Wearing corsets (even “stealthing” it under your clothing, so no one is the wiser) can help you climb the corporate ladder, earn respect of yourself and your peers, help you understand how to make better economic purchases and help you appreciate the finer things in life – even if relatively nothing else in your life has changed. Read more below to understand how wearing corsets can bring societal benefits – or, you can click here to read about the physical/ medical benefits, or the mental and emotional benefits. Or, you can go back to the main “Corset Benefits” page.

Benefits with Societal Impact in Regards to Corseting

1. Corsets improve a person’s carriage and give the wearer a certain poise –  the air of confidence, high self-esteem and assertiveness, whether or not they may feel confident that day. This body language – straight posture, chest high, shoulders back – silently commands respect from others. The corseter may notice that colleagues may start to treat them with more respect, and over time they may become accustomed to this better treatment, resulting in a positive feedback loop of higher esteem and more respect, whether or not they’re wearing the corset.
   Refer to Chapters 12 (Body Positivity) and 15: (Mental Health) *
2.  Many people simply revel in owning a custom, personal luxury item. Corsets are one of the most personalized luxuries, as many corsetieres take no less than 14 measurements of the body to ensure the corset perfectly fits the wearer. A corset will be exclusively made for the owner and no one else, both in fit and in fabric/embellishment specifications, and is often one of a kind. The knowledge that a person owns a piece like none other in the universe can figuratively lift the owner out of mediocrity, helping to separate them from the rest of society in their mind, and filling a certain need to be cherished and unique. When this is applied to a medical corset especially, this can improve patient compliance by wearing the beautiful brace more often, and may encourage faster rehabilitation.
   Refer to the Introduction and the Mission of the Solaced Project *
3. Custom designed or custom fit corsets are usually much more than a typical $20 sweatshop item that you purchase from the local department store. By supporting ethical companies or commissioning a custom corset from a local independent corsetiere, you are helping an artist develop their craft, you are allowing a small business to stay alive in the face of giant corporations, and you are supporting your local economy. You can feel good knowing that you’re helping other families directly and your community indirectly, and you still have the same opportunity to experience all the physical, mental, emotional, and other social benefits to corseting. It’s win-win.
   Refer to the stories written by corsetieres such as “Are Corsets Good Back Support?” “The Accidental Corsetiere” and “A Corsetiere’s Calling” *
4. Perhaps the most prominent would be the fact that women — and increasingly, men — today are liberated and empowered to wear what they like. In Western culture, women are not forced to comply with hard fashion rules; they are free to choose what to wear and what not to wear, in almost any combination. (This is why I love corsets paired with trousers!) Feminists who wear corsets are quite common, and are quite aware of a superficial sense of irony, but it all comes down to expressing oneself in the way one sees fit. Many of history’s influential women (like Susan B Anthony, who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women’s rights movement, and Harriet Tubman, who supported the women’s suffrage and also saved 700 people) proudly wore corsets, sometimes quite tightly,  as their fashion bore no constitution to their legal recognition as persons with equal rights. Moreover, men have worn corsets throughout history (including King George IV of the UK, Andy Warhol, and President John F. Kennedy) and still proudly wear corsets today as the corset is not solely a symbol of femininity, but of protection, poise and power.
   Refer to the stories “Wisdom and Autonomy” and “Activation of the Manipura Chakra”

Jump to the physical benefits to corseting, or the mental/ emotional benefits to corseting.

*Please note that this article is strictly for information purposes and not intended to replace the advice of a medical physician. Please talk to your doctor if you’d like to start wearing a corset for any reason.