Cicisbeo by Luigi Ponelato, 1790

Ever wonder why men bow and women curtsy? Corsets and pins, that’s why.

Fashion has dictated the habit: to bow properly, a man should bend from the waist. Historically, it was hard to do much else if you were wearing a tight corset, and men wore these well into the nineteenth century. Similarly, a woman’s careless curtsy could result in a shower of pins if she weren’t careful; not only would she be wearing a corset, or stays, or a stomacher, or a busk, or a combination of these, but with her overskirt painstakingly pinned to her farthingale or crinoline or hooped underdress, the most prudent way to pay obeisance to one’s social superior was to sink down slowly, vertically, and cautiously, a technique that seemed to dislodge the fewest number of pins.

Eduardo Leon Garrido (1856- 1906) "The Curtsey"