Did women really pull their corsets so tight that they had 16 inch waists like Scarlet OHara?
This belief is almost certainly untrue. The belief that waists could be so small stems from a great deal of photographic and written “proof.” However, most, if not all of this “proof” is extremely arguable.[1] Actual proof, for example, surviving corsets and garments, have not been found despite the fact that smaller pieces of clothing are more likely to survive through the generations as so few people could wear them. The 17 inch waist was a memorable feature of Gone With The Wind and like much of the book, an exaggeration. If such a small waist did exist it was more likely the result of a fetish related behavior deemed “tight lacing.” The two primary sources of proof of waists laced as small as fourteen inches are photographs and magazine editorials. Since the invention of photography people have tended to believe what they see. However, the manipulation of images to create what is wanted rather than what is true is not a recent occurrence. Many examples of retouched waists have been
