Why Bridgerton Actors Complain About Corsets (The Perspective of a Daily Corset Wearer)

I was meant to post my video next week but I just couldn't keep silent about this issue anymore. Bridgerton. I'm not here today to talk to you about the costumes about Bridgerton because, just to put it out there, I've never actually even seen the show because it's just not really my cup of tea so it's not really something that I want to watch. No shame to those who do watch Bridgerton because there's nothing wrong with watching Bridgerton. I just prefer other historical shows and I actually prefer historical books more than anything to be completely fair. But one issue I really wanted to speak about with the show, which I think is actually detrimental to society in some respect, is the way that the actors like to talk about corsets, like every single time a season premieres, in every single interview that they end up giving. I keep seeing it everywhere where they take quotes from the actors about how either it was impossible for them to breathe in the corset, or it was really hard for them to eat food, or that it was so constricting and difficult. And I want to talk about why this might be the case. Now I'm a daily wearer of historical fashion, and so I'm also a daily wearer of historical corsetry. And I have been now for a few years. Because of this, I have anecdotal perspective on what it's actually like to live in a corset day to day. I'm not here to try and convert you into wearing corsets, not at all. In fact, I think that the corset is suitable for some people, and it isn't suitable for other people, and that's totally okay. But realistically, those who choose to wear corsets day to day in a healthy way that doesn't hurt anybody, they really shouldn't be continuously shamed by actors and the media for doing so. And the general narrative around corsetry, though we have all these incredibly intelligent and educational people speaking out about it, still keeps leaning towards people saying that corsetry prevented them from eating, breathing, functioning normal in daily life. And there are some reasons I think why the actors of Bridgerton have had a hard time wearing corsets, and I don't think it's their fault. I also don't doubt that their experience of corsetry truly wasn't comfortable. But just because their experience wasn't comfortable doesn't mean that that's the case for everyday corset wearers, or for people historically. Because we all know that Bridgerton isn't really known for its historical accuracy. In fact, that is not the point of Bridgerton at all. I do wish that they made this a little bit clearer to people, because sometimes I feel like people don't understand that Bridgerton is not a true portrayal of history. It seems like it'd be something that would be obvious, but people still sometimes don't know that Bridgerton is fiction. The primary reason why I think the actors of Bridgerton have had such a negative experience with corsetry, and for that matter actors of all sorts of different historical dramas and shows and movies, is because costume departments somehow don't budget in custom corsetry for their actors. Even though their actors are wearing these all day shooting, and anybody that works in the film and TV industry knows that days shooting are long. They are really long, they're complete full days of work. And so because of that, you end up with actors wearing corsets that might be too long-waisted for them, too short-waisted for them, and in turn that cuts into all sorts of parts of their body that it really shouldn't if you had a custom fit corset. In my experience, corsets are incredibly comfortable if they're made to your measurements. It's actually probably my least favorite part about historical fashion, is the fact that even if I have friends that also wear historical clothing, I can't borrow clothes from them, because clothes are so specifically tailored in historical fashion to your own body measurements, including the underwear, like corsets. Film and TV sets also move really fast. Shooting schedules are often very tight, because in the film industry, time really is money. For that reason, actors are not given that 2-3 week window where they're able to break in their stays or their corset, because corsets and stays, they take time to soften. For the first week or so, your stays or corset are not going to be at their maximum level of comfort, especially if they don't fit you right in the first place. It's also a little bit concerning to me that the Bridgerton actors have been saying their stays and corsets are not comfortable, because it takes place more or less in the Regency period, which those corsets are actually some of the most comfortable, because some of them are actually short stays, so they don't even go down to your waist. And on top of that too, metal brommets weren't invented yet, so there's only so much you can lace down a hand-sewn eyelet. There just isn't enough ability to create tension, because a hand-sewn eyelet is never going to be as sturdy as a metal brommet. I'm very doubtful though that the stays that the Bridgerton cast are wearing had hand-sewn eyelets, so that alone would have completely altered their experience of the era. Now I'm just going to pull up a few quotes that I found that are directly from the actors of Bridgerton cast in season 2, so this is all happening very recently. So all of these quotes come from a Buzzfeed article, which is titled Bridgerton Season 2 Costume Facts. One of them goes, Ashley said, on my first day, I was like, okay, first day as a leading lady, got to eat lots of food, be really energized. So I had this massive portion of salmon, and that's when I needed to be sick. Basically because I was wearing the corset. I realized when you wear the corset, you just don't eat. It changes your body. I had a smaller waist very momentarily. Then the minute you stop wearing it, you're just back to how your body is. She added, I had a lot of pain with the corset too. I think I tore my shoulder at one point. So with this, I don't doubt that she had pain, and it was hard for her to eat, and she tore her shoulder. I'm not at all negating her experience with corsetry. But again, it comes back down to the fact that the corset probably didn't fit her. It probably wasn't correct for the era, having metal grommets instead of hand-sewed eyelets, and they likely tight-laced her into it, which isn't something that was done on a day-to-day basis and for long extended periods of time, like the time that you are shooting on a set, which is often like 12 to 16 hours. The days on film sets are just incredibly long. It's also completely easy to eat food and plenty of it with the corset. If you're really indulging in a lot of food, you might just need to unlace the laces a little bit, so it's not the end of the world. And because corsets are so customizable and adjustable, it's not that hard to just give yourself a little bit more space. Again, too, regency stays or corsets, as many people like to call them, are oftentimes very, very comfortable and soft compared to later Victorian corsetry, which those are also very comfortable, but they tend to hold in the body in different areas. I'm actually quite surprised that she had so much pressure on her waist wearing a regency corset, because that's just not exactly how they are. You can see how they actually look quite soft and comfortable. So the next quote, in this corset crash course, Ashley also learned that when you're in a corset, you just can't put your shoes on. I'm just going to show you this video, and I don't think I need to say anything more. So the next quote is, Rochevelle said, I am double corseted, I love them. But you have to have stamina when you're wearing two corsets for that long. I train regularly and drink lots of water because you have to stay hydrated. I don't think you have to have stamina to wear corsets for that long. I think you have to have stamina to be on a film set for that long. It's important to stay active and drink plenty of water anyways. So I think that this advice is just something that is good regardless, but I don't think it actually correlates to the double wearing of corsets. Rochevelle is dressed more 18th century, and so she's probably actually wearing stays. And the thing about stays is, I don't know how in the world you would wear two pairs of them. I mean, technically stays is plural, so it is a double pair. But how would you wear two pairs of stays at once? My guess is that she might be referring to the stomacher that was very common during the 18th century, because those can be quite heavily boned, but they don't hurt. It's the same as wearing a bodice that's fully boned during the Victorian period. It doesn't actually change your body shape at all. All it does is add support to the actual garment to make it look better when it lays on your body. Much as a corset or stays does, it's not so much for lacing down. In fact, it can add bulk to your waistline in a lot of instances. That is very much the case for me. Uncorsetted, often my waist is about an inch smaller than it is with a corset. So yeah, that quote in general just really does confuse me. And a final quote goes, Bailey recalled, I know that we boys shouldn't complain because the girls have to wear all these corsets, but I do remember one scene where me and the sibs are fencing and the costumes were very tight in certain places. So yeah, sometimes men's wear during that period could be quite tight and well fitted. That's definitely true, but I don't think that that relates to the corsets in any way because Regency men also wore corsets. In fact, it was quite common for dandies to wear them, especially in this type of setting and social class that the show takes place in. From what I understand about the show, having never watched it, but understanding enough about its principles, most likely these guys would have been wearing a corset if they were into fashion at the time. And then we have to go into the side of girls complaining about the corsets. Well, most likely this again refers back to the fact that the corsets probably didn't fit them very well and most likely weren't exactly made in the way that they would have been made during that time period. So in summary, I don't doubt that the actors of Bridgerton had these experiences with corset wearing, but I don't think that we should apply their experience to that of what it would have been like for people historically to wear corsets or what it's even like for people today to wear corsets. There are many individuals, myself included, that wear historical corsetry and even modern corsetry but often bespoke and our reactions to them are typically the exact opposite to the general response of cast members from Bridgerton. And in many instances we are wearing these corsets for 10, 12, 16 hour periods in a day. Okay, maybe 16 is pushing it. So we would have had the same sort of experience as someone working on a long film set day. So it's not like we're only wearing them for a few hours and we don't get the full experience. It's very comparable and many people live active lives and we have to go about our day to day things also wearing corsets. I can't think of a single thing in my life that I can't do because I wear a corset. If that were the case, I would not wear a corset anymore because to me my freedom and my ability to move and be active is very very important to me and it's a fundamental value in my life. Why would I wear something that would impede upon that? I'm also a professional singer so if I couldn't breathe in these corsets like many people state they can't, I wouldn't be wearing them because I don't want to sacrifice my passion and my art for fashion. In the future, I would just really like to see cast members of these shows have authentic experiences with corsetry. Ones that are actually going to be a representation of what it may have been like for people 100 or 200 years ago. And not just the experience of wearing a corset that is ill-fitting, probably not made structurally the way it would have been, and often not worn with a shift or chemise underneath. That is by far the most cringey part of the whole thing whenever I see this in shows because I cannot imagine wearing a corset or a pair of stays without a shift or chemise underneath. That sounds like chafing and having rashes and rubbing all over your body and that just sounds horrible. So this is my plea. Please please media industry start creating well-fitting corsets for your cast members because guess what? Working that long of days, they deserve to feel comfortable in their corsets and have an actual real experience of what it's like. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you all in two weeks for another video.