wasp waist
{{Short description|Women's fashion silhouette}}
{{About|the human silhouette|the insect feature|Petiole (insect anatomy)|the fuselage shape of supersonic aircraft|Area rule}}
File:Polaire, French actress 5.jpg, a French actress famous for her wasp waist.]]
Wasp waist is a women's fashion silhouette, produced by a style of corset and girdle, that has experienced various periods of popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its primary feature is the abrupt transition from a natural-width rib cage to an exceedingly small waist, with the hips curving out below. It takes its name from its similarity to a wasp's segmented body. The sharply cinched waistline also exaggerates the hips and bust.
History
In the 19th century, while average corseted waist measurements varied between {{convert|23|and|31|in|cm}}, wasp waist measurements of {{convert|16|to|18|in|cm|}} were uncommon and were not considered attractive. Ladies' magazines told of the side effects of tight lacing, proclaiming that "if a lady binds and girds herself in, until she be only twenty-three inches, and, in some cases, until she be only twenty-one inches, it must be done at the expense of comfort, health, and happiness."{{cite book|last1=Chavasse|first1=Pye Henry|title=Advice to a Wife on the Management of Her Own Health, and on the Treatment of Some of the Complaints Incidental to Pregnancy, Labour, and Suckling; with an Introductory Chapter Especially Addressed to a Young Wife|date=1863|publisher=John Churchill and Sons|location=London: New Burlington Street|page=[https://archive.org/details/advicetoawifeon01chavgoog/page/n31 19]|edition=5|url=https://archive.org/details/advicetoawifeon01chavgoog|quote=size of the waist.|access-date=29 January 2018}} Fashions instead created the illusion of a small waist, using proportion, stripe placement, and color. Retouching photographs was sometimes used to create the illusion of a wasp waist.{{Cite web|date=2016-07-28|title=How Photo Retouching Worked Before Photoshop|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/83262/how-photo-retouching-worked-photoshop|access-date=2020-06-23|website=www.mentalfloss.com|language=en}}
Extreme tight lacing ({{convert|15|-|18|in|cm|abbr=on|disp=or}}) was a fad during the late 1870s and 1880s, lasting until around 1887.{{cite web |last=Kunzle |first=D. |url=http://www.corsets.de/Data_from_paper_patterns_advertisem.php |title=Fashion and Fetishism |access-date=June 20, 2007 }}{{cite thesis |last=Klingerman |first=K. M. |url=https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/3732 |title=Binding Femininity: The Effects of Tightlacing on the Female Pelvis |degree=Masters |publisher=Louisiana State University |year=2006 |access-date=June 20, 2007 }}
Health effects
Among the multitude of medical problems women suffered to achieve these drastic measurements were deformed ribs, weakened abdominal muscles, deformed and dislocated internal organs, and respiratory ailments. The displacement and disfigurement of the reproductive organs greatly increased the risk of miscarriage and maternal death.{{cite web |last=O'Connor |first=E. |url=http://yjhm.yale.edu/essays/eoconnor20070608.htm |title=Medicine and Women's Clothing and Leisure Activities in Victorian Canada |access-date=June 20, 2007 |archive-date=October 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001045152/http://yjhm.yale.edu/essays/eoconnor20070608.htm |url-status=dead }}