Corset

H & W Company

ca. 1908 · cotton, bone, metal, elastic · Costume Institute

The shaping and various closures that would provide for flexibility of this corset signals that it would be worn by a woman while she is pregnant and immediately after while nursing. The existence of such variations on the corset exhibits the ubiquitous nature and necessity of the corset. Even while pregnant, the body was required to be shaped into an acceptable silhouette. These corsets were worn by working and middle class women who were nursing their own children rather than using a wet nurse.

Artist

H & W Company

Date

ca. 1908

Medium

cotton, bone, metal, elastic

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of E. A. Meister, 1950