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As someone who knows a bit about history, there are a few things that most historical fiction (pro or fan) gets wrong ALL THE TIME, and it really drives me batty. So I will be writing a few primers about basic details that people get wrong a lot, on an irregular basis. It will not be a systematic "everything you need to know" basis, but rather "these are the things that are most glaring to me." Unless otherwise specified, all these primers will refer to European and European-American culture and history. (So, for example, your standard Regency AU.)
And period clothing and fashion are things I know a bit about, given that a) I find it fascinating and b) I used to work in the costume shop of a theater, so that's the subject of my first post.
One of the most common clothing gaffes I see is, well, ANYTHING related to corsets. We get that SOOOOOO WRONG. The myths, they are strong with this one. So I'm going to define what a corset is, and then bust some myths about them.
( What a Corset Is and What it Looks Like )
( Corset Myths )
( General Undergarment Information, for Pre-20th Century Europe and America (both men and women) )
tl;dr most corsets weren't uncomfortable, unless you're going for high-fashion in the Victorian or Edwardian eras. Most women could do anything up to and including play sports and do hard physical labor in their corset without a problem. If you have a European or American woman of the corset-wearing era dropped into modern life, she's not going to think ditching her corset for a bra is the most awesome thing ever, although she may think the idea of getting to wear trousers when she wants to is. A modern woman put into a corset-wearing era will probably adapt to the corset itself fairly easily, more easily than she would adjust to other aspects of the fashion (the skirts, and the things that held the skirts in whatever ridiculous fashion was popular in that era). But the lower-class she's going for, the less elaborate they were--a working-class woman would wear simpler stays, and skirts with no under structure. And a woman in a corset-wearing period, staying in her own era, probably isn't going to think about wearing corsets one way or the other, it just is.
And everybody was wearing two layers of clothing, and only the under layer would get washed unless there was a stain on the outer garment.
And period clothing and fashion are things I know a bit about, given that a) I find it fascinating and b) I used to work in the costume shop of a theater, so that's the subject of my first post.
One of the most common clothing gaffes I see is, well, ANYTHING related to corsets. We get that SOOOOOO WRONG. The myths, they are strong with this one. So I'm going to define what a corset is, and then bust some myths about them.
( What a Corset Is and What it Looks Like )
( Corset Myths )
( General Undergarment Information, for Pre-20th Century Europe and America (both men and women) )
tl;dr most corsets weren't uncomfortable, unless you're going for high-fashion in the Victorian or Edwardian eras. Most women could do anything up to and including play sports and do hard physical labor in their corset without a problem. If you have a European or American woman of the corset-wearing era dropped into modern life, she's not going to think ditching her corset for a bra is the most awesome thing ever, although she may think the idea of getting to wear trousers when she wants to is. A modern woman put into a corset-wearing era will probably adapt to the corset itself fairly easily, more easily than she would adjust to other aspects of the fashion (the skirts, and the things that held the skirts in whatever ridiculous fashion was popular in that era). But the lower-class she's going for, the less elaborate they were--a working-class woman would wear simpler stays, and skirts with no under structure. And a woman in a corset-wearing period, staying in her own era, probably isn't going to think about wearing corsets one way or the other, it just is.
And everybody was wearing two layers of clothing, and only the under layer would get washed unless there was a stain on the outer garment.
