Corset Record

There has been an attraction to corsets by both women and men for a long time - 100's of years. The construction methods and shapes they produce have changed due to new technology similar to the changes in materials used. In order to reproduce 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 a minimal amount of curves. The breast flesh looks to be extremely compressed and create the appearance of a minimized profile. 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) how much you can 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 is created in a group of lengths, thicknesses, and widths. 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. The steel boning characteristic makes a perfect corset because it is quite flexible and it is extremely hard 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.