Whalebone is the colloquial English term for a material known as baleen. Baleen is not bone.
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Articles on Corsets
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This is something that has been going on for hundreds of years.
Depicted as a restrictive and painful undergarment, the corset is often depicted as a symbol of women’s oppression in period dramas.
While men wrote about women “deforming” their bodies in corsets, there is very little writing from women themselves about what the experience was like.
Billie Eilish received criticism for wearing an ‘oppressive’ corset on the cover of Vogue. But for centuries, the clothing gave women support in work, and in play.
The busk was a long piece of wood, metal or whalebone, stitched into fabric and inscribed with intimate words of love. Garters, too, often carried messages and were charged with erotic connotations.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University
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Associate Professor in Fashion Marketing and Branding, Nottingham Trent University
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Associate Professor, Fashion History, De Montfort University
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PhD Candidate in History, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
