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Corset
1875-1899
The Victoria & Albert Museum
The side ties and snaps over the breasts indicate that this corset may have been used for maternity wear. As pregnancy was considered a very personal matter and meant to be hidden, maternity corsets were meant to mask the outward appearance of pregnancy. When a woman’s belly grew so large that she could no longer press it down, she switched to a specially shaped maternity corset and withdrew from society until she gave birth.
