Buying a steel boned corset.
A guide to buying steel boned corsets. What is the best type of corset for you? Custom, made to measure or ready to wear?
Firstly, what’s the difference? Custom corsets are uniquely made specifically for you these take the most time to arrange and construct because every element is worked individually. Made to measure corsets are pre designed but made to your individual measurements to ensure the best fit, these generally take less time than the fully custom corsets because the design stage and the preparation is already done. Ready to wear or ‘off the peg’ corsets are pre designed and pre made to standardized measurements making the fastest option as they are available for immediate shipping.
A custom corset:
Is of course the premium corset to buy they are completely unique to you, your measurements, your preferences and your personality. Whether you know exactly what your are looking for but can’t find it anywhere or if you have a specific event with a specific theme or style that you want to match to use the designer/makers skills to express your own individuality.
Made to measure corsets:
Are a simpler and faster way to get a great fitting corset. Pick a design from the collection and have it made to your exact measurements for a super comfy fit.
Ready to wear corsets:
Are bliss for a girl o the go, choose, buy, wear! It’s that simple. From everyday essentials that can worn to work or around the supermarket to sleek, elegant pieces that are guaranteed to rescue a well loved outfit to suit any ocsasion.
Ready to wear corsets, particularly in a standard collection, can often be less expensive as the designer is able to bulk purchase fabrics and materials reducing the costs. The same theory can apply to made to measure corsets, a designer may have a certain number or corsets made up and will save some of the bulk bought fabrics for custom measurements. Where as custom corsets can involve a fair amount of hunting for just the perfect fabric, trimmings and details.
Within the ready to wear section also comes the designers choice where you have the opportunity to purchase unique corsets that the designer has been inspired to create, they are often unique and unrepeatable and constructed with specific features in mind, some patterns and styles lend themselves to a curvier figure or a longer torso or just a particular physical attribute that isn’t so appropriate to other corsets, if you know your figure type or what you are looking for, it is easy to search through a designers collection to see what suits you, of course if you can’t find what you are looking for, you can contact the designer to re work a design that you liked to suit your body type.
Modern steel boned corsets.
What type of corset is best for me?
There are several different approaches to buying corsets, each one has it’s good points depending on your reason for buying a corset, how you want to wear the corset and the occasions that you will be wearing the corset too.
Waspie or waist cincher corsets:
Steel boned waspie or waist cincher corsets are the most versatile and easy to wear corsets, they are commonly found without the busk front closure making them much more invisible under clothing. The waspie corset came around in the Edwardian are as women became more and more liberated and became more regularly involved in sporting activities. They are great choice for a first corset and are very popular with waist trainers, brides and people who like to wear corsets to work for back support.
Front lacing waspies:
Front lacing waspies are a quite under rated but fabulous corset, a cross over from the waspie corset and the more medieval style corsets the came around for the combination of convenience and comfort in seconds. Modern fashions can be quite fixated on the late Victorian era being sent on having the busk clips showing at the front yet most people you will have a conversation with about corsets will be undeniably drawn to the romantic images of rustic women with flowing locks and a front lacing corset.
There are my first choice of corset for working in, not so restricting that you become uncomfortable at any point of the day but supportive enough to correct your posture and keep you away from bad habits whilst you work, infact, when I went a couple of weeks without wearing one at work, my old back pain started to come back as I allowed myself to slip back in to bad habits, not sitting properly at my machines and stretching round from my sewing machine to the computer.
Under bust corsets:
A marvel from an era where woman refused to sacrifice style for accomplishment and would only compromise to better their own position! An corset is less restrictive than a full overbust corset yet is still capable or creating an astonishing hourglass figure.
Overbust corsets:
The overbust corset is joi de vivre of all clothing, unique in it’s characteristics, no garment in history has create such as long lasting and passionate obsession. Rather than being a symbol or oppression, it has become a symbol of strength, elegance and captivating, romantic beauty.