The corset story
If you look at the images of women of the past centuries you'll probably notice that almost all women were wearing the corset. It was the necessary element of the women's clothes and was responsible for all that fainting women had.
Corset is the special construction made of compact or elastic materials with lacing, zipper, etc. that was used for constriction of the figure to make it look fashionable. Of course this element of the female clothes was connected with the clothing history a lot. First messages about the corset refer to the years 2600-1250 BC when the ancient peoples that were living near the Aegean Sea created an interesting culture. The costumes of the inhabitants of Crete fascinate by their complicity and artistic work. They have the perfect cut. And the tradition to wear the wide belt on the waist was formed here. At that time these belts were not only the perfect accentuation of the figure but also the perfect protection during the battles.
Corset gets to Europe in medieval times. And here they also played the protective role and looked more like armour than like the women's underwear. Only in the 14th century the first corsets to model figure were created. And it became especially important and popular when the Spanish fashion spreads in the 16th century. At that time corsets were made of the metal lines that allowed tightening the figure as much as possible.
Nowadays we may see the second rebirth of corsets when they enter the fashionable pages of the popular magazines quickly.