-31978-0 , p. 48.
  8. ↑ Marianne Thesander: The feminine ideal . Reaction Books, London 1997, ISBN 978-1-86189-004-7 , p. 62.
  9. ↑ a b c d David Kunzle: Fashion and fetishism: a social history of the corset, tight-lacing and other forms of body-sculpture in the West . Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ 1982, ISBN 978-0-8476-6276-0 , p. 108.
  10. ^ A b David Kunzle: Fashion and fetishism: a social history of the corset, tight-lacing and other forms of body-sculpture in the West . Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ 1982, ISBN 978-0-8476-6276-0 , p. 76.
  11. ^ A Popular Fete at the Tulllieres . In: The Times , May 9, 1871. Retrieved September 30, 2015. 
  12. ↑ a b A. M. Phelps: The Aluminum Corset . In: Transactions of the American Orthopedic Association . 1, September 16, 1894, pp. 236-237.
  13. ↑ Unknown: Untitled section . In: American Medical Association (Ed.): The Journal of the American Medical Association . 1902, p. 1439. "I always advise the aluminum corset, for, although the first cost is greater than for the plaster-of-paris support, yet, before treatment is ended, the metal appliance will have proved the cheaper."
  14. ^ David Kunzle: Fashion and fetishism: a social history of the corset, tight-lacing and other forms of body-sculpture in the West . Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ 1982, ISBN 978-0-8476-6276-0 , p. 333. Picture 8 in the book is a photograph of Mrs. Cayne's corset.
  15. ↑ Uta Grosenick (Ed.): Women artists in the 20th and 21st century . Taschen, Cologne 2001, ISBN 978-3-8228-5854-7 , p. 252.
  16. ^ A b Andrea Kettenmann: Frida Kahlo, 1907–1954: pain and passion . Taschen, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-5983-4 , pp. 67-68.
  17. ↑ Staff writer: Frida Kahlo: Room Guide: Room 11: Achieving Equilibrium . Tate Modern. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  18. ^ Ian Macnab: A new spinal brace . In: Canadian Medical Association Journal . 103, July 4, 1970, p. 53.
  19. ↑ HF Farfan, Alexander G. Hadjipavlou: James W. Simmons (Ed.): The Sciatic syndrome . SLACK, Thorofare, NJ 1996, ISBN 9781556422430 , p. 212.
  20. ^ Velda Lauder: Corsets: a modern guide . A. & C. Black, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2755-1 , p. 153.
  21. ↑ a b c d Staff writer: 'Coiled corset', The Museum of Savage Beauty . Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  22. ^ Velda Lauder: Corsets: a modern guide . A. & C. Black, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2755-1 , p. 194.
  23. ↑ Akiko Fukai: Fashion: the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute: a history from the 18th to the 20th century . Taschen, Cologne 2002, ISBN 978-3-8228-1206-8 , pp. 13-15.
  24. ^ Staff writer: Corset, 18th century, iron. . Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved October 1, 2015.

Web links

Commons : metal corsets  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files