..of Lillie Langtry in the late 1880’s.  She was rounded and full as the ideal of the day, with good skin as much was exposed.  She had trained to the tightly cinched waisted corset through the 1860’s and ’70’s, so that by the 1880’s and 90’s, she had a teeny …

… corsets available in the 1880’s, as catalogs were available even to the western frontier of the United States, as well as custom tailors and easy-to-import high fashion due to brisk trade at the time with Europe.  Most “every day” women bought reasonably priced corsets in generic sizes from catalogs …

…was heavily used in the 1880’s and ’90’s  A busk had been used since the early 18th century to keep stays rigid in the front and to lift and separate the breasts.  Through the early 19th century, it was still wooden and used for keeping the front flat and breasts …

… went from above the breasts and down over the hips.  Heavy boned and tightly cinching to the point of moving the internal organs, it was probably more restrictive than even the waist cinching corsets of the 1830′-70’s because it covered the entire torso and hips.    

… had both femininity and innovation in it, and was largely responsible for the silhouette of the 1880’s and 1890’s. It was longer, shaped the body, and was mass produced in a huge variety for every purpose and every body.

.. romance.. were reflected in fashion of the 1880’s.  Bustles and corsets became highly innovative, diverse, and technical, while the many ribbons, flounces, layers, and beautiful fabrics and colors lent the romance. (Sketches:  Feminine frills and flowers over intense and technological structures of 1883 and 1882)

.. and at the same time technology.  Innovations like the Brooklyn suspension Bridge were being built, and many people embraced all that was new and exciting.  At the same time many longed for “Grandma’s Garden” and the beautiful days of rural life in America. Impressionistic painters: Renoir, Manet and their …

.. and comfortable.  While the corset was long and restrictive, it shaped the body large or small into the ideal.  There was no pressure to reduce overall size and stature. Artists like Renoir idealized the full figured body in movement such as in these paintings from approximately 1883.

.. not just the influence of luscious fashion icons like Lillie Langtry of the 1880’s, but was actually a reflection of women’s status in the world at the time. Through the 1850’s and 1860’s (mid-Victorian) eras, women were required to be diminuitive, passive, and of a status beneath every man …

.. wider carriage seats were a result of the large bustle too. (1880’s sofa)