Corset Background

Corsets have been idolized by both women and men for a long time - 100's of years. The form and construction methods have changed in both type and variety and so have the materials used. In order to reproduce the correct shapes, you should have an understanding of the items and materials you can select from.

The Corset Body Shaping Story

The ancient corsets are usually those with a moderate amount of curves or reshaping. The breast flesh tends to be greatly flattened and their shape diminished. To attain this straight silhouette you are having to "fight" the natural curves of most women’s bodies.

Busks, Boning and Other Corset Facts

A quality corset depends on two factors: a) the type and material used in the boning, and b) the tightening level allowed by the lacing. To ensure you are comfortable while wearing your corset you can only tighten and lace up to a point, the rest of the support is delivered by the function of the boning.

A good choice in boning material is steel covered with nylon that comes in lighter colors and is constructed in a wide variety of thicknesses, lengths, and widths. When specifying the steel boning for your corset the "thickness" is more important than the width. Spring steel, when it is of the proper thickness it is somewhat flexible but is quite difficult to bend.

You can also use busk fasteners that open and are typically used with the front of corsets to allow you to dress yourself in the corset without assistance. The busks made their debut around 1860 and initiated with a very simple busk, the more complicated spoon busk was developed in the 1870's. These corsets call all be found in our online corset superstore.