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"An
instrument of seductive power, whose mechanical
structure is designed to alter the natural shape
of the body, the corset boasts a long and
intriguing history which began in the late Middle
Ages and still continues today, lending the
female image new beauty and eternal vanity. In " Haute Couture " the Corset still
shines like a star. To create impeccable
bustiers, celebrated maisons of the likes of
Ungaro, Dior, Givenchy, Lapidus and Gaultier
trust in the experience of Hubert Barrere, who
currently ranks as the most famous Corsetier.
An anything but
comfortable garment, and a vital element in the
female wardrobe up until the Twenties, the corset
was tops, in spite of being an inflexible,
uncomfortable, tiresome and even damaging
instrument of torture, capable of causing bone
fractures and irreversible damage to the vital
organs (especially in victorian age). But corsets
and hussies have always gone hand in hand, these
being the garments par excellence flaunted by
bold women. The "frou frou du tabarin"
captured by famous painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
are unforgettable with their tousled flame red
hair, buxom, rosy cleavages and wasp waists, slim
to the point of inverisimilitude. A symbol of
seduction but also an instrument of torture (
that envelopes itself in S/M trend), this century
the corset has undergone considerable changes in
keeping with the needs of women bent on freeing
themselves from repressive roles and objects. The
twenties saw fluid dresses sliding over the hips,
and flat chests, as dictated by fashion. Bustiers
became obsolete, and Chanel was one of the first
accomplices in this change of style.
But in spite of
its seesawing popularity and decline, the corset
never quiet disappeared completely from the
female wardrobe, but however shed its image as an
instrument of torture to become useful in
pleasure, delightful, no longer imposed on, but
chosen by women to heighten and show off all the
beauty of their lithe figures.
Irony,
transgression and fetishism: for some labels the
corset became an emblem, transcending the fashion
trends. Eighteenth-century
inspiration for the bustier by Vivienne Westwood.
Outrageous, extravagant armour bustier by Jean
Paul Gaultier.The unmistakable corsets using all
different kinds of materials by Thierry Mugler:
veritable sartorial sculptures."
....from MODAIN #
107 page 130....
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