Ellen G. White often addressed the subject of how practical Christianity
relates to fashion. She pointed out the duty of dressing healthfully and not
being a slave to the dictates of "style." Like other health reformers of her
day, Ellen White protested vigorously against the unhealthful practice of
"tight-lacing" associated with the wearing of corsets. She noted:
"The corsets which are again being generally worn to compress the waist
is one of the most serious features in woman's dress. Health and life are being
sacrificed to carry out a fashion that is devoid of real beauty and comfort.
The compression of the waist weakens the muscles of the respiratory organs. It
hinders the process of digestion. The heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and stomach,
are crowded into a small compass, not allowing room for the healthful action of
these organs. . . .
"By lacing, the internal organs of women are crowded out of their
positions. There is scarcely a woman that is thoroughly healthy. The majority
of women have numerous ailments. Many are troubled with weaknesses of most
distressing nature. These fashionably dressed women cannot transmit good
constitutions to their children. Some women have naturally small waists. But
rather than regard such forms as beautiful, they should be viewed as defective.
These wasp waists may have been transmitted to them from their mothers, as the
result of their indulgence in the sinful practice of tight-lacing, and in
consequence of imperfect breathing. Poor children born of these miserable
slaves of fashion have diminished vitality, and are predisposed to take on
disease. The impurities retained in the system in consequence of imperfect
breathing are transmitted to their offspring" (Review and Herald,
October 31, 1871).
Some have questioned Ellen White's credibility for suggesting the
possibility that some women may have inherited small waists from their
mothers--as if she were claiming divine revelation on this point. Her cautious,
qualified assertion ("may have inherited") indicates that she was not claiming
revelation here. Even if she was mistaken in her understanding on how some
persons may have acquired their physical deformities, it does not gainsay the
health principles she was advocating, or the wisdom of her counsel that women
should abandon such unhealthful practices. (See
"Avoid Making
the Counsels 'Prove' Things They Were Never Intended to Prove.")