The exact origins of the Corset are lost. There is evidence that the corset was around in Biblical times, and even the ancient Greeks wore some type of corset.
Women of all the ages have worn the corset. Often said to be worn for the sake of comfort as well as health. The corset was also commonly worn for the pursuit of ideal beauty.
From contemporary writings we have learned the most common color and materials used were red, soft kid skin or other fine leather, especially when when designed for a heavy figure. The corsets of earlier times were made more for functionality, and worn next to the skin. Later the corset was developed more for a fashionable garment and worn outside the robe. The most up-to-date corsets included beautiful embroideries, gold, pearls and other jewels.
The history of the Corset has been divided into “Five Corset Epochs”. First was the “Greece and Roman Period,” which has just been described. Second, “The Middle Ages”-a transitioning period lasting a long period where the classical type of corsets were gradually abandoned and the rigid type of the later centuries were being developed. The third, was at the beginning of the “Renaissance”, where the corset was integrated to the outside of the dress, and not worn as a separate garment. The fourth was the time of the “Whalebone” starting in the middle of the 16th century and continuing well into the 19th century. The Fifth is the present age. Our time differs the most from anything we had ever known. Today’s corset is both firm and flexible and is aimed more to fit each figure individually than moulding each women to one conventional form.
It would seem to women of our time that there would be great pain involved in wearing the corset of history, however, no complaints have been uncovered to this date.
Even though it was the aim of women to obtain a waist that could be spanned by two hands, which was the common standard in most parts of the world.
The practice of tight-lacing was practised by both men and women. Henry the Third of France had his portrait painted when wearing “hips bolstered and padded out, waist laced in the very tightest and most unyielding of corsets.”
At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth and her contemporary Queen Catherine deMedici, “who laid down laws about fashion which the ladies of their courts were compelled to obey. Queen Catherine required her ladies to reduce their waist to as little as possible above thirteen inches for patriotic reasons”.
The “New Age” corset was fashioned during WWI. With this new age figures ceased to exist. With this change natural lines were expunged, the curves of women were banished. No curves below the waist and no bust-line. This became know as “The Cigarette Girl”. Fashions were shaped to a long cylindrical shape and there was nothing good to be said of grace, beauty or charm, or even to the point of health. “To achieve the straight line women flattened their breasts under tight, straight bodices to the frequent destruction of muscular and glandular health and held their shoulders round so as to let the bust sag still further, regardless of what the posture did for their lungs.” The best thing to happen because of this fashion was the invention of the light-weight flexible steel and above all the elastic fabrics.
Corsets have been around for centuries. Women love them because they shape their bodies. They used to be undergarments but now 
Just because you aren’t a free spirit doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to go braless. Most women know that bras can be uncomfortable, restricting and that they don’t always look good under clothing. Then again, there are some styles of shirts and dresses that simply don’t work with a bra. Dresses with plunging backs and shirts with halter necklines are better worn braless. Weather, however, poses another concern. Some women don’t want to show too much!
