In this classic book, Norah Waugh explores the changing shapes of women’s dress from the 1500s to the 1920s. Simple laced bodices became corsets of cane, whalebone and steel, while padding at shoulders and hips gave way to the structures of farthingales, hoops and bustles. 

Corsets and Crinolines explains the cyclical nature of these fashions, and how waists and skirts changed shape and size through three distinct eras:

•  The 1500s to 1670—farthingales and whaleboned bodies.
• 1670 to 1800—Stays and hooped petticoats.
• 1800 to 1925—corsets, crinolines and bustles.

Each section describes how these garments originated, how they became popular and how they emerged as central to the fashions of the time. Extracts from diaries, journals, poems and newspapers, as well as over 100 illustrations, demonstrate the variety of these ubiquitous items of clothing throughout modern history...