Corset Story

Corsets have been used as a fashion item 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 might be better informed if you have an understanding of the types of materials used in today's corsets.

Body Shaping and Corsets - The Perfect Match

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 develop this shape you have to constrain and work against the typical shape and inherent curves of 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 strength and other factors of the boning material, and b) how snug the lacing can be tightened. 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.

One of the best boning materials is nylon covered steel that is pale white in color and is manufactured in a collection of widths, lengths, and thicknesses. When specifying the steel boning for the best corset for your body type 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 front closures are sometimes used, they open and are typically used with the front of corsets to allow you to dress yourself in the corset without assistance. The first appearance of a busk on a corset was near 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.