MEN AND CORSETS.
According to a woman writer in a leading London magazine, who made it her business to go round to men's tailors, otc., and possess herself of knowledge that would place her in a position to speak with absolute au-
thority, the fashionable London woman is not in it with the fashionable London. man as regards, extravagance and vanity. Since corsets are generally regarded as exclusively destined for feminine wear, it may come as a surprise to many to learn that the annual corset bill of many a smart man is much larger than that of an average smart woman v This,is nevertheless a ■ fact. A leading corsetiere who supplies most of them (remarks the writer) put down a good customer's bill at £150 per annum. Let no one imagine that only fops wear them. The majority of wearers aro military men, who, I learn, require a greater amount of padding than civilians. Others are ordinary welldressed men, given to manly sports, and by no means effeminate. A man's figure has to be gradually coaxed into shape, and is put first of all into a soft silk corset with scarcely any bones until he attains by degrees to the full glory of the perfect figure. This process usually takes three months, and five specj'jl makes of corsets are employed in the development, or perhaps it would bw more accitrata to say the " repression," of the figure. A greater variety are made for men's use than for that of wpmen. Hunting belts are made of strong elastic stropped with firfe kid, and shooting belts are of pink or white coutille, about aix inches deep. The riding corsetabout nine inches long—is of handsome brocaded sjilk coutille, strapped with kid, while the suspenders attached are of coloured frilled elastic. A man's evening corset—from fourteen to eighteen inches deep—is made of , exquisitly soft white kid, -with the top cut in scollops and pinked out round the edge, and carrying four suspenders. Extra smart men havi shoulder-straps with these corsets, to keep the back in the desired shape. Then there is the golf corset, also in whit© kid,- with silk elastic gores— severely classic in style—and the morning corset, fourteen inches deep, in white silk coutille, lined with satin. Sleeping belts—another item necessary "to £ot a waist"—are live inches deep, end made of strong £ilk elastic with inlets of some porous material. ; • .. For tho benefit of the uninitiated it may. be stated that the corset is worn between the vest and the shirt; also that men rather pride themselves upon a measurement of nineteen inches, though the average waist is twenty-four. Hand-painted corsets a,re the fancy of somo men, and cost" ten guineas. The corsetiere to whom I am indebted for this information is loud in praise of her male clientele. They are not fidgety, they have good taste, and no matter what other bills they leave unpaid she is always sure of her money, possibly because few men would dare face a summons from such a quarter. The lady's indictment concludes thusly:—"Let not the fashionable man cast' a stone at the fashionable woman. All he can claim, like her, is that he is a, means of circulating much money, and let us hope of putting a fair proportion into tho hands of those who.need it badly."
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Bibliographic details
Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 242, 12 October 1908, Page 3
Word Count
554MEN AND CORSETS. Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 242, 12 October 1908, Page 3
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