So I guess strait-laced isn't a suitable feminine of "stuffed shirt" at all. Leaving us in dire straits..

On the oblique : in Victorian times women wore corsets with stays. The corsets were tightly laced up the back. So were the Vics strait laced (tightly confined) or straight laced to keep their spine stiffened?
Pondering this I find myself in need of a stiffiner!
wow