Elizabethan or Marie Stuart Period - 1558 - 1600
Elizabethan or Marie Stuart Period - 1558 - 1600
Court Dress - Early 15th Century
Court Dress - Early 15th Century
Elizabethan or Henry III - 1570
Elizabethan or Henry III - 1570
Citizens Dress of 1545
Citizens Dress of 1545
Court Dress 1540 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1540 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1550 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1550 - Tudor or Francis I
Steel Corset worn in Catherine's time.
The most extensive and extreme use of the corset occurred in the 16th century, during the reign of Catherine de Medici of France and Queen Elizabeth of England. With Catherine de Medici a thirteen-inch waist measurement was considered the standard of fashion, while a thick waist was an abomination. No lady could consider her figure of proper shape unless she could span her waist with her two hands. To produce this result a strong rigid corset was worn night and day until the waist was laced down to the required size. Then over this corset was placed the steel apparatus shown in the illustration on next page. This corset-cover reached from the hip to the throat, and produced a rigid figure over which the dress would fit with perfect smoothness.