Corset Background

There has been corset worship by both women and men for many centuries. The form and construction methods have changed in both type and variety similar to the updating of the items and materials used. If you are trying to develop the desirable shape for you, you might be better informed if you have knowledge of the variety of items used in today's corsets.

Body Shaping Corsets

The ancient corsets are usually those with the least amount of curves. The breast flesh tends to be greatly flattened and their shape diminished. To attain this straight silhouette you are having to "fight" the natural shape and curves of a woman's body.

Boning and Busks

Success depends on two things: a) strength of boning used, and b) the level of lacing tightening. If you want the corset to feel comfortable when you are wearing it you are only able to tighten the laces to a point, you should rely on the boning material to provide the rest of the structural support.

A good boning material is spring steel coated in nylon that provides a light color base and is made in an assortment of widths, lengths, and thicknesses. When choosing a spring steel for your corset the "thickness" is more important than the width. Spring steel, when it is of the proper thickness it is pliable but it is really hard to bend.

There are also busk fasteners that open and are used for the front of corsets to enable you to put on and take off your corset without calling someone in for help. The busks made their debut around 1860 and initiated with a very simple busk, the more detailed spoon busk was created ten years later. All of these items can be found in our online corset store.