| Cathie Jung wore her first corset for her wedding in 1959. Now she wears it 24/7, and when it becomes loose fitting, she would wear a smaller one. The result? She now has a 15-inch waist. Link to Cathie's website (take a look at the X-ray pics!) Notably, she doesn't have the world record on smallest waist ever. This belongs to Ethel Granger (13-inch). Link to Ethel's website. |
For her and many of us, dressing for pleasure is something that only those involved will really understand.
If you stand back and think about the imagery she has created, it's beautiful to the likes of me, but to others its hideous and so is she.
Rememeber the saying "what is one persons meat, is another person's poison".
There are many more about like her and me, just not so obvious to those on the outside. ;)
I think Cathie is an incredible woman
14 inches at smallest measurement.
This is not true, the waist will return quite quickly to the usual size. When Cathie does not wear a corset her waist size returns to 21" which is her current natural waist measurement. When you consider that, her corseted waist is only really 5" smaller than her natural waist size. Though it has taken her over 20 years to get that far and her natural waist size before she started corseting was 26". So that is why she seems so out of proportion.
I agree that she has gone too far to be aesthetically pleasing, but think there is nothing wrong with wearing corsets continuously and myself aim for a corset 6" smaller than my natural waist size (I don't want to go too far!)
"Yes, she may have a small waist but they made people stop wearing corsets like that for a reason back in..oldd times. They can do serious internal damage |:. I feel sorry for her organs."
People stopped wearing corsets for a couple of reasons. The first was a change in fashion which required women to have a more boyish figure with less emphasis on small waists and nice big hips, and more emphasis on being flat chested and straight up and down (think 1920s fashion). This changed the shape of the corset so the focus was on making women flat and equal sized all over.
The second change was the war. All steel was used for war equipment of varying kinds and so corsets could no longer be produced with steel boning. This along with the change in fashion was what provoked the end of wearing corsets for most people.
Nobody MADE anybody give up wearing corsets.
Corsets can damage your internal organs but only if done so incorrectly. The majority of Victorian women had no problems from wearing a corset and few actually tightlaced to get a waist as small as Cathie Jung's. To the Victorians it was the proportions which mattered, not the tinyness of the waist size. Corsets from the period were available in waist sizes starting at 18" and working up to 34", much the same as today. The average corset size bought was also in the region of 24" to 28", so the majority of women did not wear corsets that were very small. Corsets were worn on average between 2 and 4" smaller than the natural waist size and some vain women, trying to make themselves seem smaller would buy a corset a size smaller so they could say they wore a smaller corset, yet would wear it quite loosely at their usual size.
Women of the time also frowned upon the few individuals who did try to tightlace to get their waist size very small and dressmakers often had to tell their clients that they didn't need a smaller corset - they needed to be in proportion.
As to the health side of things, if done right a corset does little if no damage at all. Your organs do move to accommodate a smaller waist but your organs move around much more when you are pregnant to make room for the expansion of the womb. So it really is not a problem.
In the past, the corsets which did harm were the straight-front corsets of the Edwardian period. They were designed by doctors to be a healthier type of corset and if worn correctly were an improvement in some ways. However, the women who liked tightlacing and making their waists especially small realised that the cut of the new style corset could allow for greater waist reduction than with an hourglass shape. When tightened too much, these corsets put lots of pressure on the abdomen and so impacted on the lower organs. In extreme cases some women suffered from a prolapsed uterus (it distends outside of the vagina) which had to be corrected by the use of a pessary (a sort of rod inserted inside to hold everything up). This happened less frequently than is thought as most women were sensible about the amount they tightlaced.
Today, corsets marked as being "Edwardian" style corsets are usually just longer length versions of standard corset patterns. Corsets are no longer made to a true Edwardian pattern by mainstream corset companies. Some companies do still offer an "s-shape" straight front corset, but these are only sold to be worn a maximum of 4 inches smaller than your natural waist, therefore preventing any of the nasty side effects tightlacing such a corset can cause.
Corsets like the one Cathie is wearing above do not damage the internal organs - they haven't damaged hers! She had had x-rays taken whilst wearing a corset and other such tests to ensure that all is well and for 70 odd she is doing damn well! Her husband Bob is an orthopaedic surgeon so he'd hardly let her wear corsets if she was damaging herself!
I love me an hourglass figure, but I leave the wasp waists to the insect... like say, wasps.
Thumbs down, mainly for the sake of moderation =)
b) the few photos I've seen, she seems to be wincing
Sad pathetic types with such a narrow understanding of the world that they need to attack anything beyond their limited comprehension so that they can feel safe and secure in their pathetic little skins. The kind of small minds who go about telling everyone else how to live, they know best "because". Yeh Right.
These people are the ugly ones.
As for Cathy and her husband. Heck. They aren't breaking the law and they obviously get something good out of what they do. 68 years of age. WOW. Thats fantastic. lets see what Michelle looks like and what she is doing at 68??? Loser