The corset has always been considered a harmful, uncomfortable and oppressive garment, but  it was also a symbol of beauty, social position and youth. Surprisingly, despite the myths, the corset is a very misunderstood garment.

Actually, it is not known with certainty when the use of the garment began since it has different theories of origin since its place of creation was in the Greek civilization to the belief that it was used as a torture device in the European aristocracy as well. It is believed that its origin was in
Crete and that it was carried by a Minoan figure recognized as a goddess.

It is also believed that it came from Europe, in which dresses with intertwined ties began to be worn to make them look tighter and exaggerate certain parts. Of the body all these mentioned above are variations very similar to the corset, however the corset as we know it today arose in Italy at the end of the renaissance. It became popular in the 16th century as they were commonly worn by royalty. It is even more recognized for being used by Catherine de Medicis who imposed its use among her courtesans. This made people associate the corset with royalty and social position.

Was the corset really harmful?

The corset that we know underwent a lot of drastic changes during the years, being tight in the chest and very loose under it (a good
reference is the dresses we see in T.V series like Bridgerton). Although it seems that the corset was harmful, it actually helped many
women to trim their big dresses with stability and even to have a correct posture. Before the arrival of the industrial revolution, corsets were made by hand, so it was very delicate and easy to break.  The holes through which the laces are intertwined were very delicate, so
much so that if you got too tight, they would break. Although many of us thought that the corset arose as a painful and uncomfortable garment, in reality it was just harmful and uncomfortable for those who used it improperly.

Symbols of oppression?

At the end of the 19th century, the corset gained the reputation it has to this day, since it was considered a danger to women morally since it promoted promiscuity and superficiality as well. Despite the fact that it affected health, many women who continued to use it were marked as vain because it was said that they preferred beauty to health. Actually, most of the diseases that were attributed to the corset were not related to it, for example tuberculosis, which is actually transmitted from one person to another through the air.  The corset was actually a danger mainly because of men of the time since it thought of as the model of "ideal woman" that was had.  Since the corset was related to abortions and infertility, the men ordered their women to stop using them. In reality the corset was a symbol of oppression, but in a way completely different from the version we know.