from Look
January 29, 2023 | 13:00
From Bridgerton to Gen Z, this sexy lingerie is popular again. But is the corset an instrument of torture – or a weapon of empowerment” – Beverley D’Silva. The curvy woman is the woman of the 21st century, and corsets are no strangers to funding that figure. The corset was considered a…
Yemi-Alade-in-hair corset
From Bridgerton to Gen Z, this sexy lingerie is popular again. But is the corset an instrument of torture – or a weapon of empowerment” – Beverley D’Silva.
The voluptuous woman is the woman of the 21st century, and corsets are no strangers to financing this figure. The corset was seen as a symbol of women’s oppression, and dress reformers also argued that women’s bodies were prone to deformity due to wearing it.
Karolina Laskowska, a British lingerie designer who has been creating handmade corsets since 2012, challenges this notion. She says a well-fitting corset can “take the strain off the shoulders and chest,” making it more comfortable than a bra. Some clients, she says, have likened the feeling of wearing a navy corset to a lovely hug.
Corsets have found their way into the 21st century pop culture and fashion space, breaking away from royalty and nobility and making an aggressive comeback with no signs of slowing down. Corsets have transitioned from undergarment to outerwear, stylishly incorporating a variety of styles and silhouettes.
Boning has found a home beyond underwear to sculpting even basic clothing, from high-waisted pants to fitted jackets, dresses and tips. The flexibility of the Nigerian fashion space has embraced the rapidly growing acceptance of corseting. Traditional clothing has made way for this figure-hugging, body-transforming piece. it’s almost impossible to attend an event without seeing an array of corseted women resplendent in beauty and poise.
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Yemi-Alade-in-hair corset
A stain
print-corset-top
corset-blue dress
Daily outfit
Blue jeans and corset
brown-corset
ankara-corset-top
A-line-corset-black-dress
The corset is especially loved for its body sculpting abilities and quick lifting of posture and class. Thanks to fashion designers like Tubo, Veekee James, Ceolumini, xtrabrideslagos and the like, corsets have made a big comeback, reminding us why they’re widely considered timeless pieces. Although this element of fashion is magical in its interpretation, it begs the question: is there more than corsets to explore in the Nigerian fashion space? Could the focus on the specific body type be a major factor in the love fest?
In the 20th and 21st centuries, the basic idea of the “perfect body shape” for women has changed almost as often as fashion trends. In some cases, the contrast in the idea of the perfect woman between decades is shocking and speaks volumes about societal attitudes at the time – beauty standards were largely dependent on whether or not people thought it was okay for women to have curves. A cinched waist is undoubtedly a wonder, but do we want to see more beyond it?