reject the melancholy cabbage

yeoldefashion:

I received quite a few comments on the teeny-tiny waists of the Lucile gowns I posted (this one was a personal favorite).

Early in her career Lucile may have enforced the Edwardian couture standard for ridiculously corseted physiques, but it didn’t last long.

Lucile later became one of the most prominent couturiers to publicly support the “big-waist movement”, which expanded the fashion-dictated waist measurement from a heavily corseted 18-inches to a far more natural 26-inches in a matter of just a few years.

This article discussing the movement is from The Washington Post and was originally printed on September 22, 1909.