to conform to the desired shape of the era. At the time, the most popular materials used for the boning were giant reeds or whalebone. Whalebone was the most commonly-used and most expensive material. The early 19th century brought a very different style of corset (still called "stays"). A return to the natural or classical form was embraced by fashion, and for the first time in corset history the bust was separated. To achieve and enhance the separation of the bust, the "busk" was used. The busk was essentially a large rigid "Popsicle stick" shaped bone inserted into a casing down the center front of the corset. These busks were made from either wood, ivory, bone, or baleen and were often elaborately carved and given as gifts. It was most often the only bone within corsets of this type as other required shaping was provided by cut of the pattern and enhanced with cording (cotton or similar cords within casings). The cording of the early 19th-century corsets (stays) was often very elaborate, and examples of many beautiful corded stays can be found in museum collections. The mid 19th century brought more complex corsets (no longer called stays) and tighter lacing, which required more boning to create the desired shape. The modern split busk was popular, as it allowed corsets to easily open in the front. Steel and baleen (whalebone) were the dominant materials for boning and were occasionally used together. By the fourth quarter of the 19th century, baleen was growing increasingly more expensive and becoming more difficult to acquire. This encouraged experimentation into types of materials used for boning. Some of the most popular alternatives were cork strips, cording, watchspring steel, Coraline, and Featherbone. Coraline was manufactured from the straight, stiff fibers of the Mexican ixtle plant, bound together by two strands of thread wrapped in opposite directions. Featherbone was manufactured from the quills of feathers. The extremely rigid and elongated torso popular in the 1880s to early 1890s required extensive boning to support and enhance the steam-molded and starched corsets of the period. By the late 1890s, a lighter, shorter style of corset was becoming popular, which had simpler shapes and which used much less boning than the previous decade. This style of corset quickly evolved into the beautifully complex early Edwardian style corsets. These corsets from 1901–1908 relied heavily on the complex cut of the pattern to