Chapter X

Remarks on front-fastening stays--Thomson's glove-fitting
Corsets--Plan for adding stability to the front-fastening
Corset--De la Garde's French Corset--System of
self-measurement--The Redresseur Corset of Vienna and its
influence on the figures of young persons--Remarks on the flimsy
materials used in the manufacture of Corsets--Hints as to proper
materials--The "Minet Back" Corset described--Elastic Corsets
condemned--The narrow bands used as substitutes for Corsets
injurious to the figure--Remarks on the proper application
of the Corset with the view to the production of a graceful
figure--Thomson's Zephyrina Crinoline--Costume of the present
season--The claims of Nature and Art considered--The belle of
Damara Land.

It would be difficult to find a much more marked contrast to the style of bodice referred to in our last chapter than is to be found in the ordinary cheap front-fastening corset commonly sold by drapers. The accompanying illustrations accurately represent it, and those who have written on the subject have much reason on their side when they insist that it neither aids in the formation of a good figure nor helps to maintain the proportions of one when formed. Corsets such as these have neither beauty of contour nor compactness of construction. The two narrow busks through which the holes are drilled for the reception of the _studs_ or _catches_ are too often formed of steel so low in quality that fracture at these weak points is a common occurrence, when some danger of injury from the broken ends is to be apprehended. It will also be found that when these bars or plates are deficient in width and insufficient in stiffness the corset will no longer support the figure, or form a foundation for the dress to be neatly adjusted over. On the introduction of the front-fastening system it was at once seen that much saving of time and trouble was gained by the great facility with which corsets constructed according to it could be put on and off but the objections before referred to were soon manifest, and the ingenuity of inventors was called into action to remedy and overcome them, and it was during this _transition_ stage in the history of the corset that the front-fastening principle met with much condemnation at the hands of those who made the formation of the figure a study. From Thomson and Co., of New York, we have received a pattern of their "_glove-fitting corset_," the subject of the accompanying illustration, in the formation of which the old evils have been most successfully dealt with. The steels are of the highest class of quality and of the requisite degree of substance to insure both safety and sustaining power. Accidental unfastening of the front, so common, and, to say the least of it, inconvenient, in the old form of attachment, is rendered impossible by the introduction of a very ingenious but simple spring _latch_, which is opened or closed in an instant at the pleasure of the wearer. This corset is decidedly the best form on the front-fastening plan we have seen. Its mode of construction is excellent; it is so cut as to admit of its adapting itself to every undulation of the figure with extraordinary facility. We have suggested to the firm the advisability of furnishing to the public corsets combining their excellent method of cutting, great strength of material, and admirable finish, with the single steel busk and hind-lacing arrangement of the ordinary stay. The requirements of all would be then met, for although numbers of ladies prefer the front-fastening corset, it will be observed that a great number of those who have written on the subject, and make the formation and maintenance of the figure a study, positively declare from experience that the waist never looks so small or neatly proportioned as when evenly and well laced in the hind-lacing and close-fronted form of corset. It has of late become the custom to remedy the want of firmness and stability found to exist in many of the common front-fastening corsets by sewing a kind of sheath or case on the inside of the front immediately behind the two steels on which the studs and slots are fixed; into this a rather wide steel busk is passed, so that the division or opening has the centre line of the _extra_ busk immediately behind it. That this plan answers in some measure the desired end there is no doubt, but in such a corset as that of Thomson and Co. no such expedient is needed.

The accompanying illustrations are from sketches made expressly for this work from a corset made by De La Garde and Co., of Paris, and our readers will form their own opinion as to the contour of the figure from which these drawings were made, which is that of a lady who has for many years worn corsets made by the above-mentioned firm. The waist-measure is eighteen inches. The remarks as to the advisability of having corsets made to measure are scarcely borne out by her experiences. She informs us that it has always been her custom to forward to Messrs. De La Garde and Co.'s agent the measure taken round the chest below the arms, from beneath the arm to the hip, the circumference of the hips, and the waist-measure, when the fit is a matter of certainty. By adopting this system ladies residing in the country can, she assures us, always provide themselves with corsets made by the first manufacturers in Europe without the trouble and inconvenience of being attended for the purpose of measurement. In ordering the "_glove-fitting corset_," the waist measure only need be given. From M. Weiss, of Vienna, we have received a pattern and photographs from which our other illustrations are taken. Here we have represented the so-called "_redresseur_" corset, devised mainly with a view to the formation of the figure in young persons, or where careless and awkward habits of posture have been contracted. It will be seen on examination that the front of the chest is left entirely free for expansion, the waist only being confined at the point where restraint is most called for. The back is supported and kept upright by the system of boning adopted with that view, and the shoulder-straps, after passing completely round the point of the shoulder, are hooked together behind, thus bringing the shoulders in their proper position and keeping them there. As a corrective and improver to the figure there can be no doubt that the _redresseur_ corset is a safe and most efficient contrivance. We have had an opportunity of seeing it worn, and can testify to the marked and obvious improvement which was at once brought about by its application.

We have heard many complaints lately of the flimsy manner in which corsets of comparatively high price are turned out by their makers, the stitching being so weak that re-sewing is not unfrequently needed after a few days' wear. The edges of the whalebones, too, instead of being rounded off and rendered smooth, are often, we find, left as sharp as a knife, causing the coutil or other material to be cut through in a very few days. The eyelet-holes are also made so small and narrow at the flanges that no hold on the material is afforded, and even the most moderate kind of lacing causes them to break from their hold, fall out, and leave a hole in the material of which the corset is made, which if not immediately repaired by working round in the old-fashioned way rapidly enlarges, frays out, and runs into an unsightly hole. Corset-makers should see that the circle of metal beyond the orifice through which the lace passes is sufficiently wide to close down perfectly on the fabric, and retain a firm hold of it; if they do not do so, the old worked eyelet-hole is preferable to the stud, notwithstanding the neat appearance of the stud and the apparent advantage it has over the old plan. A form of corset made without lacing-holes, known as the "_Minet Back_," with which many of our readers will no doubt be familiar, and which was extensively worn in France some few years ago, is still to be obtained of some few makers in England. This has a row of short strong loops sewn just beyond each back whalebone. Through these pass from top to bottom, on each side of the back, a long round bar of strong whalebone, which is secured in its place by a string passing through a hole made in its top to the upper loop of each row. The lace (a flat silk one) was passed through the spaces between the loops, and was tightened over the smooth round whalebone, thus enabling the wearer not only to lace with extreme tightness without danger to the corset, but admitting of its almost instant removal by slightly slackening the lace and then drawing out one of the bars, which immediately sets the interlacing free from end to end. We are rather surprised that more of these corsets are not worn, as there are numerous advantages attendant on them. Our space will not admit of our more than glancing _en passant_ at the various inventions which have from time to time been brought to the notice of the public. By some inventors the use of elastic webbing or woven indiarubber cloth was taken advantage of, and great stress was laid on the resilient qualities of the corsets to which it was applied. But it must never be lost sight of that all materials of an elastic nature, when fitted tightly to the figure, not only have the power of expanding on the application of force, but are unceasingly exercising their own extensive powers of contraction. Thus, no amount of custom could ever adapt the waist to the space allotted to it, as with the elastic corset it is changing every second, and always exercising constriction even when loosely laced. The narrow bands hollowed out over the hips may be, as some writers on the subject have stated, adapted for the possessors of very slight figures who ride much on horseback; but many ladies of great experience in the matter strongly condemn them as being inefficient and calculated to lead to much detriment to the figure. Thus writes a correspondent to the _Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine_:--

"As one of your correspondents recommends the waistbands in lieu
of corsets, I have during the last three weeks made a trial
of them, and shall be glad if you will allow me to express my
opinion that they are not only disadvantageous but positively
dangerous to the figure. Your correspondent says that ordinary
corsets, if drawn in well at the waist, hurt a woman cruelly
all the way up. I can only say that if she finds such to be the
case the remedy is in her own hands. If ladies would only take
the trouble to have their stays made to measure for them, and
have plenty of room allowed round the chest, not only would the
waist look smaller, but no discomfort would be felt such as H.
W. describes. Young girls should always be accurately fitted,
but it is, I have found, a mistake to have their corsets too
flimsy or elastic. I quite agree that they should be commenced
early--indeed, they usually are so, and thus extreme compression
being unnecessary, the instances brought forward by the lady who
commenced the discussion and by Nora must, I think, be looked
upon as exceptional cases.

"EFFIE MARGETSON."

Another lady writing in the same journal says--"No one will grudge 'The Young Lady Herself' any sympathy she may claim for the torture she has submitted to, but so far from her case being condemnatory of stays it is the reverse, for she candidly admits that she does not suffer ill-health. Now such a case as hers is an exception, and the stout young lady spoken of by Nora is also an exception, for it is seldom that girls are allowed to attain the age of fourteen or fifteen before commencing stays. The great secret is to begin their use as early as possible, and no such severe compression will be requisite. It seems absurd to allow the waist to grow large and clumsy, and then to reduce it again to more elegant proportions by means which must at first be more or less productive of inconvenience. There is no article of civilised dress which, when first begun to be worn, does not feel uncomfortable for a time to those who have never worn it before. The barefooted Highland lassie carries her shoes to the town, puts them on on her arrival, and discards them again directly she leaves the centre of civilisation. A hat or a coat would be at first insupportable to the men of many nations, and we all know how soon the African belle threw aside the crinoline she had been induced to purchase. But surely no one would argue against these necessary articles of dress merely on the ground of inconvenience to the wearer, for, however uncomfortable they may be at first, it is astonishing how soon that feeling goes off and how indispensable they become. My opinion is that stays should always be made to order, and not be of too flimsy a construction. I think H. W.'s suggestions regarding the waistbands only applicable to middle-aged ladies or invalids, as they do not give sufficient support to growing girls, and are likely to make the figure look too much like a sack tied round the middle instead of gradually tapering to the waist. Brisbane's letter shows how those who have never tried tight-lacing are prejudiced against it, and that merely from being shown a print in an old medical work, while Nora's letter is infinitely more valuable, as showing how even the most extreme lacing can be employed without injury to health.

"L. THOMPSON."

Such a work as this would be incomplete without some remarks touching the best means to be applied for the achievement of the desired end, and hence a letter from a lady of great experience, who has paid much attention to the subject, contributed to the _Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine_, enables us to give the very best possible kind of information--viz., that gathered by personal observation. Thus she writes:--

"In the numerous communications on the subject of tight-lacing
which have appeared in the _Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine_,
but little has been said on the best mode of applying the
corset in order to produce elegance of figure. It seems to
me that nearly all those who suffer from tight-lacing do so
from an _injudicious_ use of the corset, and in such cases the
unfortunate corset generally gets all the blame, and not the
wearer who makes an improper use of it. I can easily understand
that a girl who is full grown, or nearly so, and who has been
unaccustomed to wear tight stays, should find it difficult and
painful to lace in her waist to a fashionable size; but if
the corset be worn at an early age and the figure gradually
moulded by it, I know of no terrible consequences that need
be apprehended. I would therefore recommend the early use of
a corset that fits the figure nicely and no more. Now, simply
wearing stays that only _fit_, will, when a girl is growing,
in a great measure prevent the waist from becoming clumsy.
If, however, on her reaching the age of fourteen or fifteen,
her waist be still considered too large, a smaller corset may
be worn with advantage, which should be _gradually_ tightened
till the requisite slimness is achieved. I know of so many
instances in which, under this system, girls have, when full
grown, possessed both a good figure and good health, that I
can recommend it with confidence to those parents who wish
their children to grow up into elegant and healthy women. As to
whether compression of the waist by symmetrical corsets injures
the health in any way, opinion seems to be divided. The personal
experiences of tight-lacers, as your correspondent Belle has
observed, will do more to solve this knotty question than any
amount of theory. But whatever conclusion we may come to on
this point, there is no denying the fact that very many of the
strongest and healthiest women one sees in society habitually
practise tight-lacing, and apparently do so with impunity.

"AN OLD SUBSCRIBER."

As we have before stated, the remarks and observations contained in the above letter are the result of careful study and a thorough acquaintance with the subject, and not of hasty conclusion, prejudice, or theory. A letter in the earlier portion of this work, from an old Edinburgh correspondent to the _Queen_, than whom few are more competent to direct and advise on this important subject, will be found precisely to the same end, and we feel sure, in laying before the reader such united experiences, that much will be done towards the establishment of such a system of management as will lead to the almost certain achievement of grace and elegance of figure without the sacrifice of health. That these are most important and desirable objects for attainment few would be puritanical and headstrong enough to deny, and there can be no question that, however superb or simple a lady's costume may be, it is mainly dependent for its elegance of adjustment and distinctiveness of style to the corset and crinoline beneath it.

We have seen how Mrs. Selby's invention influenced the world of fashion in her day, and a glance at the illustration at page 114 will be sufficient to prove how inferior, in point of grace and elegance, the costume of that period was to that of our own time. Some idea may be formed of the wide-spread and almost universal attention which Mrs. Selby's wondrous "_crinoline conception_" met at the hands of the fashionable world by a perusal of the following lines, which were written at Bath concerning it in the year 1711, and are entitled, _The Farthingale Reviewed; or, More Work for the Cooper. A paneygerick on the late but most admirable invention of the hooped petticoat._

"There's scarce a bard that writ in former time
Had e'er so great, so bright a theme for rhyme;
The _Mantua_ swain, if living, would confess
Ours more surprising than his Tyrian dress,
And Ovid's mistress, in her loose attire,
Would cease to charm his eyes or fan Love's fire.
Were he at _Bath_, and had these coats in view,
He'd write his _Metamorphosis_ anew,

"Delia, fresh hooped, would o'er his heart prevail,
To leave Corinna and her tawdry veil.
Hear, great Apollo! and my genius guide,
To sing this glorious miracle of pride,
Nor yet disdain the subject for its name,
Since meaner things have oft been sung to Fame;
Even boots and spurs have graced heroic verse,
Butler his knight's whole suit did well rehearse;
King Harry's costume stands upon record,
And every age will precedents afford.
Then on, my Muse, and sing in epic strain
The petticoat--thou shalt not sing in vain,
The petticoat will sure reward thy pain;
With all thy skill its secret virtues tell--
A petticoat should still be handled well.

"Oh garment heavenly wide! thy spacious round
Do's my astonished thoughts almost confound;
My fancy cannot grasp thee at a view,
None at first sight e'er such a picture drew.
The daring artist that describes thee true,
Must change his sides as modern statesmen do,
Or like the painter, when some church he draws,
Following his own, and not the builder's laws,
At once shows but the prospect to the sight,
For north and south together can't be right.

"Hence, ye profane! nor think I shall reveal
The happy wonders which these vests conceal;
Hence your unhallow'd eyes and ears remove,
'Tis _Cupid's_ circle, 'tis the orb of Love.
Let it suffice you see th' unwieldy fair
Sail through the streets with gales of swelling air;
Nor think (like fools) the ladies, would they try,
Arm'd with their furbelows and these, could fly.
That's all romantick, for these garments show
Their thoughts are with their petticoats below.

"Nor must we blame them whilst they stretch their art
In rich adornment and being wondrous smart;
For that, perhaps, may stand 'em more in stead
Than loads of ribbons fluttering on the head.
And, let philosophers say what they will,
There's something surer than their eyes do's kill;
We tell the nymph that we her face adore,
But plain she sees we glance at something more.

"In vain the ladies spend their morning hours
Erecting on their heads stupendous towers;
A battery from thence might scare the foe,
But certain victory is gained below.
Let _Damon_ then the adverse champion be--
Topknots for him, and petticoats for me;
Nor must he urge it spoils the ladies' shape,
Tho' (as the multitude at monsters gape)
The world appears all lost in wild amaze,
As on these new, these strange machines they gaze;
For if the Queen the poets tell us of, from Paphos came,
Attired as we are told by antique fame,
Thus would they wonder at the heavenly dame.

"I own the female world is much estranged
From what it was, and top and bottom changed.
The head was once their darling constant care,
But women's heads can't heavy burdens bear--
As much, I mean, as they can do elsewhere;
So wisely they transferred the mode of dress,
And furnished t'other end with the excess.
What tho' like spires or pyramids they show,
Sharp at the top, and vast of bulk below?
It is a sign they stand the more secure:
A maypole will not like a church endure,
And ships at sea, when stormy winds prevail,
Are safer in their ballast than their sail.

"Hail, happy coat! for modern damsels fit,
Product of ladies' and of taylors' wit;
Child of Invention rather than of Pride,
What wonders dost thou show, what wonders hide!
Within the shelter of thy useful shade,
Thin _Galatea's_ shrivelled limbs appear
As plump and charming as they did last year;
Whilst tall _Miranda_ her lank shape improves,
And, graced by thee, in some proportion moves.
Ev'n those who are diminutively short
May please themselves and make their neighbours sport,
When, to their armpits harnessed up in thee,
Nothing but head and petticoats we see.
But, oh! what a figure fat _Sempronia_ makes!
At her gigantick form the pavement quakes;
By thy addition she's so much enlarged,
Where'er she comes, the sextons now are charged
That all church doors and pews be wider made--
A vast advantage to a joiner's trade.

"Ye airy nymphs, that do these garments wear,
Forgive my want of skill, not want of care;
Forgive me if I have not well displayed
A coat for such important uses made.
If aught I have forgot, it was to prove
How fit they are, how _apropos_ for love,
How in their circles cooling zephyrs play,
Just as a tall ship's sails are filled on some bright summer day.
But there my Muse must halt--she dares no more
Than hope the pardon which she ask'd before."

Fashions have altered, times have changed, hooped petticoats have been in turn honoured and banished, just as the fickle goddess of the mirror has decreed. Still, as an arrow shot in the air returns in time to earth, so surely does the hooped jupon return to power after a temporary estrangement from the world of gaiety. The illustration on page 223 represents the last new form of crinoline, and there can be no doubt that its open form of front is a most important and noteworthy improvement. Preceding this engraving, we have an illustration representing two ladies in the costume of the present season arranged over "the glove-fitting corset" and "Zephyrina jupon," for patterns of both of which we are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Thomson and Co., the inventors and manufacturers.

It is the custom with some authors to uphold the claims of _nature_ in matters relating to human elegance, and we admit that nature in her own way is particularly charming, so long as the accessories and surroundings are in unison. But in the human heart everywhere dwells an innate love of adornment, and untaught savages, in their toilet appliances and tastes, closely resemble the belles of highly-civilised communities. We have already referred to the crinoline petticoats worn by the Tahitian girls when they were first seen by the early navigators. The frilled ruff which so long remained a high court favourite during the Elizabethan period (and which, if we mistake not, will again have its day) was as well known to the dusky beauties of the palm-clad, wave-lashed islands of the Pacific, when Cook first sailed forth to discover new lands, as it was to the stately and proud dames of Venice. Beneath, we place side by side types of savage elegance and refined taste. Where the one begins and the other ends, who shall say?

INDEX.

Adventure, an, of Louise de Lorraine, 92, 97.

Alarming diseases said to be produced by wearing high-heeled
shoes, 194, 195.

Ancient inhabitants of Polenqui, reduction of the waist by, 10.

An Italian duchess, the costume of, 54.

Antiquities of Egypt, researches among, 25-27.

Augsburg, the ladies of, by Hoechstetterus, 104.

Austria, Empress of, elegant figure of, 165.

Backboards and stocks, 134.

Bands (narrow), used as substitutes for corsets injurious, 213, 214.

Barbers, an army of, 110.

Beauties of Circassia, 13, 14.

Beauty, Hindoo ideas regarding, 19, 20.

Belles of India, 19, 20.

Belt (ornamented) of the Indians, 9.

Bernaise dress, 65.

Blanche, daughter of Edward III., dress of, 49.

Boarding-school discipline, letter on, 170, 171.

Boddice, bodice, or bodies, 123.

Bonnet à canon, the, 60.

Bouffant sleeves of the reign of Henry II., 65.

Bridal dress of an Israelitish lady, 28.

Buchan, writings of, 130.

Ceylon, figure-training in, 13.

Chaucer's writings, his admiration of small waists, 50.

Chinese gentleman, letter from a, 20.

Cleopatra and her jewels, 37.

Clumsy figures great drawbacks to young ladies, 182.

Conquest of the Roman Empire, 38.

Corps, the, 72, 75.

Corset, a peculiar form of, worn by some ladies of fashion in
France, 190.

Corset in use among the Israelitish ladies, 28, 29.

Corset, general use of the, on the Continent for boys, 136-138.

Corset, origin of, 9.

Corset, use of by the inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago, 10.

Corset-covers (steel), 75.

Corsets and high-heeled shoes denounced, 194, 195.

Corsets, custom of wearing during sleep, 150, 153.

Corsets for growing girls, remarks on, 167, 168.

Corsets of the present day contrasted with those of the olden
time, 196.

Corsets, remarks on the proper application of, 214-216.

Corsets, severe form of, worn in the Elizabethan period, 75, 76.

Corsets, the small size of, made in London, 165.

Corsets, their use for youths, 138.

Corsets worn by gentlemen in 1265, 46.

Corsets worn by gentlemen of the present time, 138.

Costume à l'enfant, 98.

Costume à la Watteau, 109.

Costume of the court of Louis XVI., 124.

Costumes of the ladies of Israel, 27-29.

Cottes hardies, 41.

Crim Tartary, beautiful princesses of, 14, 19.

Crinoline among the South Sea Islanders, 143.

Crinoline and slender waists, remarks of Madame La Sante on, 143, 144.

Crinoline not a new term, 143.

Cromwell's time, tight-lacing in, 104.

De La Garde's French corsets, 209, 210.

Demon of fashion, a monkish satire, 42.

Determined tailor, a, 55.

Dress in 1776, 129.

Dress, its elegance dependent on the corset, 189.

Dresses (low) of 1713, 115.

Dunbar's Thistle and Rose, 50.

Earth-eating in Java, 13.

Eastern Archipelago, use of the corset in, 10.

Edict of the Emperor Joseph of Austria forbidding the use of
stays, 66.

Edinburgh, Traditions of, anecdote from, 144.

Egyptian fashions and costumes, 25-27.

Elastic corsets condemned, 213.

Eleanor, Countess of Leicester, entry in household register of, 45,
46.

Elegance of figure highly esteemed by the Persians, 20.

Elegant costumes of the ancient Jewish ladies, 27-29.

Empress of Austria, the, portrait of, 166.

Escapade of young Louis of France, 98.

Extravagance of the Roman ladies, 36.

Families, Medici, Este, and Visconti, 54.

Family man, letter from a, 184, 185.

Farthingale, the, protest against, 110.

Fashionable promenades of Ancient Rome, 35.

Fashion and dress in 1865, 189.

Fashion in the reign of King Pepin, 41.

Fashion in 1713, 115.

Fashions in Ancient Egypt, 27-29.

Figure, general remarks on the, 182.

Figure, letter on the, 190-193.

Figure, reduction of, by the ancient inhabitants of Polenqui, 10.

Figure-training, 133, 167.

Food, abstinence from, an assistance to the corset, 144, 149.

Freaks of fashion in France and Germany, 54.

French revolutionary period, dress during, 129.

Front-fastening stays, remarks concerning, 202-204.

Gay, the writings of, 123.

Guardian, the, correspondence from, relating to the fashions
of 1713, 110, 115, 116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123.

Guardian, the, letters from, relating to low dresses and tight
stays, 120-123.

Gustavus Adolphus, the officers of, 135.

Hair powder, its introduction, 97.

Henry III. of France a wearer of corsets, 76, 81.

Hindoo belles, 19, 20.

Hindoo standards of beauty, 19, 20.

Hogarth, stays drawn by, 129.

Homer speaks of the corset, 30.

Improvements in corsets brought about by the advance of
civilisation, 10.

Indian hunting-belt, 9, 10.

Israelitish ladies, 27-29.

Jane Shore, penance of, 46-49.

Java, earth-eating in, 13.

Jonson (Ben), his remarks on stays, 123.

Jumpers and Garibaldis, 130.

King Charles I. of England, fashions of the court of, 103.

King George III., fashion in the reign of, 135.

King James and his fondness for dress, 89, 90.

King Louis XV. of France, fashion in the reign of, 109.

Kirtle, the, 46.

Ladies of Old France, 41.

Lady Morton, diminutive waist of, 166.

Lady Triamore, daughter of the King of the Fairies, 45.

Lady's-maid, accomplishments of a, 123.

Launfal, poem of, 45.

Lawn ruffs of Queen Bess, 82, 87.

Laws, sumptuary, relating to dress, 90.

Letter from a lady, who habitually laces with extreme tightness,
in praise of the practice, 182-184.

Letters from ladies who have been subjected to tight-lacing, 155-164.

Louis XIV. of France, court of, 98.

Louis XIV. of France, the court of, high-heeled shoes, slender
waists, and fancy costumes, fashionable at, 98.

Louise de Lorraine, fête dress of, 97.

Louise de Lorraine, strange freaks of, 92, 97.

Marie d'Anjou, costume of, 54.

Marie de Medici and the costumes of her time, 97.

Marie Stuart, costume of, 159.

Medical evidence in favour of stays, 134, 135.

Medical man, letter from, in favour of moderately tight
lacing, 154, 155.

Minet back corset described, 213.

Mitra used by the Grecian ladies, 33.

Mode of adding stability to the front-fastening corset, 209.

Mortality among the female sex not on the increase, 195.

Old authors, their remarks on stays, 194.

Peplus, the, 33.

Proportions of the figure and size of waist considered, 193.

Puritanism, its effect on fashion, 104.

Queen Anne, fashions during the reign of, 110.

Queen Catherine de Medici and Queen Elizabeth of England, 72, 75.

Queen Elizabeth's collection of false hair, 87, 88.

Queen newspaper, letter from, on small waists, 165-168.

Redresseur corset of Vienna, 210.

Remarks on the changes of fashion, 143.

Remarks on the flimsy materials used in making some modern
corsets, 210.

Revival of the taste for small waists in Old France, 41.

Roman baths, 34, 35.

Royal standard of fashionable slenderness, 72.

Scotland, small waists admired in, in olden times, 50.

Scriptural references, 29.

Selby, Mrs., the invention of, reviewed, 217.

Self-measurement, remarks concerning, 209.

Short waists and long trains, 129.

Siamese dress, the, 98.

Side-arms of the Elizabethan period, 91.

Snake-toed shoes, long sleeves, and high-heeled slippers, 59.

Starching, the art of, 82.

Statistics, extraordinary, of the corset trade, 195.

Statue, a fashionably dressed, 180.

Stays, formidable kind of, in use in 1776, 129.

Stays, the general use of the word after 1600 in England, 124.

Stays worn habitually by gentlemen, 135.

Strophium, the use of, by the ladies of Rome, 33.

Stubs, Philip, on the ruff, 87-89.

Stubs, his indignation, 88, 89.

Taper waists and figure-training in Ancient Rome, 38.

Terentius, strictures and remarks of, 30.

Thirteenth century, the small waists of, 42.

Thomson's glove-fitting corsets, 204, 205.

Tight corsets, letter in praise of, 182, 183.

Tight corsets needed for short waists, 190.

Tight-lacing revived, 130.

Toilet of a Roman lady of fashion, 34-36.

United States of America, belles of the, 153.

Venice, fashions of the ladies of, 82, 87.

Venus de Medici, waist of, contrasted with the waist of fashion, 180.

Venus, the cestus of, 30.

Vienna, slender waists the fashion in, 165.

Voluminous nether-garments of the gentlemen of the Elizabethan
period, 82.

Waist, the point at which it should be formed, 193, 194·

Young Baronet, letter from, 184.

Zephyrina jupon of Thomson and Co., 221.

Transcriber's Note:

Original spelling/hyphenation/punctuation has been retained, but typographical errors have been corrected.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Corset and the Crinoline, by William Barry Lord