Apart from low quality corsets, I think another reason why so many actresses hate wearing them is that most of them have very non-squishy bodies. Hollywood starlets are almost always very skinny with toned abs. Muscle tissue is much harder and more uncomfortable to redistribute than fat tissue. However, everyone in Hollywood still assumes that a great hourglass figure can be achieved if you just lace tight enough.

The thing that always strikes me as people complain about how uncomfortable corsets "were" and how awful that was for women is ... have y'all never heard of a bra? That garment is infamously improperly fitted more often than not, outrageously expensive for what you get, and only slightly more durable than a paper bag in a rain storm. The only reason modern bras will still be round in 150 years to study is because they're almost entirely made of plastic, but they certainly wont be functional by then. They're barely functionl now.

I know someone who helped make corsets for "The Gilded Age." The problem that makes actresses complain about their corsets being uncomfortable is not that they were made out of too many layers or too thick (the way modern consumer corsets are). Rather the opposite. It is that the producers of these shows take some of the skinniest women in the world -- Hollywood actresses -- and want them to look, in full Victorian dress, still as thin as they do in bathing suits -- or thinner, "because they're wearing corsets! They should have an 18 inch waist!!" The corsets are made from net with Seams Great net strips for the binding to reduce any bulk, but instead of padding out to get the proper silhouette the way the Victorians did, they make the corset with no hip spring, as you point out, and then lace it impossibly tightly on a body that has no fat to squish. No wonder they're painful!

I’m waiting for one celebrity to just commission their own historical corset to wear for a period film just for fan brownie points and personal comfort

A big thing for me is that modern corsets are over engineered to stay exactly as patterned, overkill multiple layers of coutil, etc. When in the victorian era, ive seen ads BRAGGING that their corsets had BIAS CUT gussets to allow stretch and movement and the ability to conform with the individual wearer,

Somehow I knew the answer was polyester/synthetic fabrics when I clicked on this. Seems to be the answer to all of these "why clothes suck now" questions

Something I haven’t seen mentioned is how the modern corsets fit into the modern culture (i.e. why they are like this).
I think modern corsets are thicker, heavier, more layers, with bigger metal bones because of perceived quality to the modern buyer. Modern shopping values perceive items that are thicker, weightier, and made of metal over plastic as more durable and of higher quality (even if it is not actually the case). I have seen online reviews of lots of products that mention these qualities.
Being that these kinds of corsets are typically worn on the outside of clothes or without anything under it, the multiple layers make it more sense. It would be more durable especially if washed in modern washing machines (or by hand).
For a lot of people, they are just worn as a fashion item, like high heels. So it is considered more acceptable for them to be uncomfortable if used for a short time or only once in a while.
We all know that the construction of these corsets are a product of capitalism so cheaper materials, less material used and fewer steps in production can explain the bad patterning issues.
Overall we have sacrificed comfort for other features.
But it is not fair to make an actress wear a modern garment made with modern qualities and usage in mind and put them into a situation where they need them to function like a historical undergarment. You don’t put the sometimes garment in the heavy everyday use without it being uncomfortable.

FINALLY SOMEONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT. Listen, while I always appreciated fashion historians debunking the myths surrounding corsetry and its function in women's lives, I never liked the notion of sneering and making fun of actresses who dared to speak against corsets. Because I totally get where they were going from - imagine this from their perspective: all your life you hear this popculture version of history where corsets are torture machines and tools of women opression (which is perperuated by a lot of actual history books). Then, when you finally get to wear one for a period piece, it turns out to be EXACTLY LIKE THAT - it's super uncomfortable, heavy, restrictive, and even borderline unhealthy. Of course you are going to speak against it! I don't blame Lily Collins or Emma Watson.

Am I the only person who’s a bit disappointed this didn’t end a summoning of the Catherine de’Medici’s Time Traveling Society?

corsets are VERY comfortable!!!  i wore one in lieu of a back brace for 2 years... however,
1. the people often complaining are already THIN... and then someone tries to squeeze bone and muscle?  if they just used the corset as a sort of long line bra it would be fine.
2. a lot of people dont get the waist placement correct.  the narrowest part of the corset needs to go where you SQUISH- above the hip and below the ribs.  if its riding on your lower ribs it will hurt
3. the 'squishier' you are, the more  you can reshape yourself with a corset- and stay comfortable.

seriously if a corset hurts? it doesnt fit

I think need to start a playlist  'Modern clothes are just s**t, okay?'!🤣 Though I like the idea that I could meet pretty girls in steel boned corsets in the 1880s just by carrying around a huge magnet! Are you going to look at corset wearing in pregnancy in your book as I find the history of pregnancy corsets really interesting?

I wonder if part of why so many modern corsets are overbuilt is related to how many of us, myself included, first learned to make corsets in a theater context.  Theater costumes in general tend to be overbuilt so that they last through to the end of a run and hopefully through many other shows, so it makes sense that corsetry in that context would get the same treatment.  If that's the only way you know to make corsets....  that's how you are going to continue making them.  We also tend to think that a corset must be aggressively sturdy to do the work of controlling bodies that we have been taught to be pretty damn uncomfortable with.  Period corsetry seems to lean much more toward supporting and gently molding whatever flesh you happen to have, without the modern hang ups we have with just (checks notes) HAVING flesh.  Even now, after a decade of knowing full well that a corset doesn't need to have 3 layers of coutil and/or boning channels, I still look at a single layer corset and part of me feels dubious about how long it's going to last.

I remember in school, I was designing a collection based on historical underwear (called “indecent!”). Even though we didn’t have to physically make the pieces as it was an illustration class, we still had to have fabric samples. I assigned a corset to be made of sturdy twill. My teacher told me I could do that “because it will stretch”. I didn’t feel like arguing, but I was thinking about how the corsets I researching were made of twill. This was the professor who taught a corset making course.

Could you find some of the costumers from some of these historical dramas and interview them? For the actors who complained, I’m so curious what corsets were being used.

I’d really like to see Abby have a closer look at a ballet costume. Because most of the classic stage costumes have basically corsets in them. And ballet dancers are still able to breathe and do all kinds of crazy stuff in them.

i think you're also overlooking the absolutely BAMBOOZLING amount of renaissance festival corsets made out of LITERAL UPHOLSTERY FABRIC like. i understand it has to be sturdy but WHY??? 😭😭😭 it's SO heavy and it's all made with the giant steel boning... alas. the difference in modern corset making is so insane man like i love corsets but i need to get into making my own repros bc jesus all modern corsets do kinda suck....

I've been making and teaching corsetry for about 25 years. I hear and understand all of these issues. One of my friends, and fellow corset maker, used hanging file hangers for her boneing.  My favorite is cording and cable ties. Both are cheaper to use and create comfortable corsets with great shaping.
My favorite corset is the Redthreaded 1860 made of a single layer of mattress ticking. And I wear it to do chores, sweep, vacuum, bed making, laundry, ect.

😆😆😆 lol, always happy to contribute to your naughty endeavors

I think it was this years oscar for costuming, where the actress of one of the candidats (i think nosferatu) "thanked" the designer for showing her the oppressive weight that women would have to handle. I had to laugh cause she basically told him that his corsets weren't well made/fit wrong.

I did a show once where I wore a corset as part of my costume. During the run, I had a fall in the shower and broke a rib. Aside from the pain of getting myself into the corset, I found that I was a LOT more comfortable once I had it on. Gave me the support I needed to sing and project lines while I was healing.