Thread on the sexy history of busks:

In the days of stays, a lady would insert a busk into a narrow pocket between her breasts. Its job was to hold “the girls” apart, creating a full, decidedly perky-looking bosom. #fashionhistory 1/5

They also helped flatten the stomach and encouraged perfect ladylike posture.

Anything between 10 and 16 inches long, the longer kind must have made sitting tricky. Many surviving examples are carved with hearts and even love poetry. #fashionhistory 2/5

A lover would gift one to their sweetheart as a sexy (yet uncomfortable) reminder, kept close to the heart. Ah, the symbolism of a long hard object pointing directly at a lady’s crotch https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😂" title="Gesicht mit Freudentränen" aria-label="Emoji: Gesicht mit Freudentränen"> Many busks seem to have been carved and gifted/sold by sailors who had easy access to 3/5

whale bone (often actually baleen), of which many were made.

Images up thread:

1. Busk carved of wood with initials A.H. 18th century. National Museums Scotland. 4/5

#fashionhistory

2. 17th century, French, via The Met. “The inscription with the flaming hearts reads, "loves joins them" and "the arrow unites us," while the message of the sun shining on a flower is "to see you or to die."”

3. Ca. 1863, American, via MFA Boston. 5/5

#fashionhistory