Corset History

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. Your breast shape appears to be in compression and their appearance changed to look minimized. To develop this shape you have to constrain and work against the typical shape and inherent curves of woman's body.

Busks and Boning

Success depends on two things: a) strength of boning used, and b) tightness of lacing. For the sake of comfort you can only lace up and tighten so much, the remainder of the support is done by the boning.

A useful boning material is nylon cased spring steel that provides a light color base and is made in an assortment of widths, lengths, and thicknesses. When you select the spring steel for the best looking corset for your shape 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 pliable and flexible, but it is nearly impossible to bend them.

You can sometimes find busk fasteners that open and are used for the front of corsets to allow you to put your corset on and off without help. The busks first appeared in the 1860's and started with a straight simple busk, the complications of the spoon busk was developed around 1870. These items can be found in either our online superstore or our online auctions.