Exploding bodices and face plants: the perils of the Edwardian corset

From what I know of Victorian versus Edwardian dress and corsetry, there was a radical change around the turn of the century. You can see the results of it here in the very strange carriage of these women. I have seen images in corsetry ads from this era that made me scratch my head:

Now, I am aware that a woman in that era would wear a bustle: a big wad of extra padding supported with wires and fastened at the top of the bum that was kind of the Kim Kardashian "booty" of the era, making the bent-back appearance of the body even more exaggerated. What this was doing to the female spine is hard to fathom. Corset enthusiasts/fetishists will insist that corsets were actually GOOD for women and supported their posture, claiming that medical reports of internal damage were sensationalized and just wrong. 

But look at this: the belly and bust are leaning forward alarmingly and so in line with each other that they are practically flat, with the pelvis and hips twisted backwards at a nearly-90-degree angle, then forced to bear the weight of heavy gowns, petticoats and that damned, damnable bustle.

There is something of the china figurine in these women's bodies, and frankly I thought those ads were a bit ridiculous and had to be exaggerating. . . until I saw this:

This alarming thing is called a "health corset", for reasons unknown. I wonder if women sometimes fell on their faces from being pushed so far forward, and how in fact a corset was even able to reshape and even deform a human body to such an extreme degree. 

This is sometimes called the "s-bend" effect, and you can see why. The women remind me of cats in mid-stretch, and perhaps this was considered sexy and alluring. Maybe it even gave the impression these women were leaning WAY forward to convey extreme interest in the people in front of them (I would imagine, men). I have heard stories of tightly-laced bodices suddenly exploding, with giant mammaries bursting out of their cage to add a little excitement to a dull opera or social tea. 

But it's no mystery why this woman is leaning on the chair for support. Without it, she'd likely face-plant. The fact the dangling garters look like something you'd strap onto a plough horse is another story.

Make our Garden Grow (my anthem for the lockdown)

You've been a fool and so have I
But come and be my wife
And let us try before we die
To make some sense of life

We're neither pure nor wise nor good
We'll do the best we know
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow
And make our garden grow

I thought the world was sugar cake
For so our master said
But now I'll teach my hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread

We're neither pure nor wise nor good
We'll do the best we know
We'll build house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow
And make our garden grow

Let dreamers dream what worlds they please
Those Edens can't be found
The sweetest flowers
The fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground

We're neither pure nor wise nor good
We'll do the best we know
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow
And make our garden grow