The tyranny of the corset and the way which a dress changed the world.

In 20th century, the fashion going to changed the world in many ways, particularly, how the world perceived the women. In the early 1900, the corset was used to dressing, its use was the only way which women were to be presented to the society, and this one gave every man the silhouette which wanted to see. The corset was the body's enemy, nevertheless, its was use,mostly, within women's life in 20th century. The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. But, the corset use brought differents problems in the women body, health problems. The high society, who used more the corset, brought consequences like: breathing issues, dizziness, organs compressed occasionally, broken ribs, fainting, spinal deformities, fertility problems, etc. We can understand now, why the corset was a such a problem in women life, not only because was a health problem, but also a movement problem, the ladies could not move with easily,the pressure of the corset over the spine, prevented the women could move normally. By that time, the woman had to evolve her personality, and look at herself part of the society, and not an object to be decorated, she need to make her movement, have a physical liberation from that piece of cloth (corset), which did no help in this liberation process.

Classic Corset

The 20th century was a futuristic and visionary era, and of course, all of this features are going to be in the fashion,too. But, what is a visionary? is one who can envision the future. One of the most important fashion visionary is Coco Chanel (1884-1971). Chanel created and constructed the flapper dress. This short-cut shift dress became the uniform of emancipated "modern" young women in the mid-1920s. With their slang, exposed limbs and go-getting attitude, these "flappers" showed defiance, daring and strength in a male-dominated world. The flapper dress was a physical liberation, overthrowing the tyranny of the corset, more prosaically, cutting down the time it took to get dressed. But the garment also reflected social change, as a new generation of middle-class women challenged the gender and class repression of the past.

Jersey Flapper Dress

The Flapper Dress, gave to the women world a new vision of liberation, because the woman felt repress in many ways, even the way she dressed. When she sloughed off the corset, the woman starting looked at herself like a person who could think, move and get along with herself. This dress made the different between this new woman and the repressed woman which existed in the past.

By,

Monique Russo