The History of the Corset

A corset in the pages of 1939 issue of Vogue

Centuries before Madonna made headlines in pink satin Jean-Paul Gaultier, women (and sometimes men) were lacing themselves into corsets. Here, Vogue traces its controversial history – from constrictive under-garment to the AW19 catwalks.

The corset – a garment with a rigid, boned bodice that is laced together in order to shape the torso – has a controversial history. Long derided as a patriarchal instrument of torture that deformed the female body, historians now argue that that there was no one experience of wearing a corset, and that some women may even have found them positive.

Corsets were worn by women – and sometimes men – in the Western world from the 16th to the early 20th century, although corset-like garments can be traced as far back as 1600 BC. What began as a close-fitting sleeveless bodice evolved into an undergarment with stays made of whalebone, and then steel, that encircled the ribs and compressed the natural waist. The shape of the corset evolved over the centuries, alternating between longer varieties that covered the hips and shorter versions that centred on the waistline. Corsets helped shape the body into distinctive silhouettes, from the hourglass shape popular in the 1800s to the “S” figure of the 1900s.

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You're probably applying, storing and wearing your perfume all wrong

British Vogue Dec 1967

Wearing fragrance is easy - a little spritz, and you’re done. But wearing fragrance well, that requires a little more skill and finesse.

For example: Did you know that correct placement depends entirely on both the environment in which it’s worn and the outfit for which it accessorises? And that tendency you have toward dressing your wrists and then rubbing them together? “Very bad,” says award-winning French-Armenian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind such sophisticated olfactive hits as Christian Dior Eau Noire, Carven Le Parfum, and those from his own eponymous line out of Paris.

And, sure, while a bottle of Chanel No.5 may look like the perfect prop for any chic bathroom vanity, the daily stream of steam from the shower may be curbing its freshness (and, in turn, yours). Fortunately, a few simple tweaks can set you back on the right olfactory course. Here's how to fix them in a flash.

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Edward Enniful addresses diversity debate with first cover for British Vogue

Adwoa Aboah 

The first Vogue cover produced under Edward Enninful has been released, signalling the new editor’s mission to make political statements, not just fashion ones.

The coverlines make no mention of trends, It bags or new mascaras. Instead there is a list of power players in politics and the arts, including Sadiq Khan, Skepta, Steve McQueen and Zadie Smith. These names – diverse in age as well as ethnicity - outnumber the more familiar fashion names of Kate Moss, Christopher Bailey, Naomi Campbell and Cara Delevingne.

The cover star is the mixed-race British model and feminist activist Adwoa Aboah, who helms the online platform Gurls Talk, sending a clear message that Enninful intends to engage in the conversation about diversity which has sprung up in the wake of his appointment.

The choice of a woman who is shortlisted for model of the year at next month’s British fashion awards, and has already appeared on the cover of Italian and American Vogue, is perhaps a subtle dig at the absence of Aboah from the cover of British Vogue until now. 

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