Tight-lacing

Tightlacing (also called corset training) is the practice of wearing a tightly laced corset. It is done to achieve cosmetic modifications to the figure and posture or to experience the sensation of bodily restriction.

The most frequent aim of tightlacing is a slim waist. Depending on the silhouette desired, the shape of the ribcage may be altered as well. Wearing a corset can also change the bustline, by raising the breasts upwards and shaping them, flattening the stomach, and improving posture. The shape of the waist and breasts can be complemented by the shape and design of the corset offering a range of different shapes.

Due to actual, waistline-reducing, steel bone corsets no longer being as common as they used to be in the Victorian and Edwardian era, modern day shapewear as well as fashionable lingerie such as "fajas" (rubber cinchers), bustiers and basques are purposefully marketed as "corsets". These are not true corsets and cannot be used for tightlacing. Trying to use such items can result in pinching, bruising, pain and discomfort. Elastic waist cinchers, bustiers and basques may have very few plastic bones (sometimes none), hook and eye fastening and stretchy of flimsy polyester or latex material. Occasionally a steel busk is used in bustiers and basques to imitate the appearance of an actual corset, however, due to the use of lower quality plastic bones, a high waist reduction is not really possible in these articles of clothing.

Corsets were first worn by male and female Minoans of Crete, but did not become popular again until during the 16th century and remained a feature of fashionable dress until the French Revolution. These corsets were mainly designed to turn the torso into the fashionable cylindrical shape although they narrowed the waist as well. They had shoulder straps; they ended at the waist; they flattened the bust and, in so doing, pushed the breasts up. The emphasis of the corset was less on the smallness of the waist than on the contrast between the rigid flatness of the bodice front and the curving tops of the breasts peeking over the top of the corset.

The corset then went into eclipse. Fashion embraced the Empire silhouette: a Graeco-Roman style, with the high-waisted dress that was unique to this style gathered under the bosom. The waist was de-emphasised, and dresses were sewn from thin muslins rather than the heavy brocades and satins of aristocratic high fashion.

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Wikipedia