Corset Lowdown

Corsets have been idolized by both women and men for a long time - 100's of years. The types of shapes and construction techniques have changed over time. and so have the types of materials used. If you are trying to develop the desirable shape for you, you should have an understanding of the items and materials you can select from.

Using Corsets to Shape the Body

The really old corsets are usually ones with moderate amounts of reshaping. The breast flesh looks to be extremely compressed and create the appearance of a minimized profile. To develop this silhouette you must work against the natural shape and curves of a woman's body.

Boning and Busks

A corset of high quality depends on two main factors: a) the characteristics of the boning material used, and b) the level of lacing tightening. To ensure comfortable wear you are only able to tighten the laces so much, the boning provides the remainder of the support.

A good boning material is spring steel coated in nylon that is white in color and comes in different widths, thickness and length. When choosing a spring steel for your corset the thickness gives way to the width in importance. You are sure when you purchase a corset with the best steel boning because it is flexible and pliable, but it is very hard to bend it.

There are also busk fasteners that open and are mainly used on the front of corsets to enable you to put on and take off your corset without calling someone in for help. The busks made their debut around 1860 and began with the inclusion of a simple busk, the more detailed spoon busk was created ten years later. All of these items can be found in our online corset store.