I researched women’s fashions of the 1870s today and I am trying to imagine what it would feel like to wear all that fabric — to be swathed in pleats, flounces, ruching and frills, all draped over a hassock-sized bustle and dragging behind in the street.

I think I’d love it. I know, everyone says what about the corset, you’d be suffocated by its whalebone or strips of stiff leather. But the corset gives you a perfect bust!