Queen Victoria reigned over England from 1837 – 1901, and ushered in an entirely new fashion and aesthetic. At the same time, the 1830s and 40s saw the Industrial Revolution, where huge jumps in technology were made in machinery, including sewing machines, steel manufacturing, transportation, etc.

The Pretty Housemaid was a specific type of Victorian Corset – late Victorian era, to be precise – created around 1890. It was designed to be lightweight, more flexible (see the corded hips), comfortable and long-lasting for hard labor. Despite its intricate details, it was a practical corset designed for the working class.

Pretty Housemaid corsets, of course, have a steel split busk (with loops and pins) for ease of donning and removing by oneself, as well as steel grommets for efficiency and longevity. Baleen (“whalebone”) was still sometimes used, but as whale populations dwindled and steel production became cheaper, we saw steel bones take over – by the late 1800s, steel was often marketed as cutting-edge and superior, as spiral bones were less likely to become brittle and shatter with age the way baleen did.

The quintessential “Barbie ballgown” silhouette peaked in the 1860s and then slowly took a chill pill, being replaced with smaller and smaller bustles by 1890. There would be huge variations in patterns, construction techniques, materials, etc over the 60+ years of Victoria’s reign, but Victorian corsets remain recognizable by their hourglass silhouette, smooth transition from bust-to-waist-to-hip, and fashionable roundness to the lower tummy.

Photo courtesy of Clockwork Faerie via Etsy.