The above corset photo is
extremely exaggerated, but the corset did perform the function of transferring the weight of petticoats and hoops to the pelvic girdle instead of the waist. The modern backpack does the same with its wide padded hip belt and back stays, transferring the pack weight almost completely from the shoulders and upper back to the hips. For more info see
http://www.originals-by-kay.com/corsetry/
In the collection were some 1840s (tight sleeves, low waist) and 1850s (over all very fancifully decorated with lots of ruching and wide collars) dresses, too. The pagoda sleeve was very fashionable in the 50s but continued into the early 60s. The dresses with coat sleeves and narrow collars were definitely Civil War era. About 1864-65, skirts became fuller at the back, and by 1865 the gored skirt came "in." By the end of the war, those of us with wide hips and too much tummy started having fitting problems! Within a year or two, skirts tight across the front and with "butt bows" (modern term) in the rear became popular, closely followed by the first bustle era in the late 1860s. Anyone my age who remembers how fashion went wild just after World War II--well, the same happened after the Civil War.
All the above information is thanks to a local workshop I attended a few years ago.
Those were all dressy dresses--nothing utilitarian about them. Those ladies were probably quite rich and had dresses with less full skirts (and smaller hoops) for things like supervising the servants at housework, which is probably as grubby as they would get. Women who had to do their own housework/farm chores couldn't have afforded these lovely dresses anyway. Their newest dress would be for Sundays and social occasions; they might have an older one for daytime at home, and their oldest dress would be for really messy chores. The poorest women felt lucky to have one dress at a time.
Thank you, Belle, for finding this!