MAKING A BODY

I am currently making French 18th century stays, as an investigation into the history of clothing, materiality and the body.

The french expression for stays is 'corps baleiné' ['whaleboned body'].
Similarly, the name of a particular kind of stays worn at the king's court is 'grand corps de cour' ['tall body for court'].
The artisan specialized in making them in the 18th century was called the 'tailleur de corps' ['tailor of bodies'].

Isn't is striking that the word for this item of clothing, which molds and transforms the shape of the body, is the word CORPS ['BODY']? Not 'corsage' ['bodice', as is sometimes translated in english], but 'body'.

As if there was no difference between your natural body and this second one.