Corset Evolution Timeline

These stays were worn during the Tudor era (from about 1485 – 1600), where several generations of the the Tudor family reigned over England. It was in this era that we considered the first true stays came to be. They were sometimes also called Effigies or “Payre of Bodies” (the “pair” especially describing if it came in two pieces, with lacing down the front and the back). This piece by Hedonistic Costumes is a single piece with a wooden busk inserted in the center front. Tudor stays also might or might not have tabs at the bottom.

These are still technically Tudor stays, but you may know them better as Elizabethan stays, worn during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (who was the last of the Tudor family). Fashion followed whoever was in charge, and it was safe to say that QE1 was highly influential!

These stays still have the Tudor-style wider scoop over the lower tummy, but it has long, narrow tabs over the side and back. This version comes in two pieces, tied together with spiral lacing in the front (as well as the back). Elizabethan stays tend to be relatively long in the front (extending low over the tummy) and quite short in the back (with the bottom edge stopping above the iliac crest in the back). We also often see them as continuously boned (although they may have used reed or other types of “stays”, not necessarily baleen).

Photo courtesy of Joyssance via Etsy.

The Georgian period spanned from 1714 – 1837, where we see a whole lot of “King Georges” reigning England, one after the other.

Stays can still be closed in the front like this example, or they can have front lacing. Starting in the 17th century (1600s), where the stays are open, we begin to see more stomachers underneath (a decorative, removable, stiffened flap under the front laces).

The center front rounded, scooping hem gives way to other shapes here: squared, dramatically pointed, spade-shaped (like this example from Prior Attire), etc. Georgian stays are still elongated in the front, but are not terribly short in the back.

Tabs may be squared off, or shorter and daintier than their Elizabethan counterparts. While the stays may be continuously boned, we begin to see more strategically-placed boning: usually vertical bones tapering into a V-shape and sometimes a couple of rows of horizontal boning across the bust. (There’s quite a lot of room for innovation when an era spans over 100 years!)

The Georgian period of England also overlaps with the lifetime of Marie Antoinette (1755 – 1793) in France – so you may also see 18th century stays referred to as “Antoinette stays”. Not surprisingly, this also coincided with the Rococo art era, which was known for being over-the-top ornamental – almost to the point of ostentatious – which is very in-line with Antoinette’s early reputation.

Stays inspired by Marie Antoinette may also be pastel colored and have floral or pastoral themes (Marie Antoinette was very into “cottage core” in her later years).

The Georgian period spanned from 1714 – 1837, where we see a whole lot of “King Georges” reigning England, one after the other. In the 1790s (around the reign of George III) we see more experimentation in fashion, with the shortening of stays (and higher waistlines) as inspired by classical Greek art.

Stays can still be closed in the front or have front lacing, but we don’t really see stomachers anymore. It would be another 40-50 years before the split busk gains traction. Stays may have tabs, or not.

These are called “Transitional” because they bridge the gap before the very distinctive Regency era starting around 1810 (King George IV was called the Prince Regent, but technically the Regency era was a blip within the overall Georgian period, because – well – the Georges were in charge).

Photo courtesy of NemuroCorsets via Etsy.

Starting in the 1790s until around 1830 or so, we see more experimentation in fashion, with the shortening of stays (and higher waistlines) as inspired by classical Greek art.

In the evolutionary tree of corsets, the shorter transitional stays of the 1790s branched off in two different directions: some Regency stays became ever shorter, resembling more of a bra, while others lengthened to the mid-hip with a relatively gentle cinch in the waist.

To call these Georgian stays is technically not wrong, but they’re better known as Regency long stays – they are unique to the Regency era, starting around 1810 and continuing around 1830 (King George IV was called the Prince Regent, but technically the Regency era was a blip within the overall Georgian period, because – well – four generations of Georges were ruling England for a good century).

Long Regency stays (and jumps) were the precursor to Victorian corsets, with a few distinctions: they still usually had shoulder straps, were sparsely boned (cording and quilting provided much of its structure), and had a relatively gentle silhouette.

Photo courtesy of Valentine Craft Store via Etsy.

Starting in the 1790s until around 1830 or so, we see more experimentation in fashion, with the shortening of stays (and higher waistlines) as inspired by classical Greek art.

To call these short Georgian stays is technically not wrong, but they’re better known as Regency short stays – they are unique to the Regency era, starting around 1810 and continuing around 1830 (King George IV was called the Prince Regent, but technically the Regency era was a blip within the overall Georgian period, because – well – four generations of Georges were ruling England for a good century).

Stays can still be closed in the front or have front lacing, but we don’t see stomachers anymore. It would be another 10-20 years before the split busk gains traction.

Tabs may be tiny and vestigial, but have mostly gone away in favor of a smooth bottom edge that doesn’t show bumps under the streamlined silhouettes of the day.

Photo courtesy of FiorentinaCostuming via Etsy.

Queen Victoria reigned over England from 1837 – 1901, and ushered in an entirely new fashion and aesthetic. At the same time, the 1830s and 40s saw the Industrial Revolution, where huge jumps in technology were made in machinery, including sewing machines, steel manufacturing, transportation, etc.

Victorian corsets were the first to have a steel split busk (with loops and pins) as well as steel boning and grommets. Of course, baleen (“whalebone”) was still used in the early 1800s but as whale populations dwindled and steel production became cheaper, we saw steel bones take over.

The silhouette of the Victorian corset is also completely different – an hourglass, rather than the cone-shaped stays of the Tudor/Stuart/Georgian periods, or the gentle silhouette of the Regency era. Waistlines look more nipped than ever before, and made to look even more dramatic in contrast with widening crinoline skirts.

The quintessential “Barbie ballgown” silhouette peaked in the 1860s and then slowly took a chill pill, being replaced with smaller and smaller bustles by 1890. There would be huge variations in patterns, construction techniques, materials, etc over the 60+ years of Victoria’s reign, but Victorian corsets remain recognizable by their hourglass silhouette, smooth transition from bust-to-waist-to-hip, and fashionable roundness to the lower tummy.

Photo courtesy of Chesebro Corsetry via Etsy.

Queen Victoria reigned over England from 1837 – 1901, and ushered in an entirely new fashion and aesthetic. At the same time, the 1830s and 40s saw the Industrial Revolution, where huge jumps in technology were made in machinery, including sewing machines, steel manufacturing, transportation, etc.

The Pretty Housemaid was a specific type of Victorian Corset – late Victorian era, to be precise – created around 1890. It was designed to be lightweight, more flexible (see the corded hips), comfortable and long-lasting for hard labor. Despite its intricate details, it was a practical corset designed for the working class.

Pretty Housemaid corsets, of course, have a steel split busk (with loops and pins) for ease of donning and removing by oneself, as well as steel grommets for efficiency and longevity. Baleen (“whalebone”) was still sometimes used, but as whale populations dwindled and steel production became cheaper, we saw steel bones take over – by the late 1800s, steel was often marketed as cutting-edge and superior, as spiral bones were less likely to become brittle and shatter with age the way baleen did.

The quintessential “Barbie ballgown” silhouette peaked in the 1860s and then slowly took a chill pill, being replaced with smaller and smaller bustles by 1890. There would be huge variations in patterns, construction techniques, materials, etc over the 60+ years of Victoria’s reign, but Victorian corsets remain recognizable by their hourglass silhouette, smooth transition from bust-to-waist-to-hip, and fashionable roundness to the lower tummy.

Photo courtesy of Clockwork Faerie via Etsy.

Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, her son Edward took the throne and brought in the Edwardian era. At the same time, medicine is improving by leaps and bounds around the turn of the century (Germ theory! Hand washing! Invention of the X-ray machine!) and so naturally, we begin to see more physician influence / intervention in the creation and development of corsets.

The Edwardian corset has a distinctive straight front – gone is the rounded lower tummy of the Victorian era. The patterns are interesting, often with tapered, diagonal seams, while the bones don’t necessarily follow the seam lines. The fashionable silhouette of the early 1900s encouraged the wearer to thrust their bust forward, hold the shoulders back, and tilt the pelvis anteriorly. What couldn’t be achieved naturally, bust and hip padding was always there to assist!

The Edwardian corset also extends lower on the hips compared to the Victorian era, and there is more of a defined waistline where the conical rib cage gives way suddenly to bulging, convex hips.

Edwardian fashion was relatively short-lived, as King Edward VII’s reign was short-lived. Unlike his mother’s 44-year reign, Edward passed away after just 9 years on the throne.

Photo courtesy of The Boudoir Key via Etsy.

The passing of King Edward VII in 1910 also somewhat ended fashion history’s reference to eras exclusively by British monarchs. 1910-1920 saw much upheaval with WWI, and corset manufacturing took a back seat to the war effort. Steel was rationed in favor of producing battleships; silk went towards parachutes. It was considered by some to be the “nail in the coffin” for corsets.

This streamlined underbust corset is often called a “Titanic-era” or “teens-era” corset (as the Titanic ship sank in 1912). It takes some inspiration from the long Regency stays in that it’s more sparsely boned than the Victorian corsets, has a more natural silhouette, as well as allows for a more natural posture (no more S-bend).

However, it is more modern with its split busk, long line over the hips (which the Edwardian era loved), and – it came in an underbust option, designed to be worn with a separate “bust improver”.

Photo courtesy of RedThreaded.

Corsets fell largely out of fashion from 1914 to 1945 (between the first and second world wars). Of course, girdles, back braces, and other styles of shapewear and support-wear continued to exist in some form or another  – and some folks, especially older women who were comfortably set in their ways, continued to wear out-of-fashion corsets and clothing due to personal comfort or not being able to afford to keep up with the latest fashion trends.

After the end of WWII, Christian Dior made a splash with New Look fashion, where he brought back the corset as a reinvented cincher designed to be worn with a separate bra. We begin to see many features of modern corsets here: a short rib height for maximum mobility, a square hip shelf for comfort over the hip bones, and a dramatic wasp-waist silhouette achieved through what we would consider the process of tightlacing.

Screenshot from British Pathé “New Look Underwear (1948)“

After the 1950s, corsets fell out of fashion yet again. The 1960s favored a decidedly “boxier” look (heavily influenced by Coco Chanel’s designs), and of course the 1970s saw bra-burnings across America. Corsets never really went away completely though – just went underground. Through the 1950s, Fakir Musafar was making and wearing corsets, and a handful of people embraced it as a form of alternative fashion. In the 80s and 90s punk movement, corsets became more of a counter-culture symbol (Vivienne Westwood is often credited for reinventing and reviving the modern corset.

Some of the top corsetieres today had their humble beginnings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Dark Garden Custom Corsetry and Lace Embrace Atelier.

Vollers corsets, the maker of the gentle-silhouette corset seen here, is possibly the longest-lived corset company, having been in operation since 1899. They were a family-run company, with their Portsmouth UK factory passed down from one generation to the next. This means that they’ve seen the end of the Victorian Era, all of the Edwardian, Titanic, New Look, counter-culture/underground/alternative fashion, and modern iterations of the corset. They produced some of the original Pretty Housemaid corsets, and now they have reinvented many of their older patterns to suit modern-slim silhouettes and preferences. In 2024 Vollers was acquired by Hess Enterprises and fresh designers usher in a new era of styles for the next generation.

What will be next in the evolution of the corset? Only time will tell!