h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd love to write more, but surely the Victorian corset only stopped a Vict woman doing those things that Vict women did not do ?

A corset is restrictive by today's standards, it was "right and proper" by 19C standards?

Annie

oops... a year too late. faux pas... anyway:

I think they were more active than we like to imagine. There were special corsets for bicycle and horse-riding, maternity and exercise, for instance. I haven't come close enough to an actual period corset to judge how restrictive they are but modern ones aren't that different essentially, and even heavily-boned ones are comfortable. They don't stop you being active or even doing strenuous activities, you just have to move differently (the 'bunny-dip', for instance.) However it probably was 'right and proper' since they were more accustomed and adapted to wearing them, so did not view them as restrictive. However I would reckon that the many layers of extra underwear proved more of a hindrance than a corset.