Since they first appeared in the 16th century, corsets have been in and out of fashion more times than a Versace-sponsored stripper. Initially, people were driven all kinds of crazy by the newfangled garment that could make fat women look slimmer and flat-chested women spill out all over the place. And rightly so. But over time their popularity ebbed and flowed as tastes evolved, mostly influenced by disagreements about what was the ideal female form.

Weirdly enough, one brief corset resurgence in the 19th century was curtailed by claims that wearing one could lead to all kinds of internal malfunctions and even temporary madness, so people started regarding the wearing of a corset as the very pinnacle of vanity.