“1880’s Austrian women’s fencing team poses in the fencing style of sword and dagger.”
From the website of Christopher L. Oberg:
“In the early 1900’s Fencing was chosen as an olympic sport featuring the three weapons we know today. Historical fencing styles featuring back sword, rapier and dagger ect. are no longer fashionable when compared to the modern olympic fencing games of foil, epee and saber.”
Occasionally we see people advocating boobplates under the reasoning that some fencing gear comes boobplates. And it’s true, there are are breast guards made for fencing that are essentially a plastic boobplate.
However, you won’t see many women wearing them as their front line of defense at say… the Olympics. You also won’t see them outside of the sport of fencing, because they’re really on effective against modern sport swords which have flexible blades and virtually no weight (less than 500 grams or 17.64 ounces)
In the 1800s, when dueling became a sport instead of a means of settling arguments, fencing weapons have been light and relatively non-lethal that duelists used to take pride in facial scars they acquired (and their ability to walk calmly away from them).
Of course, modern fencing expects you to wear the proper protection against modern fencing weapons:
This is gear intended for sporting events, not for life and death battles.
– wincenworks