A corset is an item of clothing worn to help shape the upper boby into a desired shape for aesthetic, or sometimes orthopaedic, reaons (either while wearing it, or for more permanent results). Men and women have both worn and still wear corsets.
The craft of making corsets is known as corsetry, as is the general wearing of them. A person who designs and makes corsets is a corsetier (for a man) or corsetire (for a woman), or simply a corsetmaker.
The most popular use of corsets is to shap the body into a beautiful, fashionable silhouette shape. For women this usually emphasises a curvy figure, by reducing the waist, and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips. However corsets have also been worn to achieve a more tubular shape although this is less common.
For men, corsets are more customarily used to slim the figure. However, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when an hourglass figure was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset.
Corsets are constructed of flexible materials such as satin, leather, pvc, denim, and velvet. They are stiffened with boning (also called ribs or stays) inserted into channels in the...