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The constant use of the corset might weaken the spine after some time, atrophying the muscles that support it. Some models were more harmful, like the one called pipe-stem, in which the waist in its narrowest point was vertically extended from one to ten centimeters; or the wasp, in which the waist was formed from the ribs in a straight line, and then it expanded dramatically to the hip, almost without curves. But most women just wanted to soften their waists to the delicate form of hour-glass - up to 3,94 inches of reduction didn’t compromise the comfort or health - besides flattening the belly and supporting the bust; the corset didn’t reach the hips and it always covered the chest. As time went by, the dresses got more slender and less wide; the crinolines were exchanged for crinolette rears, and a good part of the petticoats was removed (one or two were remaining only, while five were not uncommon in the beginning of that century). The steel substituted the rarer and rarer whale fin. The silhouette took the shape of an "S" - the full chest, the straight belly and the upright derrière. The line of the bust became lower and the corset sometimes covered the hips. Flattening the stomach and maintaining the posture, in the Belle Époque, was more important than a hour-glass form, and the corsets then were considered 'healthy' on account of that. The natural, fluid neo-classic forms would become fashionable again. Supposedly one shouldn’t use anything under a dress cut in bias by Mme Vionnet, in the beginning of the XX century. The bra had been already invented, and began to get popular. The elastic cloths also gave new possibilities to control the forms. |
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