How Did Pregnancy Corsets Work? (Ft Dr Sarah Bendall)
In the (likely) event that KZhead objects to this discussion of women’s bodies, rest assured this video will live on in its original, uncensored state over at Nebula! Sign up for $30/year using my link go.nebula.tv/bernadettebanner. Thank you Nebula for sponsoring this video and for supporting educational creators!
⤠ SOURCES www.bernadettebanner.co.uk/mat...
Thanks @sarahabendall for joining me for this chat! Find more of her work:
/ sarahbendall_dresshistory
Buy her book to learn more about maternity corsetry! www.bloomsbury.com/uk/shaping...
Extra special thanks to The School of Historical Dress for loaning the Claydon reconstruction.
⤠ START YOUR HAND SEWING JOURNEY ⤟
📚 BOOK: “Make, Sew and Mend: Traditional Techniques to Sustainably Maintain and Refashion Your Clothes” linktr.ee/makesewandmend
🧵 SKILLSHARE CLASS: “Hand Sewing Basics: Working Wonders with Fabric, Needle & Thread”. To sign up for a free trial and take the class, visit skl.sh/bernadettebanner1
⤠ NEVER MISS AN UPDATE ⤟
📜 (FREE) NEWSLETTER www.bernadettebanner.co.uk/new...
📸 INSTAGRAM @bernadettebanner / bernadettebanner
♥️ PATREON / bernadettebanner
RESEARCH ASSISTANT | Heathcliff McLean
IG @mxheathcliff / mxheathcliff
EDITOR | @DannyBanner
IG @danbanstudio / danbanstudio
This channel is made possible through the generous support of Patreon members. On behalf of myself and the team: thank you! ✨
"Flexible", that's the word here that people tend to forget about corsets and stays, it'll adapt with you, it's not a cage.🌚
I really appreciate the balance here of "corsets are super fine and normal if they are well fitting" and "okay, but tight lacing was actually a thing and it did effect ribs and pelvis structures a bit."
Making myself a pregnancy corset for reenacting was 10/10 the best and most comfortable solution I could have opted for at 30 weeks pregnant.
I like how bernadette is starting to look more and more like missy from dr who 😭😭
I have never heard anyone mention the second hand clothes market before in a historical video. So many of them talk about the clothes the richer people were wearing. I love that Bernadette talks about how everyday people would be making adjustments to their clothes in all her videos! I'd love to learn more about the second hand clothing markets of the past too
Imagine that! Women (with or without child) in history had stays and corsets made to support their bodies. These pregnancy stays were lovely. I like the way the stomacher shapes changed. What a wonderful guest speaker! The outro is stunning.❤
Will people in the future be dissecting pregnancy stretch pants in such a way? "These offer very little support, but they do seem to be easy to pull off when running to pee for the hundredth time. And the ice cream stains suggest they were worn 24 hours a day. Fascinating."
My mother wore a medical pregnancy corset in 1967 given to her by her high-risk OB/GYN in Switzerland when she was pregnant with me because mom was so tiny and I was big and I still have it. My mom kept it and I have it and I wore it with my pregnancies because I have scoliosis and it actually helped me.. you don’t tighten them so tight that you can’t breathe but it did strengthen how I carried my children it really work. I know they don’t give them out anymore I’m pretty sure but I kept my mom’s just because of a sentimental value but 1967 that’s not that long ago.
I mean, it seems obviouse to me that pregnant women would need a supportive garment as much if not more than the average women. I think it only would seen strange if you have the pirates of the Caribbean view of corsets.
Using the photo of the xray whilst discussing deformities hits way different after learning that those xrays were faked - the "patients" were not alive, there's evidence of stuffing in the cavities (possibly with sawdust) and several vertebrae and the pelvis are literally back to front or rotated in such a way that it would be a physical impossibility whilst alive. There is no information to be gained from them. Even the boning doesn't line up with the boning channels, its just placed wherever. The "binding" at the top extends past the edges of the corset when you'd expect it to follow the edges in a 3D manner. The list goes on. And that's before mentioning the studies on deformities actually featured primarily poor and malnourished individuals so whilst corsets likely played a part, the bones are not soft enough in healthy individuals to undergo that degree of deformity.
Maria Von Trapp had a special corset made for her first concert tour because she was pregnant and was amused that she was refered to in the papers as stout, not pregnant.
Also remember that women worked HARD and often held uncomfortable positions of leaning over to work...and those corsets and supports saved their backs. I wear corsets every day and it's all due to back support! Wearing bras just pulled my shoulders over into a permanent slump. Wearing a corset holds me upright. I WISH I had a maternity corset when I had babies. It would have helped my back pain so much!
This is such a coincidence! I am 25 weeks pregnant and just wondered about this. Female history is so underrepresented. Thanks Bernadette, love to learn from you!
my mother made a replica of the corset at
The pain I felt from the rib spreading during my second pregnancy made me wish for corsetry. Lifting the bust and supporting the rib cage would have made a world of difference
I think we can also assume that working class women would not only wear their corsets for multiple pregnancys, but give them away for a friend or family relative, most of them wouldn't survive the time with so much use, like how people nowday give away their maternity clothes.
The blink sounds during the "women are responsible for deforming their children" moment were *chef's kiss*.
It makes sense to me that someone might have two different stomachers depending on body shape. I would. As I told someone back in 1979, if I can think of doing it, I’m pretty sure my ancestors were smart enough to do it as well.
The other thing about the slight deformation that they have measured on historical skeletons, is that a lot of these people were not only wearing corsets from a very young age where their bones were still growing, but ALSO that many of them likely suffered from various kind of malnutrition. If you're not getting proper nutrition, AND you're squeezing your bones as you grow, of course it will have an effect on your body.
Anything that involves more Aussies on the internet being treated as Actual Knowledgeable Professionals that Know Things gets two thumbs up from me!