Some women still wore the shorter 1860’s style of corset

until well into the early 1880’s for sport, work, or rural situations where function exceeded the desire to be fashionable.  One could bend and sit in the 1860’s corset, but not so with the new end of 1870’s long conforming style.

(Corset patent sketches 1866 and 1878 – by outward appearances very similar, but construction, gores, and resultant control of the shape were very different as the corset became more conforming)