A form-fitting garment, worn around the waist and fastened with laces.
True corsets provide back support with sturdy columns of steel or (historically) whalebone and may be cinched to compress the abdomen for a curvy figure. Corsets were traditionally considered underwear, but in modern times are sometimes worn above the clothing, particularly in fetish fashion. Many such outerwear corsets have flimsy or no boning and thus are not rigid enough to support or reshape the body.
Corsets are usually an underbust garment, covering only the stomach and waist, but overbust designs for breast support also exist.
Not to be confused with the similar-looking bodice, which has always been outerwear and is often overbust.
