16th century, during the reign of Catherine de Medici of France and
Queen Elizabeth of England. With Catherine de Medici a thirteen-inch
waist measurement was considered the standard of fashion, while a
thick waist was an abomination. No lady could consider her figure of
proper shape unless she could span her waist with her two hands. To
produce this result a strong rigid corset was worn night and day until
the waist was laced down to the required size. Then over this corset
was placed the steel apparatus shown in the illustration on next page.
This corset-cover reached from the hip to the throat, and produced a
rigid figure over which the dress would fit with perfect smoothness.

[Illustration: Steel Corset worn in Catherine's time.]

5. During the 18th century corsets were largely made from a species
of leather known as "Bend," which was not unlike that used for shoe
soles, and measured nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness. One
of the most popular corsets of the time was the corset and stomacher
shown in the accompanying illustration.

6. About the time of the French Revolution a reaction set in against
tight lacing, and for a time there was a return to the early
classical Greek costume. This style of dress prevailed, with various
modifications, until about 1810 when corsets and tight lacing again
returned with threefold fury. Buchan, a prominent writer of this
period, says that it was by no means uncommon to see "a mother lay her
daughter down upon the carpet, and, placing her foot upon her back,
break half a dozen laces in tightening her stays."

7. It is reserved to our own time to demonstrate that corsets and
tight lacing do not necessarily go hand in hand. Distortion and