How World War I Got Women to Wear Bras 

I can’t tell if you’re British or American

Hey Simon I thought 💭 their was already a video of how the Great War played a part in the origin of the bras. I remember seeing it in 2018

I could use some waterproof shoes!

Always wanted to try them but they dont come in my size sadly =(

Utterly beside the point-when I lived in St Petersburg, I had a shower exactly like that. Ah, nostalgia!

Your half right. A lot of women would wear corsets extremely tight, that was the fashion. But you could wear them loosely and work all day.

You’d have to squeeze them very tight to get my wife shaped like that.

At least they referenced Henry Miller - a banned author who flagrantly flaunted the norm of low key erotica.

Thank you! You put this much nicer than I did, I’m afraid I ranted 😂.

I was about to say the same exact thing and recommend the same video.

Her: *doesnt exist*

@@gumbyshrimp2606 why you gotta make it hurt like that man

@@tlshortyshorty5810 same bro

Private Baldrick : No, the thing is: The way I see it, these days there's a war on, right? and, ages ago, there wasn't a war on, right? So, there must have been a moment when there not being a war on went away, right? and there being a war on came along. So, what I want to know is: How did we get from the one case of affairs to the other case of affairs? Captain Blackadder : Do you mean "How did the war start?" Lieutenant George : The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire- building. Captain Blackadder : George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganiki. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved of blame on the imperialistic front. Lieutenant George : Oh, no, sir, absolutely not. [aside, to Baldrick] Lieutenant George : Mad as a bicycle! Private Baldrick : I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry. Captain Blackadder : I think you mean it started when the Archduke of Austro-Hungary got shot. Private Baldrick : Nah, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir. Captain Blackadder : Well, possibly. But the real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort not to have a war. Lieutenant George : By Gum, this is interesting. I always loved history. The Battle of Hastings, Henry VIII and his six knives, all that. Captain Blackadder : You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe, two superblocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side, and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent. That way there could never be a war. Private Baldrick : But, this is a sort of a war, isn't it, sir? Captain Blackadder : Yes, that's right. You see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan. Private Baldrick : What was that, sir? Captain Blackadder : It was bollocks. Private Baldrick : So the poor old ostrich died for nothing then.

@@nelsonclub7722 that was awesome. Thank you. Blackadder has always been a favorite (I was reading that with Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie and Tony Robinson's voices in my head)

If she walked in at 14:28 she'd be on the floor

Also he was saying that the upper class women wore corsets…ALL classes of women wore them!

Yes!!! I can't stand this myth!!

This! I am sad at how this was worded... I still wear corsets sometimes. I have complex joint issues and they help me with my posture and support my ample bust without cutting my shoulders.

I expect better from this channel. I am really upset about this. Bernadette Banner has some great resources on this, and so have some others I’m sure. Corsets weren’t tight and painful, or at least no worse than bras are today. Which frankly are tight and painful for many women anyway. It’s just most people with smaller breasts or no breasts have no idea what that’s like (nor how much they cost!).

@@alanedark1538 I love the series of actual corset information including from Bernadette Banner and Morgan Donner who describe historical corsetry, but if you want to better understand it, Karolina Żebrowska's video "How Victorian Men Taught us to Hate Corsets" is an important video to watch. Also, any decent biography of Coco Chanel and how she needed a man to be her "business beard" on the paperwork because women couldn't have independent bank accounts or own businesses outright, yet corsetry was a female-dominated industry. And as far as the organs shifting, pregnancy, weight gain, and corsets (particularly poorly made/worn corsets) do shift them, but the body just does that... it's not the nightmare anti-corsetry people tell in their horror stories.

No, I think it's because the coronavirus pandemic.

@Madara Uchiha i heard there is an actual feminist movement to free the tit

200 year's in the future: "how world war 4 got everyone to stop wearing anything"

@George Kramer I agree and the maker of the topless bathing suit in 1963 had the right idea that sadly did not catch on.

That's one war I wish they would get going. Missed the Burn the Bra movement....

*AH SHIT THEY RAN OUT OF NUMBERS! NOW THEY ARE LABELING WORLD WARS BY LETTERS!*

Engleth

@@garrettallen7427 😄 Your joke got me thinking: you cannot run out of numbers. If it was the other way round (i.e., WWA, WWB, etc.) then one could say "AH SHIT, THEY RAN OUT OF LETTERS! NOW THEY ARE LABELLING WORLD WARS BY NUMBERS!"

Me too and I'm a woman

Abby Cox too

LITERALLY SAME. I love my comfy corsets. They help my not-so-great back.

Apparently not.

@@nicolediebel2606 no video that acknowledges their mistake?

@@ChazoAnwah they usually will mention errors in later videos. It also depends on the channel. For example, today I found out and top tenz are more rapidly made and I think Simon has less control of them and you rarely see mistakes mentioned. But on the causal criminalist, and brain blaze Simon often mentions errors they made in old vids that the comments brought up. I think it is because on those channels he has time to go off on tangents and has more creative freedom.

Also people in 2020: look at those idiots on the road! Thank goodness we DON’T have flying cars!

@@allanrichardson1468 They are everywhere, dammit!

Lol

Jet packs by 2000.......Still waiting

@@hanzinmypockets13 Have you seen the idiots on the highway? You want them flying into each other? Falling on buildings containing innocent people?

Titsling!

Boobie Bandolier. Tata Trapeze.

My wife came up with a similar name for a male supporter: Under the butt nut hut.

I prefer the German "Brusthalter", literally "breast holder".

I call my sports bra The Squishinator 3000

@Scereyaha either way they are still “ over the shoulder boulder holders “ 😉

@@nadanada5698 Oh honey no.... Corsets _do not_ go over your shoulders. I'm trying to come up with a rhyme that implies something about someone hugging you all day and cupping your breasts, but I'm struggling with what reality even is right now, so...

@@Scereyaha R U a girl or guy ?

@@nadanada5698 Neither really, but I would love you to tell me why you ask. Is it my sense of humour? Under the boopers boob scoopers?? I do assure you though that I am speaking from personal experience when I say corsets are actually comfortable and supportive if they are fitted and worn as intended.

@Scereyaha, exactly...if people want to take the time to go through the myriad of RU-vid videos produced by the historic costume community, they would find any number of examples to prove just this point...Cathy Hay, Bernadette Banner, Nicole Rudolph, Abby Cox to name but a few... I really do wish people would get over the very wrong impression that a corset is some type of suppression device when in fact it is, when worn correctly, a quite comfortable garment, much more so than the modern underwire bra... ;)

Yeah honestly the research on this episode was such a let down

I know right? I can’t believe such an intelligent man not do his research with such blatant examples all around

As a historical costumer, I can absolutely confirm. Whenever I'm out at an event in full dress, you can bet that I'm *not* going to wear an uncomfortable corset for an entire weekend of workshops, dancing, eating actual food, and using public toilets! The point of the corset is the silhouette, NOT the size of the waist inside it. And since a well made, custom corset is built to fit, what wouldn't be comfortable as long as your posture is good? A good corset is built to last too - my first and favourite, super worn-in corset is 21 yrs old this year!

@@adrianghandtchi1562 everyone makes mistakes.

Some men wore corsets too. They did tightlace them, they were disfigured by them, and it did not make them better soldiers (yeah, those dopes were soldiers).

Or Karolina!

I kind of hope she does to be honest. She's really good at letting her annoyance be known eloquently. 😉

Someone link her.

@@kasugaifox8571 ru-vid.com/show-UCSHtaUm-FjUps090S7crO4Qfeatured

I hope the opposite in fact. I’d love to see the rebuttal of this from Bernadette, or, Karolina.

But they could breathe

@@Lawfull73 actually they could breathe before too. Most of the "so tight they can't breathe" BS came from comic strips written by men.

@@Lawfull73 dude just go to literally any other comment under this video 😂 everyone is writing essays about how wrong this video is. Or look up some of the great fashion historians on here. Also men wore corset to!

Is Dereck Couch “mansplaining” here? I’ve never really understood the term until now....

@@__DY__ honestly: I'm closer to manspalaining him just by saying "actually". Whether or not you are right or wrong doesn't matter; what matters is that you are diminishing someone else's voice.

I study it too and went straight to the comments to see if anyone called out the mistakes lol! I was happy to see many people have corrected him.

I study fashion as well mainly at the beach but hey everyone needs a hobby lol

finally someone said this but obviously nobody will listen

I was hoping someone else would comment this

Thank you! 👏

objection! in a healthy person, only exercise improves posture. what a corset does to bad posture is take the work from weak postural muscles and thus weakening them even more.

@@peterkoller3761 All that and what a woman had to endure without air conditioning.

Bet they were skinny women. Most of the women i know would not fit into one.

Yeah, youtuber and fashion historian Bernadette Banner has a video on this if someone would like to hear a bit more on the subject

@@lizziearzola There are quite a few other videos done by costumers and history-bounders as well that regularly wear them and indeed a LOT of people prefer them to bras. They're just more comfortable and supportive. Assuming one does not try to lace them so they can't breathe. :P Loepsie recently tested them, PriorAttire has addressed it, and I've seen others, but had already gotten the point and moved on. Nor is it just for skinny people. Plus-sized history-bounders and costumers also use them. lol I'm even considering tackling the creation of one myself. . .though not yet brave enough for something that fitted. :)

@@python27au Corsets were custom made at that time. Women also had to break them in and have them refitted. Making a corset was a process that assured it would fit it's owner. The women you know would probably feel less of their excess weight if they were to wear one of those corsets.

@@yamitsukikarasu8857 Thank you for posting the facts.

Her and Bernadette both!

Freaking thank you! I was legit ranting at the screen to myself about corset stereotypes😂

I'm so glad their are others who know what's up. Corsets are not bad! I wear one and its actually way more comfortable than a bra.

Literally everyone that knows anything about corsets will disagree with him about corsets

@@crowsrose8789 i wrote a whole rant comment before seeing this, lol

The number of times I yelled “LIES!” during this video... 🤦🏻‍♀️

Probably not since they can’t really be mass produced and comfy like most things today, it just doesn’t fit in with our fast fashion society however there are tailors who make historical fashion professionally and there is always shape wear and bras that essentially do the same thing

Came here just to point out that we shouldn't confuse corset wearing with tight-lacing, just as you said. I need to dig up a great video about it that I've seen some time ago - corsets were far less impractical that it's commonly thought.

@@szczurek2725 Is it Karolina Żebrowska"s video: "How Victorian Men Taught Us to Hate Corsets: The Biggest Lie in Fashion History"?

@@Baldeaglefacts I'm pretty sure it was something by Bernadette but I think that one's okay too :)

@@szczurek2725 both did videos on the subject. Both equally good and informative

Lol you’re an awful person. Starting anything with “oh darling” makes you sound really pretentious.

And the cheap one didnt even use metal but goose feathers shafts which couldn't be tight laced.

Many upper class women would have ribs removed, highly dangerous, so they could lace their corsets tighter.

@@AmberWool Actually That isnt true, how ever since upper class women was laced much younger then the poor, their lower ribs often got deformed and in rare cases broke and never reformed.

@@AmberWool No they wouldn’t, especially given the state of medical practices at the time that would have been an extremely risky and deadly procedure. No woman was doing that, they actually had tricks to edit pictures to make a woman’s waist look smaller (like literally painting over it) so pictures aren’t really a reliable source. I recommend you watch this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zNwTqanp0Aw.html

@@AmberWool how did they"remove ribs"back then? where did the medical surgeon doctors come from? time travel? I need to know where do people get this idea form

😂😂😂😂

*standing ovation*

@Pink bunny: You Go On With Your Bad Self Bunny! Do what feels good for You! Women Free!!!

He said WWI but I know what you mean.

Yes! Please!!

I'm sure a Blaze version wouldn't be as full of comments about corsets. "Allegedly" can be a very powerful word. Allegedly.

Or Abby, or Nicole, or Morgan, or..., or..., or... Yeah, I'm a fan of Simon, and I generally think they've done good research here, but the whole killer corset nonsense makes me crazy every time I hear it.

@@camerashycoco Lol, totally!

Her and Karolina both!!

Agree! Bernadette vs Simon showdown!!! LOL!

@@zoetheexasperatedhistorian2516 omg, Karolina ain’t afraid to throw shade!😆

Yes I was so disappointed by this video

Yes! 👏

Simon did say the style was to wear a corset as to accentuate the female form. This is akin to say a gentleman wearing a cod piece to accentuate his manliness. Depending on history this could be a smaller or larger cod piece. Look at ancient statues of men, they often display a very small manhood especially for the Hellenistic’s. The sign of stupidity, more of a beast than a man was often suggested and was the kind of thing barbarians sported. In any case we have a similar corset for modern times and more modern obsession as far as the lovely form, the LuLu Lemon jagging, (I think that’s spelled correctly).

Simon is looking more like Groucho Marx every day, just needs a cigar and raised eyebrows to punctuate his one liners.

A lot of women during ww2 wearing corsets in america probably wore target brand mass manufactured corsets not specifically fit to them. You do have to remember the time he's talking about

Karolina Zebrowska has a video on the corset and she goes into details on this. The corset is like a belt. If you want to tighten it to the point where you puke your guts, you're free to do it, but you don't have to. You can just lose weight.

Well said!

I was just about to comment!

Thanks! I was about to say just that!

Thought bone was used before steel?

I was about to post the same thing (nearly verbatim), but decided to scroll down, first.

@@BarnDoorProductions It's cool knowing random stuff, isn't it? Especially when an ocassion arises when you get to use it! I think this also counts for you!

You’re right about Curt Cobain’s death. It wasn’t suicide. Shotty investigation and this lead to people getting away with murder.

@@francispitts9440 Exactly! You can't just walk onto a scene of someone's death and call it a suicide. Proper protocol says that, until otherwise determined, all deaths are to be considered murders. SPD really effed this one up but acknowledging that means taking responsibility for the suicides that came afterward.

@@GoddessFourWinds As you can tell I tend to read profiles on whatever social media platform I’m looking at. Enjoy your day and thanks for the reply 😊

Loved that show

I can imagine. There's a good reason why the majority of sportswomen have small breasts.

I'm glad someone else noticed. I thought I was going crazy!

Me too man but that was solely focused on the origins of the word: boob

Thank you! I haven't seen anyone else comment on that. A 34B and a 42 B definitely won't have the same volume! But a 34B and 36A might

I couldn't even get past the corset terror myths... oh, Simon... I expect so much more from him and his team.

....that.....you......I’m speechless

Isn't that what Simon said in the video?

@@toddnolastname4485 yeah, found out later, but i still thought anyone that thought this anyway was mindblowing lmao

If your bra is digging, you've got the wrong size.

@Evilpimp Perhaps just a person who knows the history?

@Evilpimp I think everyone’s problem with this is if they can get such a basic fact so horrible wrong what else are they getting wrong?

I don't get the corset brigade. People are often uncomfortable even in modern bras, socks, shoes, tights, pantsu, etc. If you wear a restraining garment over most your body all day, you're sure to experience the same relief when you take it off - but at a correspondingly greater scale. The discomfort reflects real issues. Particularly if the thing is not breathable and incorporates hard structures like whalebones, there's a risk of minor complications if you wear it all through a hot summer... even if it isn't pulled tight by your handmaiden. Just like men's boxers vs tight underwear, there's such a thing as human progress.

@@tieck4408 whale bone has roughly the flexibility of zip ties(because it is cut so thin) actually a lot of theatre costumers use them instead of synthetic whalebone. Yeah we will always feel better when we take off any garment of clothes. But some people (like myself) prefer tightly fitting structured garments. A big difference between bras and corsets is that bras put all the weight of ones breasts on your shoulders and one tiny band around your chest. Corsets distribute this weight evenly across your torso and hips. While also helping improve poster. Two things proven to help with back pain. Especially for larger chested women. I’m currently saving up for a corset to wear. But for years I suffered from back pain and horrible discomfort with bras because I simple didn’t know there was another option. And it’s miss information like these that cause this problem. And where not even gonna get into how corset hate was a result of anti women propaganda in the Victorian era. A fashion historian said “we like to think we know better then previous generations but there is a reason women (and men) wore girdles>stays>corsets for hundreds of years” If it was some horrible uncomfortable torture device why would women wear it? Even bras serve a purpose, Also corsets and stays where not just worn by upper class women who had servants. Working class women wore them to. And they where designed by women, for women. To help with ease of movement when working long hours on ones feet. It’s simply people fighting against miss information for the common knowledge of society.

@@tieck4408 I mean if you don't get it, you can read the experience of people who have tried it, or try one yourself. No need to assert your lack of understanding as an argument against corsets, especially when it seems like you haven't bothered research this topic one bit. Also, progress isn't always good. If you always charge forward without looking to see if you're taking the right path, you can very likely run yourself off a cliff, into a tree or some other hazard. Sometimes, older things are better than their modern equivalents. Sometimes, the new invention is inferior. You can't just think that new = better every time. That's just a bad mindset, and could get you to make bad decisions.

This is clearly missing a word, right? I'm confused

@@octopus8420 lol i meant historian 😂

@Alan Hardcastle lol nope

@@samatlas2574 you're probably from Britain then - I didn't know WW1 history exists outside a major in the US or master degree in Europe.

@@octopus8420 its not my major i just study for fun

He crams it all deep down inside, where it fuels his Blaze.

Maybe not as immature as you would be

Why are you so worked up about it? Do you have a particular stake in the invention of corsets? Are you related to whoever first patented it? Calm the hell down.

@@Orangeninja5000 I'm mad because this is supposed to be an educational channel, and he's spreading misinformation. I would be just as mad if he was saying hyenas are canines.

@@Amy_the_Lizard I can understand that much, but you can correct misinformation without yelling about it, though. It doesn't make you come off as being reasonable.

@@Orangeninja5000 I did the first four times it happened, but I'm starting to lose patience at this point

Allegedly

I'd love to see Bernadette Banner make a reaction video to this one. I can imagine the facepalming and politely restrained frustration would provide no end of amusement.

@@MadTheDJ Same, or any of the other lovely channels that focus on old-world clothing.

Rockers,ballons, cantaloupes

Bags of sand... 🤭

T-shirts as an outer garment, definitely.

Next:how WWIII got people to breath