Corset Lowdown

Corsets have been attractive to both women and men for centuries. The types of shapes and construction techniques have been on a continual pattern of change and so have the components that are used. For you to create the shape you covet, you need to have an education of the materials and items you can choose from.

Body Shaping Corsets

The really old corsets have usually been those with minimal amounts of reshaping. The breast flesh appears to be constrained and their appearance reshaped. To develop this silhouette you are having to "fight" the natural curves of most women’s bodies.

Boning, Busks and Other Corset Techniques

A fabulous corset depends on two primary factors: a) the type of boning material used, and b) the ability to pull together the lacing. In order for you to have a comfortable feeling while wearing your corset you are capable of lacing up only so much, the remainder of the functionality is provided by the support delivered by 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 is built in a wide variety of lengths, widths, and thicknesses. When you are deciding on the type of steel boning for the corset best suited to you the width is secondary to the thickness. When the correct thickness of spring steel is used it is flexible but it is very hard to bend.

You can use busks that open and are sometimes used on the front of corsets to enable you to put on your corset without assistance. The busks were created in the 1860's and began with straight busks, the elaborate and intricate spoon busk was invented a decade later. The entire collection of thse corsets can be found in our online auctions or superstore.