Plural of bodice; the upper part of a dress or garment that covers the torso, or a tight-fitting sleeveless garment worn over a dress.
From Old French 'bodies' (plural of body), referring to the body or torso. The word evolved from Latin 'corpus' meaning body. Over time it became specifically associated with the fitted upper garment worn in European fashion.
Bodices were architectural marvels of constraint—the Victorian corset bodice could reduce a woman's waist to 16-18 inches through sheer engineering, making the human body itself a fashion sculpture that changed how people moved and breathed.
Plural of bodice; inherits gendered associations with feminine dress and historically carried connotations of female restraint in Victorian and earlier discourse.
Use as neutral historical garment reference; avoid language linking bodices to ideas about female virtue, modesty, or constraint.
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