The purpose of this study was to analyze changes to body measurements and silhouettes after wearing an early 19th century women’s corset. Two types of corsets were tested. Changes in body size and silhouette were compared based on the levels of tightening strength of the corset. The tightening strength was adjusted in 4 steps by making the length of back fastening string 10-40 cm shorter than the standard. The silhouette was compared with the front silhouette and the side silhouette. The results were as follows. After wearing the experimental 19th century corsets, the chest circumference and front interscye length increased. However, the chest circumference did not increase proportionally to the tightening strength. The underbust circumference, waist circumference, and back interscye length also decreased. The waist width was decreased to create a slim front silhouette. The change in the body silhouette differed depending on the style of the experimental corset. The experimental corset made with the six-piece torso pattern changed the posture so that the shoulders were pulled back and the chest was pushed forward. The experimental corset with the side bodice pattern resulted in the subject’s shoulders reclining backward and the chest and abdomen extending forward. The results of this study show that women’s body sizes and silhouettes could be changed by wearing the early 19th century corsets, but the changes in body size and silhouette vary depending on the wearer's individual body type or corset style.

The aim of this study was to use a 3D human body scanner to analyze the cross section of different body parts when a girdle is worn. Two types of girdles were selected as experimental garments: a standard type girdle (Garment A) and a high-waist type girdle (Garment B). Their sizes were 88 (S) and 94 (M). Ten female subjects in their twenties who wear girdles sizes 88 (S) and 94 (M) participated the experiment. Their bodies were scanned three times with the 3D human body scanner, before and after wearing experimental girdles. The data were collected by overlapping the cross sections of the 3D scanned body shape data. The space length was measured from the overlapped cross sections. The results show that human body silhouette are changed after wearing the compression type garments and the amount and place of the body change is different by style of garments. First, the waist girth shape became rounder. Second, there was a definite difference in space amount at abdomen girth between two types of girdle. The abdomen area was pushed toward the front after wearing the standard type girdle (A). The high-waist type girdle (B) pushed abdomen area toward the back. Third, there was clear difference at the hip area after wearing two types of girdle. The hip area pushed toward the front with the standard type girdle (A) and pushed toward the back with the high-waist type girdle (B).