Corset History

There has been an attraction to corsets by both sexes for quite some time going back several centuries. The shapes formed by the various construction methods 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 materials available to you on today’s market.

Shaping the Body with Corsets

The older corsets are typically those with a minimal amount of curves. Your breast shape looks to be in compression and their appearance changed to look minimized. To create this profile you have to constrain and work against the typical shape and inherent curves of woman's body.

Busks and Boning

A successful corset design is related to two components: a) strength of boning used, and b) tightness of lacing. For the sake of comfort you can only lace so tightly, the remainder of the support is done by the boning.

A useful boning material is nylon cased spring steel that delivers a pale color base and is made in an assortment of widths, lengths, and thicknesses. When you select the spring steel for the best looking corset for your shape the width gives way to the thickness in what is most important. The steel boning characteristic makes a perfect corset because it is pliable and flexible, but it is nearly impossible to bend them.

Busk fasteners are also used, they open and are located on the front of corsets to allow you to put your corset on and off without help. The busks first appeared in the 1860's and started with the simplest busk, the more complicated spoon busk was developed a few years later. These items can be found in either our online superstore or our online auctions.