Corset Chronicle

Corsets have been attractive to both women and men for the last several centuries. The form and construction techniques have been on a continual pattern of change similar to the modernization in the materials and items used. If you are trying to reproduce the shape you covet, you need to have an education of the materials available to you on today’s market.

Corsets for Shaping the Body

The corsets from earlier times have usually been those with a minimal amount of curves. Your breast shape looks to be contained and create the appearance of a minimized profile. To attain this shape you have to contain and fight the typical shape and inherent curves of woman's body.

Busks and Boning

A successful corset design is related to two components: a) the characteristics of the boning material used, and b) the level of lacing tightening. If you want the corset to feel comfortable when you are wearing it 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 is white in color and comes in different widths, thickness and length. When choosing a spring steel for a corset that will look like it was designed for you 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 quite flexible and it is extremely hard to bend.

There are also 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 first time busks were used was near 1860 and started with a straight simple busk, the complications of the spoon busk was developed around 1870. All of these corsets can be found in either our corset superstore or our corset auctions.