File:TheFamilyDoctorAug31 1889page9.png

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CORRESPONDENCE.

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CORSET DISCIPLINE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAMILY DOCTOR.

SIR,-I can quite endorse the opinion of several of your correspondents advocating corset discipline in the management of refractory children. A lady friend of mine has two daughters aged fifteen and sixteen with whom it has proved a complete success. They are both members of the tennis club to which I belong, and used to be much remarked by their rough behaviour, as they played more like schoolboys than young ladies. Their mother was advised to make them wear their stays while they played, instead of leaving them off, as they usually did; but she did more than this, by having them fitted with very long, heavily-boned stays, with stiff, broad busks, which, of course, quite prevented stooping, besides being very uncomfortable. They were laced very tightly. when they next appeared, and I never saw girls so much improved, for they were now wellbehaved young ladies. Their figures were slimwaisted, and the lacing was so effective that, playing or sitting, they were obliged to keep erect. Their hands were encased in long, well-fitting kid gloves, which they were not allowed to remove. They now played a quiet, lady-like game, and looked very pretty and graceful, being laced so tightly that ungainly movements were impossible. Their mother says she finds this means of restraint is very beneficial, as it enforces patience and submission. When there is any need for punishing either of them, it is easily done by tightening the culprit's lace so as to entail an extra degree of discomfort as discipline, as well as improving her figure and carriage. These girls never know now what it is to be without constant pressure and restraint, for at night their already slender waists on being released from their day orsets are immediately enclosed in others having flexible busks and laced in an inch smaller than before. Their hands are kept constantly gloved both day and night in very tight kid, and fastened by bracelets to prevent them being removed, and are becoming beautifully white in consequence.

I have carried out much the same system with my stepson, as he was very unruly, so at fourteen I subjected him to the régime of the stay-lace, and confined him in a long, stiff corset, which I tightened periodically, but, of course, never removed. He soon ceased to rebel, and has become a submis-sive subject to corset discipline, which renders impossible all unseemly indulgence of lolling about. As his stays are not allowed to be loosened, he has to exercise great'self-control at meal times, being naturally rather greedy, and is consequently much improved in health. He is now nearly sixteen, and wears a beautifully-moulded stiff corset 17 inches long, with Image:TheFamilyDoctorAug31_1889page10.png from Finished Figure; from Old-Fashioned

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current20:14, 17 February 2007Thumbnail for version as of 20:14, 17 February 20071,438 × 3,112 (505 KB)Haabet (talk | contribs)Category:Tightlacing Category:The Family Doctor Category:1889 Image:TheFamilyDoctorAug31_1889page10.png from Finished Figure; from Old-Fashioned

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