Inwomen's clothing, acorselet orcorselette is a type offoundation garment, sharing elements of bothbras andgirdles. It extends from straps over the shoulders down thetorso, and stops around the top of the legs. It may incorporatelace in front or in back. As an undergarment, a corselet can be open-style (with suspenders attached) or panty-style.
Historically, the termcorselet referred to a piece of plate armour covering the torso; seecorslet.
The English word for the piece of armor comes fromcors, an Old French word meaning "bodice". The modern term probably originated by the addition of thediminutive suffix "-ette" to the wordcorset, itself of similar origin to "corselet".
The corselet as an item of women's clothing began to gain popularity in 1914, as a substitute for wearing two separate pieces (abra with either agirdle or a corset). The bust uplift cups were first introduced in 1933, but did not become common until 1943.[1]
A corselet was released byWarner's in 1952,[2] named afterThe Merry Widow, a 1905operetta which has been adapted several times into feature-length films.[3] "Merry widow" remains a common generic term for a corsetry-type garment in the United States, or a "basque" in the UK. It is usually strapless, and stopping on the hips, rather than extending below the hip line, like the typical corselet. A merry widow type garment is normally fastened by hooks and eyes at the rear, and because it is strapless, it needs to be well boned to prevent it from rolling over, the boning helping to support the demi-cup section. A merry widow/basque would also incorporate suspenders/garters for attaching to stockings. This type of lingerie is also known as atorsolette, and is used in bridal lingerie, much like thebustier.
The original merry widow was a corselet incorporating slim panels of black, elastic yarn netting. A heavy-dutyzipper was inserted behind avelvet-backed hook-and-eye flange, and the entire garment was lined withnylonvoile. Nine long, spiral wires were encased in blacksatin.
Lana Turner, star of the1952 film adaptation ofThe Merry Widow, is reported to have said in 1989, "I'm telling you, the merry widow was designed by a man. A woman would never do that to another woman."[4]
Around 1960,tights andtrousers began to replace corselets. However,Maidenform and other mainstream lingerie and undergarment manufacturers have sold corselets as "control slips" since around 1975.[citation needed]
In biology, the term refers to the thorax of an insect, or a protective band of enlarged scales in the shoulder region of a fish.[citation needed]
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