Reacting to Vogue's 'Everything You Need to Know About the Corset' cause we haven't suffered enough.

Catherine de Medici and her steel corset are back, baby! YEAH!!! 🤣

...yay?...🤣

Joining the Catherine de Medici Time Travel Society™ is @gremlita and it was soooo awesome to have her input on this video!

While we're still a bit confused and traumatized about what Jean-Paul Gaultier's grandmother has to do with Madonna's bullet bras and his teddy bear, we unpack corset history both historic and modern, in this video, covering S-Bend corsets, vintage girdles, merry widows, stays, terminology, tight lacing, and the ✨p a t r i a r c h y✨(cause you can't talk about corsets without talking about the patriarchy...)

I also turned it into a drinking game....cause that's where I'm at right now.

Huge HUGE Thank Yous, Loves & Hugs to @bernadettebanner @KarolinaZebrowskax @gremlita, and my bestie @NicoleRudolph for agreeing to suffer through these shenanigans with me. ( I fully assume anyone who is reading this already subscribes to their channel, but if you don't, now is an excellent time to remedy that situation!) ❤

🥳Socials

📚My books:

(This email goes directly to my management and not to me.)

📪 Abby Cox
642 N. Madison Street
Bloomington, IN 47404

[rochellehershberger]

I love how Karolina just casually looks like she is breaking code at Bletchley during WW2.

[jamietaylor]

I've heard this called chronological snobbery-- the belief that everything in the past must be inferior to the present by virtue of it being...old.

[AngelFace]

I love it when they cite doctors from back then as proof corsets were torture devices, but then they ignore how these same doctors genuinely believed in things like the wandering womb.

[Aloho]

When my grandmother developed severe osteoporosis, it was recommended that she wear a back brace. The one she received was uncomfortable and didn't provide adequate support to ease her pain.

My mother, who went to fashion design school and a skilled seamstress, made my grandmother a series of custom corsets, built to perfectly fit her body, and support her torso, while making them easy to put on. Those corsets provided a lot of relief to my grandmother and made her quality of life so much better

There are many types of corsets, and to malign them as patriarchal oppression is a crazy simplification

[lucied]

Bernadette telling you to take a shot every time they talk about patriarchy and then saying patriarchy 3 times in one sentence killed me 😂

[anonthehousemouse]

"It is our modern idea of patriarchy that we are imposing on the past". WELL SAID, Bernadette! This happens across so many categories of history, not just fashion.

[Frankn]

I always just find it extremely funny when they tack on the “women just wanted a skinny waist” line WHILE MEN ACTUALLY DID SUCH THINGS WITH STAYS AND CORSETRY AND ITS NEVER BROUGHT UP BY ANY OF THESE LARGER MEDIA SITES

[feelingkevinly]

"It's almost like we are trying to prove our own 'anti-patriarchy' by imposing a patriarchal lens on the past" omg Bernadette you couldn't be more accurate. I think we do that in many ways nowadays when we look back at history.

[rachelyoung]

Why did Vogue not reach into their OWN archives to research the women's articles?

[braydenalexis]

"Now women of all sizes can hide their fat!" I died laughing at this. I'm plus sized and I would prefer to make myself a corset anyday over looking like a large sausage in a small casing in spanx. No thanks! Corsets are so much more comfortable thank you.

[mond]

I used to work in historical reenactment and living history. The FIRST question I was asked on a daily basis by visitors was some version "What's it like to wear/work in a corset?" I had to remain in character. I would express the general disbelief and shock that women would even consider not wearing a corset and petticoats. "Sir/Madam, that would be most uncomfortable. All of these layers resting on the skin would not put one at ease. Imagine how that must feel? Not to mention the lack of support for one's back when completing the daily chores. I understand that some doctors believe that we women should not wear corsets as it may be injurious to our health when the laces are drawn in severely, but I for one cannot count a single woman whom I know to follow this practice. Perhaps this is something only the very wealthy do, but one also cannot trust the photographs of Ms. Clifford. She is well known for "painting" her appearance. To tighten a corset so severely would indeed be uncomfortable and is a mark of plain vanity. A corset, properly worn, supports the back and abdomen as well as the many layers of dress and thus prevents harm. No sir/madam, I do not think the corset will ever become unnecessary-particularly for women who work or are expected to maintain their own households."

The very idea that a corset could be comfortable was so utterly alien to them that many refused to believe that what we said was true and would argue with us, telling us were were "poor and oppressed" victims of a patriarchal society. One of my fellow reenactors got very annoyed one day and responded to one such comment with, "Yes, of course I must not be able to think for myself. I must need a man to tell me how to live and how to train this horse." Before she proceeded to gentle the still-wild stallion we had recently acquired from BLM. She was our horse trainer-her character was based on a real person from our records who ran one of the largest ranches in the region. That shut the visitor up. I will always remember that one.

[habituscraeftig]

That unearthly dissonance where a one-size-fits-most unit of Spanx is supposed to be more "accessible" to women of all shapes and sizes than a *custom tailored* pair of stays.

[maggydykstal]

Seriously, Vogue? Friendly reminder that wearing Spanx for long periods of time is not only incredibly uncomfortable and inconvenient, but has repeatedly been linked to circulation problems, varicose veins, and serious digestive problems.

But they are Definitely The Healthy And Safe Modern Replacement For Corsets!

Good gracious. Thanks for debunking. Great video.

[rburns]

Mina! Fabulous Mina has joined the fabulously dressed group of fabulousness!

[grachimatilda]

"Some doctors believed..." didn't the doctors believed that the women anatomy was not designed to ride a train? or was that just a myth like the mandatory metal corset at the begging?

[saritshull]

Vogue missed a huge opportunity to go into their OWN archives and make an informative video.
Instead we got clickbait.

[jennc]

I challenge you all to make an “everything you need to know about corsets in 5 minutes” video. See how much accurate information can actually be included

[Eloraurora]

I think the thing that gets me about claiming Spanx >corsets is that stretched elastic is always trying to return to its original size. A corset is laced down to the desired circumference and the laces tied, and stays at that circumference until removed. If I buy a pair of Spanx and the waistband measures 24" around, I'm just constantly getting squeezed as that elastic tries to return to its initial size. There's no chance of the body and the garment reaching an equilibrium, because the garment is always pushing.

[xoindigold]

"Take a drink every time they bring up the patriarchy" Bernadette was out for her liver

[Zazabazaa]

Mina Le is now a part of the group too?? Yes!!
Edit : the fact that they gave Spanx a small hole so women could pee screams that it was designed by men, cuz any logical woman would know that we can't aim that shit, wtf