FASHION EXPERT: `CORSETS CAUSE CONSTIPATION'

FASHION EXPERT: `CORSETS CAUSE CONSTIPATION'

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -- Folks like Madonna may look sexy in corsets, but the tightly-laced garments have a shocking secret: they can cause constipation. That's according to Valerie Steele, curator of an upcoming exhibit on corsets at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She says it's likely our corset-wearing great-grandmas suffered stomach aches and constipation caused by the constant pressure placed on their tummies. The horrendous side effects didn't stop men from strapping themselves into corsets too. Steele says the exhibit will also feature a rare "Apollo" brand male corset from the 1880s used by male dandies to hold in their bulging beer bellies. "The Corset: Fashioning The Body" exhibit opens January 25.