Corset Background

Corsets have been idolized by both men and women for 100's of years. The various shapes and construction methods have changed in both type and variety and so have the components and materials used. If you are trying to create the correct figure, you should have an understanding of the items and materials you can select from.

The Corset Body Shaping Story

The oldest corsets have usually been the ones with the least amount of curves. Your breast shape tends to be compressed and their appearance changed to look minimized. To create this profile you have to reshape the usual shape and typical curves of a woman's body.

Boning and Busks

Success depends on two things: a) the properties of the boning material, and b) how much you can tighten the lacing. To feel comfortable in your corset you should only tighten and lace up so much, the remainder of the functionality is provided by the support delivered by the boning.

A good choice in boning material is steel covered with nylon that comes in lighter colors and is built in a wide variety of lengths, widths, and thicknesses. When you select a spring steel for the corset you choose 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.

You can also use busk fasteners that open and are typically used with the front of corsets to allow you to dress yourself in the corset without assistance. The busks made their debut around 1860 and initiated with a very simple busk, the modern spoon busk was developed approximately ten years later. These corsets call all be found in our online corset superstore.