Victorian Era

The ideal body type during this era in Europe and the US was a full body with large hips and bust and a very small waist. This body shape, of an impossibly small waist assisted by use of a corset, was popular in the 1800's. This was initially a fashion for the wealthy who did not have to work and the corset represented their luxurious lifestyle as well as their refinement. It spread down to middle and lower classes who imitated the look of the wealthy. Although one of its initial appeals was that it made the wearer obviously unfit for work, by the 1890's even when working in the fields or kitchen working class women wore loosely fitted corsets.

The corset also reflected Victorians' ideals about morality, with the inhibition of motion being linked to inhibition of desire and restraint.