That Cosmopolitan Girl, 1887

Here is what the well-dressed modern young woman might have been wearing under her fashionable dress in the late 1880s. And these undergarments are both hygienic and artistic - a winning combination indeed!

Mrs Fletcher's rival, Mrs. E.M. Van Brunt, was the subject of an earlier post here (hence the link!).

I am trying to imagine what exactly a Breakfast Corset would have been like. Was it looser, so you could eat pancakes? And Corselettes were to be worn at the seaside under your bathing costume, apparently. Wait at least an hour after breakfast before you change into the Corselette, though.

This advertisement is from an 1887 Cosmopolitan magazine (way before the Helen Gurley Brown era).