16th to 18th Century

The corsets of the 16th century were called "payre of bodies" and her worn usually with a farthingale.  They turned the upper torso into a cone or cylinder which mirrored the conical shape of the skirt produced by the farthingale. They flattened the waist and pushed up the bust. By the middle of the 16th century corset were commonly worn by women. They were made of made of stiff layers of linen with wooden busks or shafts were inserted in a pocket  to keep the silhouette straight. Corsets were made in this way until the 1860s.  The image I have atttached is from the 1720s.