Contents

CHAPTER I:

The corset: Origin. Use amongst Savage Tribes and Ancient People. Slenderness of Waist esteemed in the East, Ceylon, Circassia, Crim Tartary, Hindustan, Persia, China, Egypt, Palestine: Pages 9 to 29

CHAPTER II:

The Corset according to Homer, Terentius. The Strophium of Rome, and the Mitra of Greece. The Peplus. A Roman Toilet, Bath, and Promenade. General Luxury. Cleopatra's Jewels. Tight-lacing on the Tiber: Pages 30 to 38

CHAPTER III:

Frankish Fashions. The Monks and the Corset. Corsets worn by Gentlemen as well as Ladies in the Thirteenth Century. The Kirtle. Small Waists in Scotland. Chaucer on Small Bodies. The Surcoat. Long Trains. Skirts. Snake-toed Shoes. High-heeled Slippers: Pages 41 to 59

CHAPTER IV:

Bonnets. Head-dresses, Costumes in the time of Francis I. Pins in France and England. Masks in France. Puffed Sleeves. Bernaise Dress. Marie Stuart. Long Slender Waists. Henry III. of France ''tight-laces.'' Austrian Joseph prohibits Stays. Catherine de Medici and Elizabeth of England. Severe form of Corset. Lawn Ruffs. Starching. Stuffed Hose. Venice Fashions. Elizabeth's False Hair. Stubs on the Ladies. James I. affects Fashion. Garters and Shoe-roses. Dagger and Rapier: Pages 60 to 91

CHAPTER V:

Louise de Lorraine. Marie de Medici. Distended Skirts. Hair Powder. Hair à l'enfant. Low Dresses. Louis XIV. High Heels. Slender Waists. Siamese Dress. Charles I. Patches. Elaborate Costumes. Puritan Modes. Tight-lacing and Strait-lacing under Cromwell. Augsburg Ladies: Pages 92 to 104

CHAPTER VI:

Louis XV. À la Watteau. Barbers. Fashions under Queen Anne. Diminutive Waists and Enormous Hoop. The Farthingale. The Guardian. Fashions in 1713. Low Dresses. Tight Stays. Short Skirts. A Lady's Maid's Accomplishments. Gay and Ben Jonson on the Bodice and Stays: Pages 109 to 123

CHAPTER VII:

Stays or Corset. Louis XVI. Dress in 1776. Severe Lacing. Hogarth. French Revolution. Short waists. Long Trains. Buchan. Jumpers and Garibaldis. Figure training. Back-boards and Stocks. Doctors on Stays. George III. Gentlemen's Stays. The Changes of Fashion. The term CRINOLINE not new. South Sea Islanders. Madame la Sante on Crinoline. Starving and Lacing. Anecdote. Wearing the Corset during sleep. American Belles. Illusion Waists. Medicus favours moderate tightlacing. Ladies' Letters on tight-lacing: Pages 124 to 164

CHAPTER VIII:

The Austrian Empress. Viennese Waists. London small-sized Corsets. Correspondence of The Queen and the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine. Lady Morton. Figure-training. Corsets for Young Girls. Early use of well-constructed Corsets. The Boarding-School and the Corset. Letters in praise of tight-lacing. Defence of the Crinoline and the Corset. The Venus de Medici. Fashionably-dressed Statue. Clumsy Figures. Letter from a Tight-lacer. A Young Baronet. A Family Man: Pages 165 to 186

CHAPTER IX:

No elegance without the Corset. Fashion of 1865. Short Waist and Train of 1867. Tight Corset and Short Waist. A form of French Corset. Proportions of Figure and Waist. The Point of the Waist. Older Writers on Stays. Denunciations against Small Waists and High Heels. Alarming Diseases through High Heels. Female Mortality. Corset Statistics. Modern and Ancient Corset: Pages 189 to 201

CHAPTER X:

Front-fastening Stays. Thomson's Corset. Stability of front-fastening Corset. De La Garde's Corset. Self-measurement. Viennese Redresseur Corset. Flimsy Corsets. Proper Materials. ''Minet Back'' Corset. Elastic Corsets. Narrow Bands Injurious. The Corset properly applied produces a graceful figure. The Farthingale Reviewed. Thomson's Zephyrina Crinoline. Costume of the Present Season. The claims of Nature. Similitude between the Tahitian Girl and Venetian Lady: Pages 202 to 224