Corset History

There has been an attraction to corsets by both women and men for a long time - 100's of years. The construction techniques and the shapes they form have changed due to new technology similar to the changes in materials used. In order to develop the correct shapes, you need to have an understanding of the items and materials you can select from.

Shaping the Body with Corsets

The oldest corsets are typically those with the least amount of curves. Your breast shape tends to be compressed and the subsequent reshaping of the breast mass gives a minimized appearance. To develop this shape you have to constrain and work against the typical shape and inherent curves of woman's body.

Busks and Boning

The design of a corset is dependent on two underlying factors to be successful: a) the properties of the boning material, and b) the ability to tighten the lacing. In order for the corset to fit you comfortably you can only lace up and tighten so much, the remainder of the support is done by the boning.

A popular boning material is nylon coated spring steel that is usually a lighter color and comes in a group of thicknesses, widths, and lengths. When you are making a selection for the type of steel boning for a corset that will look like it was designed for you the width is of minor concern while your primary focus should be on the thickness. You know when you have selected a corset with the correct steel boning because it is clearly flexible but is is extremely difficult to bend.

There are also busks which open and are used in the front of corsets to allow you to slide into and out of your corset without another person's help. The first time busks were used was near 1860 and started with a straight simple busk, the complications of the spoon busk was developed around 1870. Both of these items can be located in our online corset superstore.