This last one can well believe, for the garment was constructed of thick black or colored coutil, lined with another fabric, and closely filled with heavy strips of whalebone, the steels or "busks" which closed the front being stiff and curved inward over the diaphragm.
In 1893-4 the riding of the bicycle by women brought the first freedom from corset bondage known for generations. Women could not ride without breathing, and they could not breathe in the corsets they wore, so they either rode without corsets or wore short girdles, many of which appeared at this time. These girdles enabled women to preserve the smallness of the waist while giving more expansion to the sides of the thorax and freedom for the act of propelling the wheel. However, they were only a little less harmful "than their immediate predecessors, as they pressed the abdominal contents downward and exerted extreme pressure on the stomach at the top of the steel clasps in front, often bruising the flesh at this point. To relieve this pressure the wearers of girdles stooped forward, contracting the diaphragm and rib wall, shortening the length of the body from neck to waist in front, and throwing the pelvis forward. For same years many women considered the girdle, such as illustration 4, a healthful form of corset and yet most evil results from a physiological standpoint were brought about by its use. Nothing could produce worse cases of enteroptosis than the so-called hygienic girdle.
About this time the corset began to have its hose supporter appendages and again the woman's body suffered. The downward pressure of the corset, tight about the waist, was increased greatly, pressing the abdominal contents down upon the pelvic organs. The back muscles were strained in an effort to maintain the equilibrium of the body against
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