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The Known Physical Effects of Tight Lacing on the Female Body

Tight lacing is the practice of wearing a corset that has been tightly laced to shape the body to the desired figure of the wearer. This practice has been in effect since the 1500s and endured as a part of the fashionable wardrobe until the French Revolution in 1789 when the empire waist become the fashionable style of the day. In her article, The Corset Controversy, published in 2007, Gretchen Riordan explains that although tight lacing was popular for nearly 300 years, the corset was often worn so tightly that the practice had many physically harmful and even deadly effects on the wearer. In spite of the known physical harm directly related to corseting, the practice continued well into the 20^th century. Medical texts published as early as 1897 documented potential risks including effects on the heart, lungs, circulation, breasts, stomach, liver, colon, uterus, muscles, gall bladder, and other organs.

Heart

Damage to the heart is a very common effect of tight lacing. After extensive wearing of the corset, the ribs are forced to move closer together and, as a result, the rib cage becomes smaller and more compact. With a smaller rib cage and the same number of organs in the rib cage, the organs become compressed and are no longer able to do their job properly. One of these compressed organs is the heart. The restriction of this vital organ forces it to work harder to do its job completely. In Gaillard’s Medical Journal published in 1897 when corsets were still considered the height of fashion, Dr. Eugene Crutchfield says that because the heart has to work harder, cardiac palpitation is the inevitable result. Though not usually fatal, cardiac palpitation can lead to impaired vision, signs of choking, partial unconsciousness, vertigo, and fear of death.

Lungs

Damage to the lungs is often one of the most deadly effects of tight lacing. The constriction of the corset prevents the lower lobes of the lungs from fully expanding when taking a breath. This puts extra strain on and causes additional work for the lower lobes of the lungs. They eventually become tired, worn out, and exhausted which prevents them from doing their job properly. In his book, Fashion and Fetishism, David Kunzle puts emphasis on the fact that because the lower lobes have been strained, they are unable to adequately fight off pneumonia or bacillus tuberculosis which go to the lower lobes of the lungs first. Tuberculosis was a particularly harsh but common disease during the time of tight lacing. Colloquially called "Consumption," its symptoms typically include fever, night sweats, excessive weight loss and coughing blood and can eventually lead to the death of its victim.

Circulation

The combination of heart damage and lung damage leads to problems in the circulatory system. The cardiac palpitations in the heart and the prevented full expansion of the lungs lead to a condition called spanaemia, or the lack of oxygen in the blood. One of the effects of spanaemia is syncope, or loss of consciousness due to lack of blood supply to the brain. Lack of blood to the brain can also lead to death.

Breasts

The pressure placed on the breasts results in many injuries and complications. In some cases the complications can become as serious as breast cancer. Occurring more frequently is a reduction of the size of the nipples. This makes the process of nursing very painful and in some cases, completely impossible. Another complication in the breast is mammary abscess, the inflammation of the connective tissue in the breast. Often, this condition causes pus to be discharged into the milk. According to an article published in 1884 in The Science and Art of Surgery Journal by John Erichsen, the only way to correct this ailment in the 19th century was to insert a drainage tube into the breast to drain all the pus.

Stomach

Due to the increased amount of pressure that is placed on the abdomen while the body is tight laced, the stomach has difficulty functioning properly. The stomach is unable to churn correctly making it difficult to digest food completely. This condition is called dyspepsia, more commonly known as indigestion. By definition, this means difficult digestion. Not being able to digest food properly is typically not a problem until it happens frequently. When it becomes a recurrent problem, it results in constant pain in the upper abdomen.

Liver

The liver often experiences many complications while the body is tight laced. The liver can become severed due to the precarious location of the ribs as a result of the tight lacing. Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1887, an article in the Science medical journal says that the tight cord of the corset also can create fissures in the liver causing parts of the liver to become detached. The liver can also become enlarged or displaced. Also possible is mechanical congestion, the result of the pressure placed on the inferior vena cava, thus obstructing the flow of blood. According to Dr. Tse-Ling Fong, liver cancer is often the result of this vein being blocked. The blocked vein is not able to filter out the bad blood in the liver resulting in a cancerous infection.

Colon

The pressure of the heavy skirts and tight laces frequently causes inactivity of the bowels, resulting in severe constipation which, according to Dr. Majid Ali, if left untreated, can eventually lead to death.

Uterus

The uterus is the organ that suffers the most from tight lacing. Depending upon how early the tight lacing process is started, the uterus can fail to develop properly due to the inactivity of the abdominal muscles. Women also suffer from a lapsed uterus as a result of tight lacing. This is when the womb starts to collapse because there is not room in the abdomen for the womb to expand fully. As early as the beginning of the 20^th century it was known that a displaced uterus could be the result of tight lacing. In his book, Displacements for the Womb published in 1912, Dr. Hartland Law explains that every time the bladder or rectum empty, the uterus is temporarily displaced. Without the effects of tight lacing this would not be a problem. However, tight lacing makes the ligaments that normally lift the uterus back into place weak and unable to perform this simple yet crucial task. Permanent displacement of the uterus is the result of these weakened ligaments. The uterus slowly moves to the lower back causing pain in the head and back and creating an inability to stand or walk for long periods of time. Because the uterus is not in its proper location, it does not completely empty of blood during the menstrual cycle. It eventually become so full with excess blood that through labor pains it is finally expelled.

Gall Bladder

The Crutchfield text cites a relationship between gallstones and tight lacing. Explaining that as the desired effect of tight lacing is a slimmer figure, this artificially slimmed figure can cause rapid weight loss because of the lack of room in the stomach. In an article published in 2009, Tracee Cornforth explains that gallstones are the result of the body metabolizing fat to compensate for rapid weight loss. While this happens, the liver secretes extra cholesterol into the bile that it produces. It is this extra cholesterol that causes gallstones.

Organ Failure

The organs in the body fail to function as an indirect result of tight lacing. Due to tight lacing, the lungs are not able to expand fully and take in their full air capacity. When this happens, the lungs are not able to transport enough air to the heart so the heart is not able to produce enough oxygen-rich blood to transfer to the other organs in the body. Without the necessary amount of oxygen in the organs, they fail to function.

Muscles

Wearing a corset for an extend period of time makes the abdominal muscles become weak and inactive. They can even fail to develop properly if tight lacing is started early enough in the growing process of a young woman. The pectoral muscles also become weak after extensive tight lacing. Having weak muscles makes it very difficult to stand up when the corset is removed.

Examples in Film

Although the story lines are often fictitious, there are many examples in the media which illustrate the negative affects of tight lacing.

Snow White

In the Scandinavian version of Snow White, the witch, in one of her many attempts to kill Snow White, sells her a corset which she wears so tightly that she faints. Her brothers think she has died and take her to her grave, but on the way her laces break and she regains consciousness.

Pirates of the Caribbean

In the Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira Knightly, puts on a corset and then laces it too tightly. In the following scene, she is standing near the edge of a building that hangs over the ocean. Due to the tightness of the laces, she loses consciousness and falls off the building into the ocean. She is rescued from the ocean, her laces are cut, and she once again regains consciousness.

Little Women

In the 1994 version of the movie based on the book of the same title by Louisa May Alcott, Marmee tells Mr. Brooke that “feminine weakness and fainting spells are the direct result of our confining our young girls to the house bent over their needle work and restrictive corsets.”

Gone with the Wind

In the classic Gone with the Wind, Scarlet O’Hara’s corset is so tight that she is not able to eat very much food. Later in the story right after she has a baby, Scarlet tries to lace her corset back to her regular size: a sixteen inch waist.

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

In the Hallmark Channel original movie based on the book with the same title by Louisa May Alcott, Tilly Bassett’s grandmother gives her a corset to wear to a dance. It is the first time she has ever worn a corset because her mother is adamantly against them because of the negative connotation they give of being a member of the snooty upper class. While at the dance, Tilly faints because she is not used to the restriction of wearing a corset.