The smallest waist in the world? Why that belongs to Cathie Jung, who entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1999 with her tiny 15-inch waist. She holds the official record for “smallest waist in a living person”. To help you understand how small this is; 15 inches is about the size of a CD or a mayonnaise jar!
Cathie Jung is now in her 70s and claims she can still do housework and vacuum in her corset. Sitting is her biggest problem as it is physically impossible to sit or get up from a low chair. She was given the nickname ‘Queen of Corsets’ which is ‘tight’ (pardon the pun) when you take a look at the wide variety of beautiful corsets that she owns. Everything she wears is custom made to fit her unique body shape, not forgetting her skillfully constructed corsets.
Cathie’s measurements are 39 – 15 – 39 bust, waist, hips and she is 5 feet 6 inches tall. She weighs just 135lbs and appeared on ‘This Morning’ about 4 years ago to show off these proportions. This was the most recent of her many television appearances. Her figure has attracted a lot of publicity and surprisingly, but in Victorian times she would have been considered a standard size for the time.
Aside from the renowned Cathie Jung, Ethel Granger also achieved Cathie’s 15-inch waist in the 1930s and Cathie tried on one of Ethel’s 15-inch corsets in 1992. Cathie with a waist reduction measured in a staggering 14 inches or 36 centimeters. Another very famous waist trainer alive today is Mr. Pearl, who is famous for both wearing and making corsets. Mr Pearl has made a number of corsets for the rich and famous; intertwining models like Dita Von Tease and Jean Paul Gaultier, to name just a few. Mr. Pearl’s waist now measures 18 inches, which is incredible for a man, and at 43, he is easily the world’s foremost corset expert.
The waist-reducing achievements of these incredible skinny laces would have been considered the norm in Victorian and Edwardian times, however these sizes are considered extreme by today’s standards and not something to be taken lightly. If you are thinking of training with a corset, you do not consider it an easy option, it implies a complete change in your lifestyle. Cathie Jung wears her corset 24 hours a day, taking it off only to shower. You have to eat little and often and take proper care of your skin. That said, the effects are impressive.
