Corset Lowdown

Corsets have been attractive to both men and women for hundreds of years. Shapes and construction techniques have been able to be modernized similar to the updating of the items and materials used. If you are trying to develop the shape you covet, you need to have an education of the types of items available in today's marketplace.

Body Shaping Corsets

The corsets from earlier times have usually been those with minimal amounts of reshaping. The breasts appear to be pressed down and their shape changed to represent a minimized silouhette. To attain this straight silhouette you are having to "fight" the natural curves of most women’s bodies.

Boning, Busks and Other Corset Techniques

A quality corset depends on two factors: a) the type and material used in the boning, and b) how tight you can snug up the lacing. To ensure comfortable wear you can only tighten and lace 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 built in a wide variety of lengths, widths, and thicknesses. When you are deciding on the type of steel boning for the corset best suited to you the width is secondary to the 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 usually located on the front of corsets to enable you to put on your corset without assistance. The earliest busks were invented around 1860 and began with the inclusion of a simple busk, the elaborate and intricate spoon busk was invented a decade later. The entire collection of thse corsets can be found in our online auctions or superstore.