Corset Bulletin

Corsets have been attractive to both women and men for hundreds of years. Shapes and construction techniques have been changing and so have the materials and types of items used. In order to create the shape you covet, you need to have an education of the materials and items you can choose from.

Corsets for Shaping the Body

The ancient corsets have usually been those with minimal amounts of reshaping. The breast flesh appears to be pressed down and their shape changed to represent a minimized silouhette. To create this silhouette you have to work against the usual shape and typical curves of a woman's body.

Boning, Busks and Other Corset Techniques

A fabulous corset depends on two primary factors: a) the strength and other factors of the boning material, and b) the amount of tightening allowed by the lacing design. If you want to feel comfortable while in your corset you are able to lace and tighten up to a point, the rest of the support is delivered by the function of the boning.

A fine choice in boning is the use of spring steel cased in nylon that typically is rendered in a lighter color pallette and comes in a group of thicknesses, widths, and lengths. When selecting the spring steel boning for the best corset for you the thickness, and not the width, should be of primary importance. When the proper thickness of steel boning is selected it is quite flexible and it is extremely hard to bend.

There are also busks which open and are used in the front of corsets to enable you to get into and out of your corset without help. The busk fasteners were developed near 1860 and launched with simple busks, today's spoon busk was created more than a decade later. The entire collection of thse corsets can be found in our online auctions or superstore.