Tea at Trianon: The Trouble with Corsets

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Trouble with Corsets

Marie-Antoinette hated them. According to Fashion is My Muse:

To French aristocrats, a tightly corseted body represented "the norms of stiffness and self-control" expected of the ruling caste. Marie-Antoinette's position required her to wear a form of corset called a grand corps. This more rigid form of corset was the "mark of supreme distinction". Only France's greatest princesses had the right to wear this undergarment on a regular basis. Other noblewomen were allowed to wear it only on the day of their presentation at court and after that, only at specially designated formal functions. This corset was stiffer than a regular corset and made breathing, eating and even moving one's arms difficult.

(Via Versailles and More)

Lily said...: That is really interesting. I always admired the look of women in corsets, although I admit wearing one must have been constricting. The posture that they were forced into by wearing such a garment made them appear very elegant indeed. Considering today's slouchy and sloppy looks, we may benefit from a modified corset in today's fashions ;-)...only half joking.; October 21, 2008 at 9:14:00 AM EDT
El Jefe Maximo said...: Constricting is right.

I think the physical and psychological discomforts experienced by 18th and 19th century royalty -- and the possible effects of such discomfort on political policy and outlook, is both under appreciated and under studied.

True, neither the Queen nor others similarly situated would have described these constraints of their positions as "discomforting," but that doesn't mean that they were not.; October 21, 2008 at 2:07:00 PM EDT
Catherine Delors said...: Oh, the Queen herself was fairly vocal about the discomfort of this type of apparatus. Did it influence her political outlook, as El Jefe suggests? Possibly. It was one of the first things she rebelled against at Versailles.; October 21, 2008 at 5:33:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: I know, Lily, we have gone from one extreme to another.

El Jeffe, I don't know. Perhaps they should study it.

So true, Catherine, the Queen did not like the grand corps corset. At all. Part of it was pure rebellion at the discomfort. This may have contributed to her admiration of Rousseau, who recommeneded being as natural as possible.; October 21, 2008 at 5:50:00 PM EDT