Video - 19th Century Beauty Secrets: Corsets, Patches, and Bizarre Remedies!

Did you know that in the 19th century, the fashion trend was to have a small waist, and women would wear corsets to achieve this look? Some corsets were so tight that they would cause internal organs to shift out of place. It was fashionable for women to have a beauty patch, which was a small piece of velvet or silk applied to the face to hide blemishes. The patches were often shaped like hearts, stars, or other symbols, and were worn on the cheek, forehead, or chin. Some believed that bathing would lead to sickness, which led to people going weeks or even months without bathing, which of course led to widespread sickness. Doctors recommended that women who wanted to conceive should drink a potion made from crushed beetles.