Emma E. Goodwin

“ Good corsets assist the physician in the effort to restore normal conditions, while the woman who never wears any but a good corset will escape many of the so-called inevitable ills, prolong her enjoyment of, and increase her usefulness in, life.
We are through for the present with the corset made with the avowed purpose of diminishing the waist to the smallest pos­sible size, and also with that which was supposed to entirely obliterate the roundness of the abdomen, exaggerate the size of the hips and increase the curve of the spine. ”

“ An eminent physician whose scientific experiments with, and tests of, corsets have made him an acknowledged authority on the subject, states that, in spite of the claims of corset makers regarding the physiological correctness of their products, he finds by actual tests that the majority of corsets have now, as they have had for ages, the greatest pressure in a lateral direction around the waist or middle zone of the body. ”

“ Place an indifferent corset upon a poorly developed subject whose body is out of poise chest hollowed, abdomen forward, and there will be no improvement in the conditions, even though such a corset may not be tight in the waist and may even fit the outlines of the body. Apply the bad corset and the evil conditions are com­plicated and increased, while the good corset first of all lifts the body into the correct poise by the bracing up and in of the ab­dominal walls, restores normal proportions, induces deep breath­ing and puts the subject into a position for the attainment of better health. ”

“ Corset, 1910 told in all the dress news of the day that "fashion says no hips." Corset makers then tried to obliterate every normal curve of the body and make women's forms as nearly as possible like the little wooden effigies of Noah of our childhood memory, and the fash­ionable corset was made as shown in illustration 8. In all these changes of the form of women's bodies there has been no reason, no common sense. ”

“ The concern of this writing is to dem­onstrate the principles governing the con­struction of the corset--the most im­portant garment worn by women--which must conform to the laws of physiology or it is radically wrong and a serious detri­ment to the bodily efficiency of the race. Not only has the suffering from the physi­ologically incorrect corset devolved upon the foolish women who for generations have voluntarily submitted to varying de­formities of the body, that they might dress in prevailing modes, but it has fallen upon all those with whom they have been asso­ciated. ”

“ Criticism is one of the most unsatisfying things in the scheme of existence unless it be possible to point out the remedy for the existing evil. That corsets could be right has been a matter of grave doubt to the physiologists for so long that even now they view the corset makers' claims to the correctness of their designs with considerable incredulity. ”

“ Never has the designer of fashionable corsets taken into con­sideration the physiological fact that constriction of the flesh of the body around one portion will result in an increase at the points where pressure ceases; hence the bulging shoulder flesh and the protruding abdomen of the waist constricting corset, and the widening thigh muscles of the flat hip corset of the present mode. ”

“ The waist line is high and there is pressure upon the stomach. The flesh of the back is pushed up toward the shoulder blades. Extreme pressure exists from back to front at the base of the spine, all this throwing the body out of poise, flexing the knees, pushing the pelvis forward, causing the shoulders to droop and shortening the body in the front length from neck to diaphragm. Many women are from one-half to one inch shorter than their normal height with this very modish corset on. ”

“ The physiologically correct corset gives a truly beautiful fig­ure, over which gowns may be made in the prevailing modes, but the corset which changes its design according to the fashion, with­out regard to the scientific principles of physiology, is sure to fail of its purpose as an example of hygienic corseting. Physicians recognize what is right, a few corset makers know how to pro­duce what is right, and such women as have been correctly cor­seted realize the advantages of the right corset. ”

“ Knowing why and where they are wrong is clearly demonstrable by scientific tests that are easily made by physician or corset maker, and this is the next step toward the needed reformation. To institute a method to make them right is the last and most important step of the process. ”

“ No sooner has the novelty of this new shape of woman worn off than we are informed by the creators of fashions that it will be fashionable for women to have rounded abdomens. and corsets, therefore, are being advertised which "curve inward over the diaphragm" and "round outward over the abdomen," and the young women who pose as fashion models upon whom the new styles of gowns are exhibited are even wearing a pad to simulate a prominence of the abdomen which has not yet been produced by the corset. ”

“ The woman's body normally and healthfully developed must be the standard of perfection, the proportion thereof preserved and the normal lines followed, and once fitted correctly should be fitted in the same way except for such changes as the changes in her physical development make advisable. ”

“ Difficulty of breathing and an inability to stand or walk any distance made life very uncomfortable for this woman, The corrective fitting gave upward and inward support to the abdomen, carried the balanced weight of the body forward to normal position, relieved the pressure on diaphragm and rib wall, lifted the head and straightened the shoulders. ”

“ Especially do women of the older generation object to the enlargement of the waist. Many a physician in times past, finding both the corset makers and the corset wearers obdurate in their determination to follow the edicts of fashion instead of the laws of health, has thrown up his hands and sur­rendered to defeat. ”

“ The corset maker cannot deceive the physician; corsets, according to thera­peutic value, are classed as good, bad or indifferent. The indif­ferent corsets are not as plentiful as the bad, and the good cor­sets are the fewest in number. The indifferent corset is that which does not effect any hygienic betterment and really should be classed as bad. The bad corset prevents perfect development, induces abnormality of shape and function. while the good cor­set tends to the better development of the body, serving as a physical training for the increase of healthful vitality. ”

“ A variety of incorrect postures, all more or less harmful to health, are induced by incorrect corsets. The almost universal deformity among women caused mainly by wrong corsets is the protruding abdomen. This occurs in the slender type of woman with faulty posture as well as in the woman who is over-fat. ”

“ The function of the hose supporter should not be to fix the position of a cor­set which otherwise slips out of place on the body, but to support the stockings in order to do away with round garters, which impede the circulation. The cor­rectly cut corset assumes and holds the right position on the body whether hose supporters be fastened or not. ”

“ How much more creditably they might have sus­tained that part, to what greater heights for the whole race in the more perfect development of the threefold being--physical, mental, spiritual--they might have attained, had it not been for the physical inefficiency of the constricted body, only those who have studied the subject scientifically can have an adequate understanding. ”

“ In each case the wrong corset is opposed to the physiologically correct corset of the same size and general type, all being stand­ard or stock models of each make, selected by the different cor­set salespeople to suit those serving as subjects for the tests. An observation of these illustrations will show why many women are not more comfortable in their corsets and why the treatment of physician or surgeon often fails of good results because of the patient's erroneous method of dress. ”

“ The physician wishes his patients to wear a physiologically correct corset when he finds one which he can prescribe with the assurance that it will perform its func­tion properly, and the corsetière in filling this requirement is often met with the patient's objection to changing the fit of the dress to suit the change of form. ”

“ The diagrams are made directly from the outline of the body upon a wall chart at the time of fitting. The corrections are immediate and positive, and in many cases the after improvement in development of muscu­lar strength in rib wall and chest, with reduction in size of ab­domen, with better tonicity of abdominal muscles, contributes to improved vitality of the entire body, while the chronic pains due to erroneous posture are almost invariably relieved. A PHYSICIAN has said: "A scientifically fitted corset is a boon to many women. ”

“ The results of the fashionable stoop affected by the young women of today and encouraged by the corset which at­tempts to obliterate the hips, will be told by the next decade when those same young women reach maturer years and present another problem to the orthopedic specialist and the gynecologist. ”

“ An actual pictorial comparison of correct corseting with that which ordinarily befalls women at the hands of the usual venders of the popular corsets of commerce, should prove enlightening to the physiologist who desires to know the reasons why corsets in general are wrong, and should lead to a more intelligent ap­plication of these garments to- the physiological needs of women. ”

“ Second Subject Second subject, in plate 9, illustrates a very fashionable "flat­tening hip" corset, such as has been sold by thousands the past two seasons in the best shops of this country. The directions of the extreme pressures are indicated by the arrows. The body is cramped through lower part of thorax and hips until it is im­possible to assume an erect posture. ”

“ To assure better conditions for the women who need the correction of the right corset and insure the growing genera­tion against the need of future correction for their bodies, corset making must be put upon a different basis. ”

“ These outlines are made at the time of fitting, before any exercise or training by the wearing of the correct cor­set has improved the development of the body. The variety of conditions, the too thin and the over-fat, and the range of ages, from thirteen to fifty-six, give a fair idea of the possibilities of corseting for physiological results when the types of corsets used are fundamentally correct. ”

“ Some physiologists plainly assert that the prime cause of women's physical inferiority to men lies in their unhygienic methods of dress. Op­posing this are statistics declaring the greater longevity of women. ”

“ As soon as a mode becomes common the fashionable seek something for the time being new and different. Corsets have been made to follow the varying fashions in dress. Fashionable dress demanded small waists; corsets were made to constrict the waist regardless of physiological consequences—even unto the death of the fair devotee who ware them. Fashionable dress also demanded large hips and corsets were made as in illustration 7, with very prominent hips and Nature's deficiency in that respect supplied with padding. ”

“ Hence, it would seem that in spite of an idiotic de­fiance of the laws governing the proper development and func­tioning of the body, Nature's provision of endurance and vitality has enabled women to sustain a considerable part in the scheme of the race. ”

“ Without it they never become strong, but with it they receive the necessary assistance that enables them to be transformed from unhappy ap­paritions and hypochondriacs without ambition to normal, healthy women. ”

“ Bust4040 Waist2829 Hips48431⁄2 The first corset showed a difference of 20 inches between waist and hip measurements, the second, a difference of only 141⁄2 inches, producing better proportions by 51⁄2 inches and giving a comfortable feeling as well as better appearance to the body. This shows that a large woman appears much less conspicuous if her body is not encased so tightly in corsets that the flesh is displaced and caused to protrude where the pressure of the corset ceases. ”

“ Every detail of this correc­tion promotes the healthful development of the body, and no injury can result from fitting young girls with such cor­sets when faulty postures cannot be corrected by exercises. ”