ABSTRACT
Though popularly considered a woman's undergarment, the corset first existed as an outer garment, worn by men as well as women. During the middle Ages, the male version was a sleeved or sleeveless surcoat. The woman's corset was an outer gown, laced in front and, for cold weather, lined with fur. By the seventeenth century, the corset had evolved into a type of foundation garment which not only supported, but also shaped the figure by defining or constricting the waist. Thus the "heavily-boned V-shape" that dominated the eighteenth century gave way, in the first decade of the nineteenth century, to the "Empire look". Therefore, lighter, shorter corsets gained popularity. By mid-century, however, longer, heavier corseting with emphasis on a small waist had become stylish.
