By: Ronald D Hamann

Ronald D Hamann — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:50:47 +0000

Dear Folks,

I am researching 19th century New Orleans. I have run across two women who died suddenly in their late twenties. One woman died after a long train ride and the other thirty days after childbirth.

Both women had no apparent health problems. The woman who died after a train journey, the cause of her death was unknown.

It was Henry Clay’s daughter Anne Brown Clay Erwin who died after childbirth. Anne was up and around and in the kitchen when she suddenly dropped dead. The doctors guessed her death was caused by a blood vessel rupturing in her brain.
Anne Brown Clay Erwin was twenty-eight when she died.

I suspect both deaths were caused by corsets. I have no proof of this but only suspicion. After seeing the deformities caused by corsets, I am satisfied that my theory is based in reality.

Question: Are there known references from books to this anomaly? Please write.

By: Regina Brooks

Regina Brooks — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:12:44 +0000

while i agree with most of what is said here you also have to take into consideration that corsets are still harmful to the body. working in theater like i do I have to wear replicas of the corsets used in the Victorian and baroque era very often. it is not only one of the most painful experiences. I have often experienced shortness of breath which causes arrhythmia, extreme nausea, inability to keep food down, constipation, headaches, and severe cramps. I’m not saying it will kill me but i also don’t bind my torso every day. statistically women were extremely likely to die during childbirth if they conceived during their mid to late twenties which is why women were married off so young… let’s brake it down… a girl of sixteen had probably only been wearing a corset for two years tops in those days meaning that while there was already some damage being done… she hadn’t gone through the same physical devastation a girl of say 24 or 25 has gone through…what physical devastation u ask…well not only were they distorting the organs causing them to be constricted meaning they might grow inappropriately meaning their lower bodies get weaker. the constriction of the lungs made it a lot harder for them to breathe making the lungs weaker and thus harder to push like they needed to during delivery. not to mention how malnourished they must have been avoiding most foods because it made them nauseous and the stuff they could keep down were things that were very high in cholesterol and attached itself to the body or things like bread and pastries that expand when they reach the stomach which would have made them nauseous but its a lot harder to throw up. I’m not arguing that corsets probably weren’t the sole barer of blame for a lot of women’s early deaths but facts and statistics aside its common sense… when corsets broke they were likely to be replaced and the more they were replaced the more they would bind and binding anything in your body to the point where it creates physical distortion is not healthy…although it looks amazing

Comments on: What If Everything You Knew About The Corset Was Wrong?

By: Ronald D Hamann

By: Regina Brooks