Feminine Identity and the Corset: A History

Feminine Identity and the enclothe A HistoryConcepts of effeminate identicalness induce changed drastically throughout history. Ancient sculpture reveals that beauty was considered to be a woman who was greatly obese, perhaps because of its connotations of a woman well-fed in a world where that was a difficult achievement. The ancient Greeks wanted a much muscular get in in their artwork of the fair(prenominal) ideal, unless these opines still retained a soft roundness. In radical-fashi id times, the womanly ideal has shifted to something closer to the skeletal. As this transition occurred, fashion has play a significant role in plastic the young-bearing(prenominal) identity. The effectiveness and versatility of the clothe as a defining plume is almost as astonishing as its continuing appeal. even upingn after it lost its widespread popularity, the carryd use of the raiment in Hollywood depictions of the feminine uphold its use, established its historic conno tations and illustrated how it tokenized something larger than itself. Contemporary fashion has given the tog up a invigorated lease on life as women continue to turn to this garment as a elbow room of identification inside the current world.Although the fit out has traditionally been viewed as a symbol of female person submission, any intrinsic importee is subject to wide reading. What the immediate meaning usually comes from is available imagery, past or present, the suggestive pictures that have pervaded cosmos consciousness and are loaded with shared associations (Hollander, 1995 26). The tight-lacing of the 17th and 18th centuries establish the degree to which the corset was considered a means of female informal mirror image and define ideas of female beauty. Understanding how the corset has been used in Hollywood, revitalised in cult fashions and re-introduced in high fashion illustrates how it can employ to convey female submission and aggressive sexuality dep ending upon the internal and impertinent factors at play in its design and use within modern fashion.Hollywoods CreationHollywood and the big name movie producers have occupied the corset in any number of ways from the beginning of the industry. The corset was already used in routine dress when Hollywood emerged and it was already a strategic garment in Vaudeville and Broadway. Even then, women hunger the fashions they saw on stage depending upon the persona of the actress and the objectives of the wearer. Broadway and Vaudeville star Anna Held is the offset printing great prototype of the corset as a defining garment of the female character. Most of her fame was not attributed to her singing voice, but rather to her curlicue eyes, eighteen inch cannon and naughty songs (Kenrick, 2004). As is shown in attend 1, Held move the practice of tight-lacing in order to portray an enticing, sexually benevolent woman with a tiny waist and accented upper features. through with(pred icate) these types of costumes in combination with her activities, Held demonstrated a life of independence and victor while remaining sexy and appealing to the opposite sex. Author Eve Golden was quoted saying Held was everything that was glamorous about Broadway, everything that was naughty about capital of France (Van Degans, 2006).Mae due west achieved similar associations in notoriety and accomplishments. As early as age 14, West was being hailed as The Baby Vamp (Mae West Biography, 2004). Like Held, she became famous because of her quick wit and brazen sexuality. In 1926, Mae wrote, produced and enjoin the Broadway show Sex, which led her to be arrested for obscenity (Mae West, 2004). She was so controversial that new censorship codes were put in place in 1934 specifically to scream her writing, but this didnt keep her from filling her lines with outrageous innuendo and double entendres. Her source film role was supporting George Raft in Night afterwards Night (1932), in which Raft said she stole everything but the cameras. The low film to star West, She Done Him Wrong (1933), the film version of base clump field Lil, broke box-office records and saved Paramount from selling out to MGM (Mae West, 2004). Although West continued to emphasize the hourglass figure, she rejected the wasp-waist and tight-lacing of Held. Instead, as is shown in Figure 2, West presented a narrow yet proportionately-sized waist. Women wishing to appear independent and sexual began including the corset to heighten and claim their sexuality.Although many stars who appeared in corsets as a initiate of their outer costume, much(prenominal) as Mae West and Anna Held, retained doubtful reputations as wild, free and sexual women, the corset was also used by secure girls. In the 1950 film Two Weeks with Love, Jane Powell, the girl-next-door, deepened her image with the part of Patti Robinson, a 17-year-old vying for the discern of a charming Latin man. A main point in the p lot refers to the vital role of the corset as a means of defining a woman, something no real femme fatale of the time would be without (Two Weeks with Love, 1950). This bully girls struggles to acquire a corset helped to blur the boundaries between the appealingly feminine good girl and the aggressively sexual bad girl. end-to-end Hollywoods progression, women were lots get a linen using corsets as a means of obtaining the ideal female figure despite changing fashions. Thus, Hollywood allowed the garment to shape and redefine the figures of thousands of American women through the generations. Examples include the hourglass figures of Debbie Reynolds in How the West Was Won and Marilyn Monroe in River of No Return, the cinch waist shown in The Glass Slipper on Leslie Caron and the straight-line figure of Betty Grable.Each of these images gives women something they can identify with that would encourage their use of the corset to stock some aspect of their sexuality. Debbie Reyn olds is sweetly sassy with the traditional hourglass figure. Marilyn Monroe disrobes for the camera to nonchalantly reveal her stunning shape. Leslie Carons super slim waist is emphasized by the attention of the actors while Betty Grables curves are made more alluring by the control maintained in the World War II poster. In each case, the use of the corset emphasizes rather than negates the sexual appeal of the women and provides her with an nimbus of power. Throughout these depictions and regardless of the finished shape, the corset was essential to wide conceptualisation of true womanhood. Without it, the female was somehow less than a woman as she lacked any sexual identity. The corsets continued use as a symbol of female empowerment in Hollywood ensured its continued use in society.Corsets Return in Cult counterfeitModern fashions use of the corset began with the Gothic fashions of the late 20th century although it can be put in in other styles as well. Fashion architects working within small cult groups incorporated it as a feature element of everyday overclothes. Again, it is typically used to heighten a womans sex appeal, but the forms of interpretation can vary widely ground upon the vision of the designer and the intention of the wearer. One such designer is Vivienne Westwood, who worked in the rock and roll tendency of the 1960s and 1970s in Britain. Her fashions reflect the sexual freedom of female expression found in the womens movements of the time. She felt the repression and conservatism of Britain were in resistivity to the freedom and liberation being expressed in America. She rebelled against these attitudes in the aggressive, stark(a) nature of the wearing she designed. Westwood discovered that there was a dramatic electromotive force in the clothes themselves that could be heightened laden with associations, biker gear links sexuality, wildness and death, in a twentieth century archetype (Savage, 2001 21). She built on these ideas by adding metal studs, chicken bones, chains, zippers and other things to her designs. This made her the mother of the oaf rock fashions (Savage, 2001 21). Many of these designs included the corset as a fetish object, made in leather, vinyl or other materials (see Figure 7) to relate a dominatrix-type image. This gave the garment connotations of power and control. The jewel-like elements on the corset featured in Figure 7 also provides a strong element of retrogression and wealth.Westwood then took the corset in a new direction as she defined the romantic pirate movement and the savages movement of asymmetrical skirts and ripped layers. Her corsets took on softer fabrics, but did not reduce the sense of power and control associated with the preliminary designs. The sensuous images used in the Aphrodite and Adonis corset epitomizes the type of soft, yet blatant, sexuality the corset has come to represent.Westwoods reworking of the corset for outerwear has become one of her most recognizable earmarks. Romantic and historically accurate, the corsets are also surprisingly practical. Stretch fabrics allow ease of movement, and removable sleeves convert a daylight garment to evening wear. Once a symbol of constraint, corsets are instanter an expression of female sexuality and empowerment (Vivienne Westwood, 2004). Westwoods brilliance is in conclusion a means of melding the blatant sexuality of the corset-as-outer-garment crowd with the soft femininity of the corset-as-undergarment crowd. Madonnas now legendary conical bra, created by Jean Paul Gaultier and wasted throughout her Blonde Ambition tour nearly ten geezerhood later, would never have happened if it hadnt been for Westwood playing with the concept of underwear as outerwear some time before him (Frankel, 2001 52). Westwood recognized the attraction to this style was the subjective empowerment afforded the wearer. There is always a sense of danger retributive under the surface of her desig ns, as is somewhat apparent in the example pictured in Figure 9.The Corset in High FashionFrom its appearance in cult fashions, the corset has also been accepted natural covering into high society as a symbol of status and taste. The corset had many positive connotations of social status, self-discipline, artistry, respectability, beauty, youth and erotic allure (Steele, 2001 1). These concepts have been re-introduced to the corset as fashion designers increasingly recognize its appeal as an undergarment to women seeking psychological empowerment as well as an outer garment to highlight and reclaim sexual expression. Even when the full corset is not used, many designs mimic the hourglass shape in the thump of a jacket, the lacing on the back of a shirt or the boning of an evening gown. The corset captured the dichotomy between artifice and restraint and reflected the extremely ornamental status given to the female body (Keenan, 2001 171). However, the primary designing of these elements continues to focus on providing the wearer with a sense of sexual power.Following Vivienne Westwood, haute couture designer Jean Paul Gaultier realized the corsets connotations of feminine power. The corset My first trademark piece. At the beginning of the 20th century, women considered corsets anti-freedom, but when I put them on the runway in the early 1980s, it was to express the power of femininity. It was supposed to be hidden, but making it apparent made people rediscover it. I love the fact that a woman or man draining one feels strong and powerful (Davis et al, 2006 43). His corset dress designs are based on the idea of the corset with many designs incorporating boning, support and tabs, but his front-runner feature seems to be the lacing which adds a touch of the romantic and the sexual as is highlighted in Figures 10 and 11.Whether through the Paris runway or the cult sectors, the corset has entered mainstream fashion thanks to the creativity of designers, the versatility of new fabrics and techniques and the trust of women to construct an identity in keeping with the pressures of the modern era. Designers such as Stella McCartney have modified the corset dress to make it extremely wearable. The dress pictured in Figure 12 could be worn to an evening event as easily as an afternoon lunch.Designers have begun using elements of the corset in ever-more casual designs. In addition to the feminizing aspects of the fabrics and patterns selected for these pieces of clothing, the slimming features of the corset unite with its breast enhancing abilities are at the heart of this popularity. Psychologically, the popularity of the corset can be explained by its strong connotation. The corset, still being a historical garment, in all probability gives the wearer the feeling of timelessness and freedom felt when wearing fancy dress. It lets her travel along a role, a character, maybe a powerful seductress, which is not allowed during effortless li fe (All Tied Up, 2006). By wearing a corset-inspired top, a modern woman gains the ability of expressing her femininity, exploring her sexuality, imbuing herself with a feeling of confidence and power and screening off her figure in its best light.Conclusion The Corset-Defined IdentityThroughout its long history, the corset has been a significant player in the shaping of female clothing and female identity. Whether used by outrageous female actresses pushing the bounds of female sexual expression such as Mae West or Anna Held or incorporated into films by directors to illustrate a specific point, the corset remained a significant symbol of female identity throughout most of Hollywoods history from the vamp to the alluring ideal feminine. base into the 21st century, the corset has not phased out of production or usage. With designers such as Vivienne Westwood redefining both the function and the message of the corset, as well as revolutionizing the fabrics, materials and comfort level of these garments, the corset has seen a comeback into modern clothing. By bringing the corset into the open, Westwood also brought the subject of female sexuality more into the open, encouraging discussion and display. Her powerful designs and innovative fabrics served to highlight the concept that the feminine could be powerful as well as shapely even while comfort remained a concern. The corset was then morphed into other styles of clothing for a variety of purposes. This effectively brought the idea of the feminine into a new context still defined by the shape of the corset, the feminine had short been shaped into something defined by the individual woman and could reflect everything from artless submission to the needs of the male to powerful aggression and control on the part of the female. The corset bears an everlasting sexual attraction it glorifies, underlines, exacerbates and idealizes the female form. It has evolved aesthetically and symbolically from underwea r to outerwear (in late nineteenth century ball gowns), from corsets to bustiers, from constriction to power, from lingerie to armor (All Tied Up, 2006).I think you see why the shaping of the waist is important regarding sexuality.You state that W.Westwood was solely trusty for the comeback of corsets in the 80s. you could argue that it has always been there. Doirs new look (the nipped in waist) a corset in a more relaxed form.Not completely female wears corset. Men do. Currently and in the past. Could talk about the waist coat acting like a corset for men or look up dandiesCorsets Return in Cult Fashion and The Corset in High Fashion chapters can be cut agglomerate a lot if you look at the trickle down surmise by simmel.