Corset Background

Corsets have been idolized by both women and men for a long time - 100's of years. The form and construction methods have changed in both type and variety and so have the materials used. In order to reproduce the correct shapes, you should have an understanding of the items and materials you can select from.

Body Shaping and Corsets

The oldest corsets are typically those with the least amount of curves. Your breast shape tends to be compressed and the subsequent reshaping of the breast mass gives a minimized appearance. To create this shape you have to compress and reshape the regular curves and general shape of a woman's body.

Boning and Busks

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. To ensure comfortable wear you are only able to tighten the laces so much, the boning provides the remainder of the support.

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 selecting the spring steel boning for the corset best suited to you the thickness gives way to the width in importance. You are sure when you purchase a corset with the best steel boning because it is flexible and pliable, but it is very hard to bend it.

There are also busks which open and are used in the front of corsets to enable you to get into and out of your corset without help. These did not appear until around 1860 and began with the inclusion of a simple busk, the more detailed spoon busk was created ten years later. All of these items can be found in our online corset store.