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Corsets is the clothing epidemic that most Nigerian women have refused to treat themselves from. They are making us sick of it.
Corsets have been of old. Fashion keeps evolving and also brings back to the limelight that has been discarded. 2020 saw the premiere of a classic series, Bridgerton which took down the memory lane of old European dressing style. Corsets were worn as undergarments then.
Also, the portrayal of the perfect body shape characterized by a thin waist by the Kardashians led people to seek abode in various options to give them that figure 8 shape.
While others took to plastic surgeries, waist trainers, exercise, and liposuction, most Nigerian women took to embedding corsets in their dressing. Now, they have held on tightly to it that they have refused to let go.
Brief History of Corsets
The advent of corsets can be traced to the people of Minoans who lived in proximity to Greece on the island of Crete around 1000 BC. Corsets were laced tightly with as many as fifty laces and were worn by a female from childhood until the wedding night. For the wedding to be consummated, a groom had to slowly and carefully undo the laces to demonstrate self-control.
Women in Europe wore corsets as an undergarment to change the shape of their bodies. Corsets are worn to shape and constrict the waist and support the bosom. Perhaps, Nigerian women are wearing corsets in a bid to do that.
Men wore corsets for the first time in the history of clothing around the 1820s. Some movies set in the medieval era portray this. Corsets reached popularity in the Victorian era.
The French court women saw the clothing style as indispensable to the beauty of the female figure. Nigerian women have held on strongly to this perception as they continue to implement this style in their aso-ebi or dinner gowns.
In the early era of corsets, the fitting was stiffened with whalebone, wood, ivory, and metal. Queen Charlotte in the movie, Queen Charlotte enlightened us about this when she said, ‘All the finest corsets are whalebones’. The undergarments or outer garments are no longer made of whalebones or boning but other materials such as plastics are used for the fitting.
In the late 18th century, the French Revolution criticized the glorification of an artificial body shape instead of a natural shape. This agenda also appeared in the 1960s when feminist Miss American protestants shaded girdles and corsets as ‘instruments of female torture’. Yes, it is torture even now as some fashion designers reduce 8 inches of an original waistline to make a perfect corset.
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The advent of corsets in Nigeria
In 2021, the Nigerian fashion industry saw the unfiltered advent of corsets. Celebrity designers made dresses with corsets which gave the wearers a perfect figure 8 shape. It was a thirst trap as most Nigerian women wanted something that would accentuate a figure 8 figure out of their other figured body.
Celebrity designers like Veekee James still take pride in making corset dresses and regard themselves as the Queen of Corsets in Nigeria. Corsets are incorporated into almost every feminine Nigerian dressing style. People add lacings and fittings to their buba to make them look more appealing.
Nigerian women should let corsets breathe so that they can too
Ranging from Gen Zs to Millenials even Gen X now wear corset-styled dresses in Nigerian. If you do not have a corset dress, it feels like you are not fashionable. but you are not alone, my sister. There is a small quota of women who have not given to this fashion trend yet.
Brides incorporate the corset style into their aso oke and wedding gowns. Sometimes, this style is an inconvenience as they are tightly fitted so that there is no room to breathe. E choke! Most women want their waist snatched despite their body anatomy. They put themselves under unnecessary bondage with lacings and fittings.
Nigerian women should stop the addiction to corset dresses as soon as possible. A health blog reports that corsets can cause damage to internal organs. Tight corsets can move ‘organs permanently and cause internal damage’. They can also cause atrophy, a condition in which the muscles are inactive. This happens as a result of the stiffness and overworking of the muscles.
People who wear corsets end up compressing their belly fat and muscles. They are trying to fit their waist into a smaller cage. It would also result in numbness which can later lead to serious complications.
Words to ‘corsetizens‘ and ‘non-corsetizens‘
Why wear something that will cause more harm than good? Some people cannot afford to eat when wearing a corset because, with any extra inch, they literally cannot breathe. Some women after being all laced up in corsets, you can see on their faces that they are not comfortable.
The clothing style that causes floating bosoms and snatched waist is not advisable for women to continue to wear. Reports show that women wear corsets to be sexually desirable. The clothing style converges the idea of beauty, feminity and standard. But these days, beauty has no standards, so why not wear what makes you feel comfortable?
The world has evolved more than you trying to conform your body to a standard. The advent of body positivity is fast spreading. The world is gradually conforming to all body types as being beautiful. It is better to exercise than punish yourself by being in tight girdles and corsets to constrict your waist. I know your tummy is big, but do you want to smash your organs?
Find an appropriate, healthy fashion clothing style that accentuates the beauty of your body type. Eat and maintain a healthy diet to help regulate unnecessary body fat. If you want your dresses to be laced, very well, do not incorporate tight fittings. A woman can still look admirable without the fittings and lacings. And who says a thin waist is the standard? Those love handles and belly fat looks are the artistic work of nature on you.
To the non-corsetizens, I leave you with this, ‘Be ye not be conformed to the fashion trends of this world, for they will come and go. Only those who do not stress after them will have peace of mind, body, and soul.’
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