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Corsets have been around for hundreds of years, designed as a way to emphasise small waists and bigger breasts and hips.
Fetish model Kelly Lee Dekay hit the news today with her 16 inch waist - an incredible measurement she achieved by constricting her ribcage and stomach using corsets. This is a technique known as "waist training".
Waist training seems to have come back into fashion since Kim Kardashian instagrammed a photo of herself wearing one. Other celebrity fans of waist training include burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese and Jessica Alba. There's actually a Guinness world record, and the record holder is Cathie Jung, who has a waist of 15 inches in a corset, and 21 inches without it.
More remarkably, the average waist on a woman in the UK is 34 inches, an increase of 7 inches since the 1950s. Waist training is the process through which you slim your waist down using corsets. You start with a corset that's bigger than your actual waist, and gradually it takes months and months to waist train, using different sized corsets to further constrict your ribs.
The effect is astounding, but it's actually quite dangerous. There are a multitude of potential health problems when you have such a tiny waist.
Firstly, you don't have as much room for your organs. Your organs will gradually move as the rib cage gets tighter and tighter.
Along with this, you might find it difficult to breathe as your lungs will not be able to expand to their full capacity. It could also cause damage to your ribs.
