Personal hygiene and physical training for women

by Anna M. Galbraith

The ideal figures of the Greek women show a torso bounded by outward curves, softly melting into one another, until the broadest part is reached at the hips, thence again declining to the feet. The line from the armpit to the ankle is one of the chief lines of beauty in sculpture, while the anterior surface of the body should present, in the median line, a gentle curve from the upper end of the breast-bone to the brim of the pelvis, the convexity of the curve coming about the umbilicus. An inward curve of this line is a deformity artificially produced.

In order that the corset should become an inoffensive garment it must be well adapted to the figure, so that it shall not embarrass the action of the diaphragm or the vital organs or the movements of the body.

The injurious effects of wearing the curved front corset have been given, and this style of corset should be condemned without appeal, since its use is dangerous from every point of view.

The straight front corset is much less injurious than the curved front, but its use is detrimental to health, and prevents the free movements of the body, so that the abdominal corset remains the only one which is perfectly safe and at the same time esthetic.

The chief rôle of the corset must be to sustain the clothing and to prevent the constriction of the lines about the waist and to prevent the falling of the viscera.

This can only be accomplished by selecting the proper points of support for the corset; this is in the lumbar region of the spine and the crest of the bony pelvis, a region of several centimeters in height. Except for the vertebral column, the viscera of the region immediately above this have no bony protection, and are subject to the greatest amount of constriction; the organs being piled up on top of each other, as it were, and thereby suffer very great displacement and impairment of function, while, on the other hand, the solidity of the bones of the pelvis permits of their use as a base of support for the corset, as well as for the clothing.

It is based on this idea that the hygienic abdominal corsets are built, and, further, this style of corset does not sacrifice the normal curve of the anterior surface of the body. That the abdominal corsets do not support the bust is no detriment, as the woman with very fully developed breasts can wear a bust supporter, entirely separate from the corset, and in those pathologic conditions of ptoses of the abdominal contents—and from an orthopedic point of view, the abdominal corset affords an excellent solution.

In order to prevent misfits, all corsets should be made to order; the measurements must be taken with the corsets removed. The corset must be shaped so as to fit exactly over the hips, with the lower parts of the busks very slightly curved, following the normal curve of the body. The upper part of the corset must be a little loose, in order to permit of the easy movements of the body. Behind, the line of the corset must correspond to the line of the body, in order not to interfere with the erection of the body. In front, the corset overlaps the pubic bones, and must be tight enough to give the abdominal contents some support.

Instead of the lacings forming two “V’s,” the lower V, with its apex at the waist-line, and the longer V superimposed on top of this, the ensemble of the lacings to be normal must form only one V, with the inferior point very elongated. The corset is too tightly laced if, when, with the strings untied at the waist, the upper parts of the corset separates.

The corset should be put on with the lacings wide open, be carefully adjusted in the proper position, and fastened from below up. After the stocking supporters have been attached, the lower part of the corset is held down with one hand, while the other hand gently draws up the abdomen by means of drawing on the undervest, or slipping the hand within the corset; in this way the abdominal organs are lifted up. The corset is then laced from its lowest point to the waist-line, and from the top to the waist-line, in such a way that only one long “V” is formed. The laces are then firmly tied and slipped in under the corset.