The Bad Corset

An annotated translation of a seminal French text on the corset, addressing the anti-woman and anti-corset biases and inaccuracies which continue to influence the way we discuss women as medical subjects and human beings in Western culture.

Both a translation and critique of an early 20th century seminal French text on the physical effects of corseting, The Bad Corset explores contemporary anti-woman bias to challenge the commonly accepted assertions about corsetry’s contribution to disease, disfigurement, and disorders of the female body.

The original 1908 French book, Le Corset by Ludovic O'Followell—with its graphic illustrations, some of which are reproduced here—tells a story, familiar to anyone interested in popular culture and fashion history, of women suffering for fashion, tormented by and subject to their corsets. However, a close reading of the texts tells a very different, and more complicated, story.

This fascinating exploration, approaching the topic from a scientific perspective, and reproducing facsimiles of the original text, with translations and annotations, critiques the presumptions and anxieties of male medical professionals on the ‘damage’ caused by corsets to the female body and psyche. Rather than seeing the women who wore these perceived instruments of torture as victims or dupes, The Bad Corset confidently asserts the agency of the women who wore them and highlights the way in which seminal texts can continue to influence our interpretation of the past, and women’s lives and histories.

The Bad Corset is a remarkable resource for scholars and students of fashion, medicine and gender history, taking a feminist approach to female agency and choice, and helping us reconsider the way we think about the shaping of women’s bodies, and their lives.