Corset Bulletin

Corsets have been attractive to both women and men for hundreds of years. Shapes and construction techniques have been changing and so have the materials and types of items used. In order 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 pressed down and their shape changed to represent a minimized silouhette. To create 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 material used in the boning, and b) the amount of tightening allowed by the lacing design. If you want to feel comfortable while in your corset you are able to lace and tighten up to a point, 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 constructed in a wide variety of thicknesses, lengths, and widths. When specifying the steel boning for the best corset for your body type the width takes precedence over 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 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 the straight busk, the more intricate spoon busk followed. The entire collection of thse corsets can be found in our online auctions or superstore.