Physical Performance and Comfort of Females Exercising on a Treadmill
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1996 Physical performance and comfort of females exercising on a treadmill while wearing historic tight-laced corsets of 1865 and 1900 Collee Ruby Gau Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the American Material Culture Commons Recommended Citation Gau, Collee Ruby, "Physical performance and comfort of females exercising on a treadmill while wearing historic tight-laced corsets of 1865 and 1900" (1996). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 16891. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/16891 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Physical performance and comfort of females exercising on a treadmill while wearing historic tight-laced corsets of 1865 and 1900 by Colleen Ruby Gau A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Textiles and Clothing Major Professor: Jane Farrell-Beck Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1996 11 Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the Master's Thesis of Colleen Ruby Gau has met the requirements of Iowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy ill This thesis is dedicated, with grate~.!! thanks, to my husband, Gerald who recognized my potential long before I did iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................... VI LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................... IX ACKNOWLEOOMENTS ............................................................................... X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 Justification .................................. " ......................................................... 1 Purpose .................................................................................................. 3 Research Questions .................................................................................... 3 Objectives ............................................................................................... 4 Definitions ............................................................................................... 4 A.ss,:!m:ptions ............................................................................................ 5 Llnntations .............................................................................................. 5 Hypotheses .............................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LI1ERA TURE .......................................................... 6 Fashion History ........................................................................................ 6 Corsets in Nineteenth Century Society ........................................................... 6 Corset Styles of 1865 and 1900 ................................................................... 8 Brief Fashion Analysis of 1865 and 1900 ........................................................ 9 Medical Physiology .................................................................................. 12 FemaleAnatomy ................................................................................... 12 CHAPfER 3: MEDICAL RESEARCH REVIEWERS ............................................ 14 Respiratory System.................................................................................. 14 Circulatory System ................................................................................... 16 Musculo-Skeletal System............................................................................ 16 Digestive System ..................................................................................... 17 Reproductive System ................................................................................ 18 CHAPTER 4: DRESS REFORM AND TIGHT-LACING ........................................ 19 Retrospective Writings ............................................................................... 19 Contemporary Authors .............................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 5: CORSETS AND EXERCISE ........................................................ 26 Retrospective Writings ............................................................................... 26 Contemporary Writings .............................................................................. 27 CHAPTER 6: THE HEALTH CORSET ............................................................ 30 CHAPfER 7: RELATED MODERN PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTS ................... 34 Chest Wall Restriction .............................................................................. 34 Breathing Pattern Changed .......................................................................... 34 Diaphragmatic Function ............................................................................. 35 Shortness of Breath .................................................................................. 35 Effects of Tight Clothing ............................................................................ 36 Blood Flow in Chest. ................................................................................ 36 Oxygen Consumption in Dogs ...................................................................... 36 v Tidal Volume .......................................................................................... 37 Modern Male Corset ................................................................................. 37 Discussion ............................................................................................. 38 CHAPIER 8: MEmODS............................................................................. 39 Introduction ........................................................................................... 39 Recruitment, Selection and Orientation of Volunteers ........................................... 39 Development of Survey Tools ................................................................... '" 40 Corset Construction .................................................................................. 40 Equipment Used in Physiologic Testing ........................................................... 42 Testing Procedures ................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 9: FINDINGS IN QUANTITATIVE STUDy ........................................ 44 Subject Characteristics ............................................................................... 44 Description of the Responses ....................................................................... 44 Analysis of the Responses .......................................................................... 47 CHAFfER 10: FINDINGS IN NINETEENm AND EARLY TWENTIEm CENTURY MEDICALU'TERATURE ............................................................................. 48 Musculo-skeleta1 System ............................................................................ 51 Respiratory System .................................................................................. 56 Circulatory System ................................................................................... 61 Digestive System. : ................................................................................... 63 Urinary System ....................................................................................... 66 Reproductive System ................................................................................ 67 CHAPTER 11: DISCUSSION ....................................................................... 72 Questions for Further Research ..................................................................... 73 Summary .............................................................................................. 75 GLOSSARy ............................................................................................. 78 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................... 81 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................... 93 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................... 96 APPENDIX D .......................................................................................... 126 APPENDIX E .......................................................................................... 134 BffiLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................... 140 Primary Sources ..................................................................................... 140 Secondary Sources .................................................................................. 146 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 1865 and 1900 Corsets.......................................................... 97 Figure 2 Children's corsets.. ..... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. 98 Figure 3 1865 Silhouette..................................................................