The History of Shapewear

The history of womens shapewear is long and bumpy. Most of the time, womens shapewear was used to mold women’s figures into an aesthetically pleasing hourglass shape. The more modern versions of seamless shapewear still provide support for female figures and can improve posture, and focus less on molding the body.

Beginning with the corset, in the mid 16th century, Catherine de’Medici banned wide waists at court. Early corsets were called stays and were produced with whalebone, wood, or metal, and varied according to fashion. At first, they were reserved for the aristocracy, but by the beginning of the 19th century, this form of body shapewear was available for everywhere.

These corsets laced in the front and lengthened or shortened according to whatever fashion was popular at the time. Corsets became one of the first mass produced female garments. Tight lacing continued, however, well into the 20th century.

The girdle took the corset’s place in the 20th century along with the elastic brassiere. By the 1930’s, brassieres were mass produced and shapewear became more focused on the torso. Most womens shapewear today is seamless shapewear, and works to support certain parts of the body, rather than conforming it to aesthetic ideals.