inspiration: ethel granger

the september cover of vogue italia with stella tennant, photographed by steven meisel, was inspired by ethel granger (1905 - 1982).  until 1998, the guinness book of world records listed her as having the smallest waist on record at 13 inches (33 cm). after 1998, the category was changed to "smallest waist on a living person". it took her 10 years to lose nine inches by gradually pulling her specially made-to-measure corsets slightly tighter every day. apparently the driving force behind her corseting was her husband will granger. she also had multiple piercings in her ears, septum & nipples.