Corsets and Crinolines

In this classic book, Norah Waugh explores the changing shapes of women’s dress from the 1500s to the 1920s. Simple laced bodices became corsets of cane, whalebone and steel, while padding at shoulders and hips gave way to the structures of farthingales, hoops and bustles.

Corsets and Crinolines explains the cyclical nature of these fashions, and how waists and skirts changed shape and size through three distinct eras:

• The 1500s to 1670—farthingales and whaleboned bodies.
• 1670 to 180...