Turning to health, what issues have realistically been caused or aided by corsets? And which have been exaggerated? The fainting woman is a common image of the Victorian and Edwardian eras ...

I just find them a lot more comfortable. Aside from corsets, what are your three favorite items of Victorian clothing? Pantalettes are number one. They are very comfortable and very practical.

Using more than a dozen historical corsets on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Gibson found that the average adult woman's waist size was 56 cm -- or 22 inches -- in circumference.