The FAKE Killing the Corset story; why the patriarchy is still winning.

I won't be linking to the article, but for those who saw the news in the Metro and other outlets yesterday, there were a string of tabloid articles stating that some broadcasters would be banning the use of corsets in the filming of their period costume dramas. As a community, I saw other Costumers rightfully pretty annoyed by these articles.

This afternoon I discovered that they were all completely baseless. What I would like to delve into, is the weight that these articles have on public perception. In order to do this I should explain how many of us felt reading these articles.

Firstly, we must understand that the costume department is a predominantly female workforce, and there is generally very little understanding of what our department is, or does. This is because throughout history the research or validation of costuming as art, has been ridiculed by the patriarchy. It’s an endemic issue related to 'womens work' being consistently undervalued.

At the beginning of the golden era, only men were generally allowed the title of costume designer - but the work in those costume workrooms was still carried out by women. Eventually women were given the top positions, but the attitude towards costume as a lesser art form than the others which make up a film set has persisted. In contemporary filming spaces, the costume department are easily and regularly made the scapegoats for larger issues within a production or a problematic element of the industry.

The amount of times costume standbys on set are blamed for holding up camera, while technical departments who needed extra time often go unquestioned is just a simple, daily example. So it's easy to imagine that we would once again become the scapegoats.

Not only do these hastily put together clickbait articles show how little value most of (our patriarchal) society has towards the art of costume, it also welcomes you as a passive reader of this non story, to blame women for putting other women in danger.

I could easily delve into the reasons why corsets are necessary for some period costumes; but really I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to reason the value of a piece of women's art history.

Rather than asking why a shoot day and the hours around it would necessitate a woman wearing a corset ( which may or may not have been properly been fit) for up to 16 hours, we all easily blame the ever misunderstood easy target; the corset.

Corsetry has a dark past, there are elements of that no one can deny. But when we pull apart the idea of women choosing to cage other women, it is a falsehood perpetuated by society.

Corsets; like extreme skirts, wigs and shoes of the 17th to the 19th Centuries show an evolving artform able to express and expand on the ideas of the real and the absurd which women had very few other ways to express.

There are some wonderful books on this subject; not least the recent publication "Unravelling Women's Art" by P.L Henderson.

If we look to 2023, this is still a core truth of fashion. I urge you to take a deep dive into the world of Hyper Reality. Whether it is thanks to the sudden developments in AI replications of the real world or as a reaction to it, there is a clear trend for 'cartooning'; creating implications or signifiers of real items rather than making them look like real items.

There is a great example of the shift to the absurd in the form of "puffification" in brand MSCHF's big red boots. This entire trend is wonderfully explained by Agus Panzoni in this Feb 14th Instagram video. linked below.

Why am I digressing into a conversation on cartoon boots? Because this is Fashion. I think it is clear in this way, that Fashion is art.

Modern Corsets should not hurt. The idea that they do relates to a deeply patriarchal view of women's art throughout the centuries. The mocking of Fashion throughout political cartoons is centuries old. Writing an article about why corsets are evil continues to be the cheapest form of degrading fashion as art.

Perhaps let me take you into our costume world for a moment. I can tell you from experience that wearing other complicated items like a pregnancy belly (which dramatically restricts the actors movements), or full rubber waders (which have no breathability) for 12, 14 or 16 hours will also cause actors discomfort. Obviously it would be ludicrous to suggest banning pregnant characters and fishermen also.

On a personal note, it has been a hard few weeks to be a woman in Britain. It can feel like the media have been on all out assault. It’s our fault if we get murdered for being too successful, and the police can’t be held accountable if a 'menopausal alcoholic' woman throws herself into a river. So of course, let’s take a really complicated multilayered story in an industry where we fight for equality daily, and turn it into a basic stick to again, hit women with.

Of course women wouldn’t care about other women: we've been presented with what is seen as a totally natural argument that we’d just put people in costumes that cause them harm, and we’d do nothing to alleviate their discomfort or try to avoid that happening in the first place.

So. Rather than giving you the link to an article that uses the classic woman hating click bait angle, I've chosen finally to link to just one of the 1 million articles on the fit and function of modern corsets. Because they're fun, empowering and in some instances medically helpful - and probably shouldn't be 'banned'.