How to choose a corset

One of the things that I get asked the most often is how to choose a corset, where to even start with so many different types and names. This is a modified version of a short article that I recently wrote for a brochure. A basic break-down of what questions I ask a new client when helping her to decide on the best type;  it then has a write-up of each of the main forms of corset that we do and what that corset will do for you.
Most of this info is in various places on our website, but not in so concise a form. I do hope that it is a help and welcome any comments that may help me to make it better.

 Choosing a corset, particulary a first corset is a daunting prospect. We have more than 50 different types on our books, each one designed for a specific function in mind. Looking through swathes of sketches and write-ups can be an overwhelming experience if you don’t have a starting point. The first thing to do is to ask the right questions,

* Do you plan to wear it predominantly for outer or underwear?
Most corsets can be worn for both with minimal change to your wardrobe, however the various construction methods used do make an impact on whether a corset will be more functional as one or the other.
*That said, what are you planning on wearing your corset with?  Is it to be worn as an outer-garment? If so will you be wearing it as casual or formal wear.
*If it is to be worn as underwear on a daily basis, how much are you willing to change your existing wardrobe? There are corsets that just smooth your curves and help with light control such as flattening your tummy. Others will completely modify your shape creating curves where none previously existed! In that case you will either need a good tailor to alter your clothes or you will need a whole new wardrobe.
*How often do you plan on wearing it? Some corsets require wearing in which isn’t worth the time investment if you are only planning to wear it to the occasional function while others are flexible enough to mould immedietly.
And finally, he most important questions:
*How much support do you need (and where?)  and how much do you want to alter your body shape?

Corset types:

Merry Widow: The classic 1950’s corset, a light support garment, which is ideal for daily underwear. It is flexible and elastic, offers phenomenal bust support to a larger bust and flattens the tummy. A favorite of brides for under wedding dresses. It is inconspicuous under most clothing. Overbust only.

Governess: A light weight non-elastic corset designed as underwear but is also great for outerwear. Perfect for under suits and other structured clothing it creates classic hourglass curves, while the smooth lines and rounded shape remain discrete beneath most clothing. The overbust version is great support for a larger bust.

Bodice: The perfect outerwear corset, this fully-lined midweight corset will mould your curves to hourglass perfection while the Edwardian cup greates a balconette cleavage. Available in a range of shapes and designs from romatically vintage to strong and modern, this outerwear corset combines equally well with jeans or a ballgown
 
Tightlacer: A heavy weight steel-boned corset designed for heavy body modification and continual long-term wear.  With a waist reduction of 4” and over, a tightlacing corset will completely transform your body over time, however it does require an extended wearing-in period and a lot of self discipline, as well as your new shape will require a new wardrobe!


Girdle: Although not technically a corset, it is alight supportfoundation garment  for everyday underwear. It will flatten your tummy, smooth waist and hips and lift and round the buttocks. Most versions are underbust for comfort. Ideal for underneath slim-fitting dresses and skirts. Not recommended for under pants. As most versions are underbust, they do require the addition of a good bra.

Corset Aesthetica

It happened again a few days ago. Someone came into our shop and said "I want a corset, but don't make me look like that woman on Guiness book of records" my response to this statement is pretty much the same for everyone:
I promise you dahling, I won't! no matter how much you pay me!

The reasons for this are two-fold
1) While I do apreciate the discipline that goes into that kind of tightlacing, Those people are bloody ugly. I do not appreciate the aesthetic, it goes against what I believe corsetry should be.
2) That kind of change will take years. Long before you start moving into the sphere of the bizarre, you are going to notice that you have taken it too far and you are going to do something about it.
That said. I supose that that is how most of these people ended up that shape in the first place.

Beyond all else, I believe in beauty. And I believe that while beauty takes many forms, there is a kind of a golden mean of proportion.

I have heard other corsetierres harping on about ultimate measurements and "magical" numbers - basically the saying that 18" is considered the ultimate waist measurement and that anything under that is considered even more potent and sexual. Again. Bollocks! Lets firstly keep sex out of it for a change, and secondly, each person is built differently, so how can one thing be right for all?

So how to decide on a waist-hip-bust proportion?
Generally, a woman who is evenly proportioned can lace smaller than one who has a larger bust or larger hips, since the waist on a pear or triangle shaped woman already looks smaller than it actually is due to her prominant feature. While such a woman often just needs to be nipped in an inch or two, the correct length corset is of uptmost importance in these situations - a busty woman should never wear an underbust and a hippy one should stay away from corsets with a long straight cut bottom.

 Body shapes have changed drastically over the years. I use a European sizing chart from the 1950's as the base for my corsets as I believe that the bust/waist/hip proportion on that chart (which was the average women's natural shape in that time) is near curvaceous perfection.
Here is an example:
a size 32 on my chart is:  (bust) 83cm ,(waist) 65cm, (hip) 90cm - a perfect hourglass.
 A modern woman of the same bust and hip measurement usually has a waist of no less than 75cm. (and you wondered why you couldn't get into any of those lovely vintage dresses?)
Women in previous eras wore foundation garments from a young age which allowed their bodies to grow into a slim feminine shape.
Ok, back to my initial argument. A corset should perfect your curves and accentuate your waist to the point where you are just beyond natural, Not so far that you start looking like a caricature, but just far enough that you will attract a second glance - which is always an admiring one!
I cannot tell you how many inches you need your waist measurement to be. I don't start a corset with a waist measurement in mind, In fact, I don't remember when last I designed a corset around a number. But I do start with a shape in mind - a shape that will be perfect on you whether you are tall, short, skinny, voluptious, long waisted or short torso. I work within the bounds of each woman's body and how to make her a better version of herself.

In our photoshoots, we strive for classic corsetted beauty. No hardcore dreadlocks, piercings, tattoos and silicon enhanced body parts, Alternative models in corsets are easy to come by, what is not is a modern beauty which while still edgy and real is aproachable, attainable and crosses the boundries that people have set for themselves in their standards of beauty. This is what a corset should be.

Update

I have put tightlacing on hold for a short while due to back problems. I have had it sorted out by my chiropracter and am just letting it settle for a few days before I continue. The thing about corsetry is that while it on it's own is very very unlikely to cause you harm it can accentuate existing problems. I have a spine that is built very much like a two year old's tower of blocks - all slightly out of cinc due to years of falling off motorbikes, bicycles and pretty much anything else that can be fallen off of. The corset made me realise exacly how much my back was out by.  by the middle of last week, I had laced down by 4" of the 6".

The Tightlacing Saga's. (Chapter 1)

A couple of months ago, I started toying with the idea of tightlacing again. Those who have been with me from around about the Cretateous age remember that I tightlaced down to a 20" at one time but stopped when I got very ill about five years ago in order to give my body a chance to heal properly.
Skip forward a few years and I started feeling the need for a little more discipline in my life.  Being a complete hedonist, I decided that this need was probably a sign that I am going soft in the head and so I ignored it....and ignored it..... and then gave in to it (probably because I am a hedonist and therefore have no willpower - how's that for a paradox!) The other reason that tipped me over the edge is that putting my jeans on in the morning started to involve a complicated routine of bouncing and pulling.

And so I made myself a new tightlacer. It is beautiful - The base is a vintage pure cotton sleeve lining that is white with a black pinstripe and it has a broad visible maroon petersham reinforcing strip with the same maroon binding top and bottom and ivory narrow petersham boning panels. The play of colours is very bold, but still understated. I always promised that I would never own a white tightlacer as the are too high-maintenance for my liking, but I kept been drawn to the fabric and at the end of countless trips to suppliers over a period of weeks, it was still the only thing that I liked. So there, I now have a white tightlacer.

I put it on for the first time this morning. Ben helped with the back and for once, didn't make my intestines ooze out of my ears which really was a pleasant surprise, Particualry as I hadn't had breakfast yet and so still had a need for them.  It is a nice feeling to be back in corsets again, Although there is still the worry that I am going to have to completely replace my wardrobe.
It is now about five hours on I expected to be a lot more uncomfortable than I am. New tightlacers are on a par with new really stiff leather boots and the wearing in process is the same with the exception that the chafing and bruises are usually on my hips and not my ankles. I have had a little back-ache, but to not have back-ache at all is a very foreign concept to me so that is all normal and a small cramp in my side which is more that likely caused by me trying to behave normally while tightlaced - something that is impossible. It is still very loose at the top and has some space at the hips, but that will fill out as I pull he waist in over time and it has an alarming amount of space at the back. I always find that intimidating, but hey, it's something to work towards. I am pretty tired because I have been on my feet for hours and have in total had one banana and a cup of tea that had polar bears frolicking in it by the time I got to finish it. One banana, then i was full. That bit is depressing. I have completely fallen out of the habit of corset eating - small meals often. and have fallen into the one gigantic meal when I get around to it habit which is probably going to be the hardest thing of all to break. I have also already decided that my next one needs to be about an inch and a half longer at the bottom. This one is a great one for when I am sitting all day, but I need one for days like today when I am on my feet all day too.
This is going to be a log of how thing go from here. I am not sure at this stage how far I want to take it, but time will tell. One of the great myths is that tightlacing is incredibly painful. It isn't. It is restrictive and it is certainly not easy, and except for a bit of backache while your body adjusts to actually been upright, if it is painful, you are doing something very very wrong.

from these two, you can see how mush space there is still at the top particulary. The corset is also still really crinkly because it is so new. Tightlacers usually take about a month to wear in completely. The trick to it all is really just to listen to your body, take it as it comes and relax. I do think that that is also pretty good advice for general life.

I have about four inches at the back to still pull in. By the time I have gone down the six or so inches that the corset demands it will only have about an inch all the way down the back (unless I lose more weight than I anticipate)

Note: I finally took it off after 10 hours, which I think is pretty good. I was expecting to last four. As long as I keep active I am ok, but at the end of it, I had been standing fairly still for about two hours and my back was screaming. Although it was a relief to stretch out, it is always quite sad to take it off. A corset is one of those strange things that irritates you while it is on (particulary while you're not used to having it around) and you miss it when it's not there. I'm not ready to sleep in it yet, so I'll start with days and move up from there. I think that I am very lucky, partially because I have been through it all before and as with tattoos, the mind blows the unpleasant bits out of proportion which has the unexpected side effect of making you breathe a sigh of relief when you realise that it really isn't that bad at all. The other thing is that I am very very flexible. that makes life soooo much easier :)

Upsy daisy

Something I noticed. Well actually something I noticed quite a few years back but am still astounded enough that it happens that I am going to write about it is how many people wear their corsets upside down.

Now, you'd think that this is a pretty obvious thing - your boobs are on the top, your bum is at the bottom. Most of us have known this since we first became aware of the world around us, for some it then dissapeared into a haze of boobs, bums, alchohol and hormones in no particular order, but those aren't really the ones that we are worrying about here.

I was looking through matric farewell photos and photoshoots given to me by a number of clients and was really quite amazed at how many of them featured upside down (and in some instances upside down and back to front) corsets. Yes, some of the ladies in question are a little light in the skull area, but most are quite smart. It is not like a sweetheart cupped Merry Widow is an easy thing to mistake either. So here is a quick checklist of 10 ways to know your corset is on the right way round.

1) Put your corset on before the before-party. If cocktails have been involved at any stage during that day, put it back in it's box and wear a towel. It'll make your life easier in the long run.

2) lay the corset on the bed. Unless you are a really weird shape (ie your boobs have sagged to crotch level in which case you probably need a surgeon rather than a corset) the two central bones will form a v that is open in the top, narrowing towards the bottom. Just to be sure that you heard the first time - the wide bit of the V  formed by the boning is at the Top, if it is at the bottom, stand on your head and try again.

3) Look for the cups of your corset - the bits where your boobs go. No matter how small they are, there is a space for them.  Most corsets will be slightly lower between the breasts, there may be a lace-up busk or zip down the centre. Line this central line up with centre of you - so that there is a straight line from your neck to your belly button. Great, now you know that your corset is at least not on sideways.

4) If your corset has frillies on it, they will be at the top front, they are not there to hide the fact that you haven't had a bikini wax for 6 months or are wearing your panties back to front.
5) If your corset has suspenders, these attach to your stockings, they do not go over your shoulders. remember this, it is important.

6) The bits of ribbon dangling from the centre of your corset go at the back, these are where you pull from to tighten it, remember? we went over this at least five times before when you came to collect your corset.

7) If you bought a "cincher" or "underbust" corset, it goes around your waist, not your boobs. Now please go and put on a bra.
8) The stretchy elastic bits on a Merry Widow? they go on the sides. Now, get a friend to hold the corset still and rotate your body till they are one on each side with the long dangly ribbon bit at the back.
9) No, corsets aren't reversable, if the silver satin is on the outside, it is inside out.

10) I am considering that you are now standing in front of the mirror with the fly (privacy panel) wrapped around your neck, the laces twisted and one half of the cost inside out and upside down with the whole lot back to front. A word of wisdom: go, have a vodka, put on a t-shirt and phone me in the morning.

Arwen

Pic 1 - Upside down Merry Widow

Pic 2- Upside down AND back to front. Good ol Suicide Girls, Still waving the flag for bad taste.

Corset Myths 01 - In the Victorian era, all women tightlaced

This is a huge one. Pretty much everyone who passes through our shop has heard (and usually believe this one) In some ways it isn't a bad myth as it gives people some sort of understanding of what a corset entails. most people understand what I am talking about if I use the words "Victorian Corset."  What I have more trouble with than this myth, is people who think that any little top with a bit of ribbon in it is a corset.

Let's put it this way. This myth is equivelant to people, 100 years in the future saying "all women in 2010 had gigantic silicon boobs squeezed into Wonderbras" based on what was said by our media.  The majority of women in the 19th and early 20th centuary did wear corsets, but in much the same way that the majority of women today wear bras. There were the odd ones who took corsetry to the extreme and as with all extremes, these are the ones that people remember, but most women wore corsets as a bit of day to day support. Our average tightlacer today is far more extreme than most of the extreme tightlacers of yesteryear. 
Before I go any further, let me just explain to those of you who don't know, what a tightlacer or tightlacing is. A tightlacer is a person who wears steel-boned corsets (tightlacer or tightlacing corset) on a permanent basis for body modifying reasons. The corsets are usually worn 23 hous a day, seven days a week, and are taken off only to bath and exercise. Some people wear them in order to minimise their waists, sometimes to ridiculous extremes (think Guiness Book of Records, world's smallest waist / Cathy Jung, Ethl Granger, Spook) who, while I aplaud their discipline, I do not agree with their aesthetics, Extreme is seldom beautiful.  Most wear corsets to perfect their proportions and give support under clothing. And there are few things more pleasing than a perfectly corsetted waist under a perfectly fitted suit.

There are plenty of records from the 19th C of women (and men) who tighlaced down to sizes of 12", 13", 14", of the much laudered Finishing Schools, and of tighlacing families however most of these have been proven to be fantasies usually published by the "National Enquirer" of the day.  Not one of the so called Tighlacing Finishing Schools has been proven to have existed and it is now a known fact that tightlacing was frowned upon, paticulary by the upper eschelons of society.  In fact the women who did tightlace were the feminists of the day. A corset gives a woman a confidant air and enhances her sensuality along with her natural assets,  Men (and I am generalising here so don't get on your high horses) always have been, but were especially then due to the political upheavals in society afraid of a confidant sensual woman. Basically put, corsets took women out of the kitchen and away from the kids (it is difficult to correlate a corseted woman with the image of a pregnant one) and put them firmly in the public eye - exacly where no-one including Queen Victoria wanted them to be.
Over the years, corsets have followed the shapes of outer fashions, moulding and sculpting the body to the fashion of the day, As outerwear changed, so did corsets, not the other way around. They supported the bust, and helped perfect proportions to let every women look gorgeous in fabulous clothes, exactly like bras, and still over 100 years later, like corsets do today.

Calling out the charlatans

A few days ago, we went to Woolworths to buy some (organic cotton) undies and while there, decided to stop and have a coffee. The  organic coffee at the woolworths cafe is really good incase you haven't tried it yet!  Herein lies the hypocrisy - the label in the undies says " be good to the environment, wash at 40 degrees" just so you know you shouldn't wash stretch fabric any higher that 40 degrees anyway as it destroys the elastic. While having our coffee, we noticed one of the staff in turn on the heater to counteract the airconditioning (which is on with the doors open) . WTF?! for a store that is branded to be so environmentally aware, that is a pretty careless blunder. Surely it would be easier and a hell of a lot better for the environment to just turn the aircon down or preferably off?

Corset Myths Intro

The modern world is a fairly bizarre thing. People who used to go to libraries and spend hours digging up slightly dodgy information and at least have a book to back them up can now go onto the internet, spend a quarter of the time searching and come up with things that are so fantastically fallacious that they are almost fictional masterpieces (although since they were found on the internet sprout from the mouth of a sixteen year old, they are always God's truth).
The internet is huge, rambling game of  broken telephone which collects together science, personal anecdotes and fairytales and moulds it into a endless and seamless myth which much like real life contains enough truth to make it believable and enough fallacy to make it interesting. This is not to say that there isn't pure information out there. It just that, like gossip, sensationalism spreads immedietly and completely and you have to dig a little to get to the truth. The older the truth, the harder it is to get at it.

Corsets have had a long and varied history as the one garment that is at once loved and reviled, it is steeped in stories that often started with Victorian era science (which as we all know was as enlightened as lobotomy) and were then embroidered over the next 150 odd years with the final flourish added by the internet.

I get dozens of people through my shop who come bearing myths about corsetry from women dying from corsetry through to Catherine de Medici.  Most of the myths are so ridiculous that I can't imagine why anyone would believe them, others are down-right hilarious and a few are actually dangerous.It has become a bit of an obsession to debunk them so I am going to be doing a series over time (and as they get brought in ) about corset myths, and on the flipside - corset truths.

The thing about corsets is that so much of what is corset is, is built on fable, the myths give the garment life and mystery and excitement, but at the same time, the truth is often far stranger and more interesting and I think that with the speed and spread of information there will always be something new and fascinating to discuss.
If you have read, seen or heard something that you would like to find out more about, please send it to me (arwen@arwen.co.za), or leave me a message in the comments and we'll see where this all leads...

A.

How to wear Bloomers!

Harem pants are everywhere and the unfortunate thing is that I've actually seen people wearing them! Personally I can't really imagine a sheikh somewhere having a room full of girls all wearing pants that look like a saggy nappy and make you walk like a duck - not a sexy look unless you're into some pretty weird stuff.
Fear not, there are alternatives and one of the best is Bloomers. Good ol Victorian undies, but of course brought right up to date and out from under skirts.

1) The first thing is to choose the correct length. There are two main lengths that you can't go wrong with;  3/4 and full length. If you are small, knee length (or just slightly above the knee) looks really cute instead of 3/4, If you are tall, avoid knee length at all costs, you will look like your bloomers shrunk in the wash. If you are older than four, do not ever even think about shorts or mid-thigh length; it's not cheeky, it's on a par with wearing pink cropped t-shirts and glitter eyeshadow into your 50's.

2) Shooooes...For 3/4 length bloomers, the higher the better, bring out the platforms, stillettos, sky high wedges, take your pick but make sure that they are for day, not too delicate and contain no trace of vintage. This is the first step to bringing bloomers out of the 19th centuary.  Think John Galliano, Givenchy's Holly-strap sandals, or Burberry Prorsum fantastic range in rubber, leather and wood. For night you can go for something prettier and lighter - maybe some mirrored Jimmy Choo stillettos. Only if you are planning on wearing full length can you think of wearing a flat shoe, but no converse, docs or ballet style pumps. rather go for something like a multi-strapped sandal with really skinny strapping, or for evening, something with a bit of sparkle. Also remember that with full length, the cuffs of your bloomers must cover your foot.

3) Fit:  When looking for bloomers, make sure that they are not gathered at the waist. They should have a slim fit over the hips and bum and flare into the leg,  the cuff should be long to even out the proportions. They should not look like a sheet that someone's grandmother has put 10m of elastic into. When they are well cut, bloomers will accentuate your waist, lengthen your legs and slim (believe it or not) your thighs. They also camoflauge any lumpy bits around your legs. They must never ever ever have a dropped crotch. Actually nothing in this world should ever have a dropped crotch.


4) Fabric and detailing:  Before we go any further, resist the urge for lace!
The nicest fabrics for bloomers are crisp and infinitely creaseable: cotton chinz, voiles, Egyptian cotton or fine linen for day. Of course they must be lined so as to keep their shape, They should be very slightly sheer, just enough that they have a slight glow. These fabrics will ensure that the bloomers aren't too volumous, they give the pants a great drape, are cool and wear beautifully. Yes, or course they crease, but that is actually part of the idea - they look even better when they are a bit crumpled. For evening a chiffon, georgette or silk chameuse is decadent and elegant. And no, there is to be no lace and none of that dreadful broderie anglaise anywhere on the bloomers, not even a little bit.

5) Colour: I love bright colour, but there is something about bloomers that discourages too much colour. They just seem to look better in neutrals. Black and white are classic. If white, you need to be even more careful not too let them look like antiques. Pale golds and silvers look elegant for evening. Cottons look great when they have been dip-dyed from a neutral down to a bright dirty pink, red, indigo or mint at the cuffs, but that flash of colour is all you can really get away with.

6) Wear bloomers with: since bloomers are volumous, keep your top slim fitting. They look great with a tailored shirt and a waistcoat, or if you really want to bring in lace, you can do it with your top, BUT, it must be bold and clean in both colour and design. No little frillies and excess fripperies. NO white or cream. Warp tops work well as they are just that much more dressy than a t-shirt. If your top is loose fitting or has a lot of detail at neckline, tuck it in and/or wear a belt to give a bit of a differenciation.

7) Corsets & Bloomers: One word - DON'T. Unless you are doing a Victorian photoshoot or want to walk down the street looking like an undressed time-traveller, don't even think it. If you want to show off your waist, wear a broad leather belt.

8) Jewelry - big, bold chunky. No dainty draped necklaces or marquesite and pearl rings. Jewelry is like shoes in this case - think entirely modern statement pieces.

A last word, the trick to carrying off bloomers is to be polished. I have always been someone who is slightly scruffy and undone, but it just doesn't work in this case - probably because that will always bring it back to the bedroom. They are one of those intimidating garments with so many preconceptions behind them that most people are scared off just by the idea, but once you've figured out how to make them work for you, they are flattering, interesting and fresh.

Welcome!

Hello to old friends and new
Over the last year, I sadly allowed the blog to fall by the wayside, but now with so many new and exciting things happening, I had to rectify the situation! This blog is my or my partner's personal and often blatently honest opinions on things from work and clients to fashion to life in general, please remember this before you decide to get horrendously offended by something that one of us has said and feel free to have your say in the comments section. I plan to update this blog often (well a hell of a lot more often that I got around to the previous one!) and it does run in collaboration with our website http://www.arwen.co.za/ and our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=12620185929 each of the three looks at something different. Before I forget, any photos, sketches, essays, or pretty much anything else you find here belongs to Arwen Garmentry and/or the photographer, artist or writer in qhestion and may not be used anywhere else without permission in writing. Sorry, had to get that out and over with!
Enjoy!
Arwen