Twenty-Five Period Dramas That Make Us Want to Wear Corsets
Photo: Mary Evans/Everett Collection
With the opening of the Anna Karenina and Keira Knightley’s grand return to period costume, we are reminded why women used to squeeze themselves into lethally restrictive undergarments. Sure, corsets are basically the antithesis to all things feminist and sensible, not to mention the whole rib-cracking, lung-restricting, fainting thing. But the buoyant butt-boobs! That romantic, brocade-draped silhouette, perfect for palace intrigue! From Gone With the Wind to Amadeus to Titantic, take a look at 25 period dramas with costumes so sumptuous and visuals so dazzling that we’d almost subject ourselves with corsets to live in their worlds. Almost.


Doctor Zhivago Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

Titanic Photo: 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Amadeus Photo: Saul Zaentz Company/Everett Collection

The Duchess Photo: Nick Wall/Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Gone With the Wind Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

Marie Antoinette Photo: Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Curse of the Golden Flower Photo: Sony Pictures/Everett Collection

The Young Victoria Photo: Everett Collection
Much Ado About Nothing Photo: Samuel Goldwyn Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
Dangerous Liaisons Photo: Mary Evans/Everett Collection
Quills Photo: 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Vanity Fair Photo: Focus Films/Everett Collection
Pirates of the Caribbean Photo: Walt Disney Co./Everett Collection
Great Expectations Photo: Everett Collection
Valmont Photo: Mary Evans/Everett Collection
Elizabeth Photo: Mary Evans/Everett Collection
Cold Mountain Photo: Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection
The Libertine Photo: Mary Evans/Everett Collection
The Mask of Zorro Photo: Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection
Barry Lyndon Photo: Everett Collection
Wild Wild West Photo: Warner Bros/Everett Collection
Shakespeare in Love Photo: Miramax/Everett Collection
The Phantom of the Opera Photo: Warner Bros/Everett Collection
The Age of Innocence Photo: Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection
The Piano Photo: Miramax/Everett Collection
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