Corset Background

There has been an attraction to corsets by both men and women for 100's of years. The form and construction methods have changed in both type and variety and so have the components and materials used. In order to reproduce the correct shapes, you need to have an understanding of the variety of items used in today's corsets.

Body Shaping and Corsets

The earlier corsets tend to be those with the least amount of shape or curves. Your breast shape tends to be compressed and the subsequent reshaping of the breast mass gives a minimized appearance. To create this shape you have to compress and reshape the regular curves and general shape of a woman's body.

All About Busks, Lacing, and Boning

The design of a corset is dependent on two underlying factors to be successful: a) the type and material used in the boning, and b) how tight you can snug up the lacing. In order to ensure a comfortable fit you can only tighten the lacing so much, the rest of the support is provided by the boning.

A popular boning material is nylon coated spring steel that is pale white in color and is manufactured in a collection of widths, lengths, and thicknesses. When you are looking to select steel boning for your favorite corset style the width takes precedence over 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 found on the front of corsets to allow you to put on your corset and take off your corset by yourself. The busk type fasteners were invented around 1860 and initiated with the straight busk, the more intricate spoon busk followed. Both of these items can be located in our online corset superstore.