Corset Story

Corsets have been worn by both men and women for the last several centuries. The form and construction techniques have been on a continual pattern of change and so have the basic types of items used. If you are trying to reproduce the shape you covet, you should have an education of the types of items available in today's marketplace.

Body Shaping and Corsets - The Perfect Match

The corsets from earlier times have usually been those with a minimal amount of curves or shapes. The breasts appear to be pressed down and provide the appearance of a minimized breast profile. To create this shape you have to compress and reshape the iherent shape and curves of a lady's body.

Busks and Boning

A successful corset design is related to two components: a) the type and strength of boning used, and b) the level of lacing tightening. If you want the corset to feel comfortable when you are wearing it you are only able to tighten the laces 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 looking for a particular type of spring steel for your corset the "thickness" is more important than the width. Spring steel, when it is of the proper thickness it is somewhat flexible but is quite difficult to bend.

Busk fasteners are also used, they open and are located on the front of corsets to allow you the freedom to get into your corset without requesting help from anyone. The busks made their debut around 1860 and initiated with a very simple busk, the more complicated spoon busk was developed in the 1870's. Any of these corsets can be found in our corset superstore.