In corsetry, a bone is one of the rigid parts of a corset that forms its frame, gives it rigidity, and helps to shape the wearer's body.
Originally, bones were made of whalebone, because no other material matched it for flexibility and strength. As whalebone was expensive, wood and cane were also used. Ivory was another luxury material used for the centre front bone, which was known as the busk. In the nineteenth century, whalebone was superseded by steel. Today, many corsets use plastic bones, although steel is still favoured for high-quality corsets.
Bones, and the substances used for the purpose, are often generically called boning. They are also called ribs and stays.
Bone is formed by the laying down of an osteoid matrix by osteoblasts, the bone-forming cells, and the mineralization of the osteoid by the development and deposition of crystals of calcium phosphate (in the form of hydroxyapatite) within it.
Bone consists of a matrix of crystals of calcium, chiefly the phosphate and carbonate, embedded among collagen fibres, providing strength and elasticity, and bone cells (less than 5% of its volume).
Bone is a relatively hard and lightweight composite material, formed mostly of calcium phosphate in the chemical arrangement termed calcium hydroxyapatite.
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