Ever since Eve's first blush? clothes have girded? graced and transformed the female physique. Fascinating and insightful? "The Corset and the Crinoline" is an illustrated history of clothing's attendant underpinnings -- especially those that whittled the female waist to its most slender proportions. Reproduced from a rare 1868 fashion publication? each page reveals how the use of wood? whalebone? steel? hoops? and tight laces had a gripping influence on shaping the figures of women from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Vienna. Enlivened by excerpts from authentic letters? magazine articles? and satiric poems? over fifty exquisite black-and-white engravings highlight the wardrobes -- and what was worn underneath them -- of a Persian dancing girl? an ancient Egyptian woman? a Roman lady of high rank? Queen Elizabeth? Marie de Medici? a woman of the French revolutionary period? and many more. Costume designers? artists? and anyone interested in the history of fashion will be captivated!Paperback | 240 pages157.48 x 231.14 x 20.32mm | 294.83g39442Dover Publications Inc.New York? United StatesEnglish