----- Original Message -----
From: "Kimiko Small" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
While I agree with you, I would love to know the specific documentation
you have on this. I am working on an upcoming show and tell lecture for my
faire community where I deal with various Ren-faire costuming myths being
busted by showing the historical images, if any, or other historical
documentation that is available. While this was something I guessed at, it
isn't something I've been able to show a "proof" of either way. I would
love to be able to do so.
Well, this is going to be the short version! I have a room full of new cloth
and I want to go sew now! =}
It is largely deductive; it can't help but be, in the absence of some
document from 1550 saying "I wish mightily that they woulde make alle good
speed to invent the bloddy corset already, els I will surely bust myne
seames."
However, the best proof lies in its conspicuous absense in places where it
certainly should be present if worn. For example, here's a quote from
1532-5 by Francois Rabelais:
"Next to the smock they put on the pretty kirtle or vasquin of pure silk
chamelot; above that went the taffatie or tabi vardingale, of white, red
tanne, gray or any other colour; above this taffatie petticoat they had
another of cloth of tissue or brocade, embroidered with fine gold, and
interlaced with needlework or as they thought good."
Now if they wore corsets, it would surely be listed here, yes? You find the
same conspicuous absence in inventories of the day. Instead, the
inventories and other accounts of the day DO list what they used instead.
In the quote above, it is the "pretty kirtle or vasquin" [the vasquine being
a garment with a stiffened bodice and a skirt]. In an inventory of the era,
it is: "3 ells white Parchet (fustian) under the bodice at 27 pfund for
stiffening." For Katherine of Aragon in her last years, it was "Item, three
breeste clothis of Hollande cloth with tapis of the same."
Also helpful are descriptions by foreigners of the odd things they found
while traveling. Here's a quote from a travelogue by a Spanish courtier
who accompanied Prince Phillip to England in 1554; I'm including more that
necessary here, because it's funny, and also useful to anyone dealing with
this period:
"The Queen, however, is not at all beautiful; small, and rather flabby than
fat, she is of white complexion and fair, and has no eyebrows. She is a
perfect saint, and dresses badly. All the women here wear petticoats of
coloured cloth without admixture of silk, and above come coloured robes of
damask, satin or velvet, very badly cut. Their shoes are sometimes of
velvet, but more often of leather, and they wear black stockings and show
their legs up to the knee when walking. As their skirts are not long they
are passably immodest when walking, and even when seated. They are neither
beautiful nor graceful when dancing, and their dances only consist in
strutting or trotting about. Not a single Spanish gentleman has fallen in
love with one of them nor takes any interest in them, and their feelings for
us are the same."
Here we get more speculative and deductive; the Spanish almost certainly
originated the vasquine (described above) and therefore are used to seeing
firm figures. In fact, the supported body is called a "spagnolized body" in
1588. As one can easily fit over a firm underpinning such as the vasquine
(or a corset), clothing fit without the benefit of these firm underpinnings
will indeed look badly cut to a Spanish eye, and a Mary will indeed look
flabby without support.
The travelogue is also useful in tracking who's got it and who doesn't, when
it does arrive. For example, a Venetian ambassador visiting France described
the following in 1577:
"French women have inconcievably narrow waists ...[stuff about
farthingales]. Over the chemise they wear a corset or bodice, that they
call a "corps pique" which makes their shape more delicate and more slender.
It is fastened behind which helps show off the form of the bust."
This tells us that while the French had the corset in 1577, the Venetians
most likely did not. [Note: the word 'corset' here doesn't mean much, for
two reasons. First, this is a translation, and I don't know what word was
actually used in the original. Second, 'corset' didn't mean 'corset' in the
modern sense until around the early 19th century. More on that below.]
Finally, there's the matter of the amount of notice that corsets attracted
when they began to be known. They're commented on, they're preached
against, they're made fun of in verse, and generally start a noticeable
buzz. Earlier, all sorts of fashion innovations are ridiculed; if corsets
existed in the same places earlier, surely they would be ridiculed there as
well! Here's an example:
"These privie coates, by art made strong
with bones, with past, with such like ware
Whereby their backe and sides grow long,
and now they harnest gallants are;
Were they for use against the foe,
Our dames for amazones might goe." (Stephen Gosson, 1596)
From here, I'll let you look into it, but here's a few tips. First, if you
don't already have them, get or check out:
"Corsets and Crinolines" by Norah Waugh
"The Corset: A Cultural History" by Valerie Steele
Neither is absolutely infallible, but both will be very helpful.
Second, watch out for the terminology in inventories, letters, etc. Like I
noted above, a corset is not a corset. A corse isn't one either, for that
matter. Words and phrases to watch for are:
pair of bodies
petticoat bodies
corps a pique'
French bodice/bodies
privy coat
whalebone bodice/bodies
Third, here is the approximate corset timeline I've worked out. It's rough
and I'm doing it by memory rather than looking at my notes, so disclaimer,
etc.
c1500-20: popularization of the busk [Italian]
c1520: vasquine [Spanish]
c1520-1570: vasquine spreads across Europe; bodices in general are
stiffened, but do not become a separate garment
c1570-77: separate stiffened bodice [French]
c1580-1590: 'French bodice' infiltrates England
Hope this helps. You can distribute it/use it for teaching, but please keep
my name attached!
Elena House
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