The Story behind the Corset: Visible Concealment

MoMu’s collection presentation sheds light on the history of fashion through contemporary and historical clothing, textiles and accessories. The MoMu Collection consists of over 38,000 pieces: to display as much of the collection as possible to the public, the presentation rotates on a regular basis. Right now, you can discover the evolution of stays and corsets over the centuries.

Mertens: "Stays have been worn as an undergarment since the sixteenth century. In keeping with the prevailing ideal of beauty, they ensured an upright posture and a rather flat front." The Empire gown of the early nineteenth century required a new kind of undergarment: the corset. It ran over the hips and no longer pressed the wearer's bosom flat, but upwards. Just like the stays, wearers of those early corsets required assistance when lacing them at the back. Around 1845, the first corset that the wearer could lace up herself followed. Mertens: "In the late nineteenth century, the corset was used to accentuate the hourglass figure, which was characterised by a full bosom, a narrow waist and full hips."

As undergarments, stays and corsets remained invisible for a long time. This concealment and the phenomenon of its tight restraint give them an erotic and fetishist charge that inspires contemporary designers. "The corset transformed from being an undergarment to a form of outerwear in the early 1990s, a big turning point," Mertens continued. "By associating it with that fetish element or precisely by desexualising it, designers like A.F.Vandevorst, Olivier Theyskens and Rei Kawakubo give it a meaning of its own. They make it into something subversive, putting up a strong image of women."

Learn more about the collection presentation here