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Conical vs Round Rib Corsets – How to choose the best silhouette for your body

Gemini longline corset, round rib and conical rib silhouette modeled and designed by Lucy Corsetry

WHAT?! You just got finished reading through a dozen blog posts / watching an hour of corset videos on Youtube to figure out what length and size of corset to get, how many bones it should have, and how much to budget for your corset, and there’s still more to learn??

At the risk of overwhelming the beginners, the silhouette of a corset is what can make or break the whole experience! A corset that is ) ( shaped is often less comfortable than a corset that’s } { shaped, even though the latter seems much more dramatic to the eye, even if the two corsets have the same measurements at the top edge, waistline, and bottom edge.

When I designed the Gemini corsets in 2015, my goal was to empower wearers with a choice – round rib or conical rib? It’s up to their individual preference! However, sometimes too many options can lead to more confusion and analysis paralysis. How do you know which silhouette is right for you? I receive this question almost weekly among my prospective clients, and this list of factors is what developed from having these conversations over the past 7 years. Hopefully this list will help you decide which silhouette is better for you:

(Take the quiz to find out which style is better for you!)

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Created on By Lucy

Conical Rib vs Round Rib - Which is Right for Me?

Try this quiz to see if your body and your experience level makes a conical rib corset (aka tapered or straight rib), or a round rib corset (aka a cupped or convex rib) better suited for you!

1 / 12

Is your corseted waist larger than 26 inches (66cm)?

2 / 12

Do you have any prior experience with corsets? Was your last corset more conical or more round ribbed?

3 / 12

Do you experience claustrophobia or have any anxiety around corseting?

4 / 12

Do you sing or do public speaking professionally?

5 / 12

Have you ever played a brass or woodwind instrument?

6 / 12

Have you ever been a competitive swimmer?

7 / 12

Do you have experience with ballet or Pilates?

8 / 12

What is your main reason for wearing a corset?

9 / 12

How do you feel about historical clothing and vintage silhouettes?

10 / 12

How is your digestion on most days?

11 / 12

Have you ever carried a pregnancy to term?

12 / 12

Have you ever cracked or broken a rib before (childhood accidents, contact sports, etc.)

Your score is

The average score is 62%

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Physiological factors:

Corset size

Let’s say you have a small frame, and the circumference of your floating ribs is 26 inches around if you were to look at an x-ray of yourself. But let’s also say your natural waist is closer to 40 inches, and you wear a size 32″ corset. The waistline of the corset is still 6 inches bigger than where your natural ribs sit! The corset will cinch in mostly adipose (fat) tissue and possibly some musculature, but mostly affects the squishy flesh that lies over your ribcage, while the ribs themselves might not be compressed much or at all.

However, if someone else has a larger frame but less body fat, such that their floating ribs have a lower circumference of 28 inches but they happen to wear a size 22″ corset, their ribs will have to accommodate a lot more compression. For this reason, many bigger corset wearers who have softer waistlines and wear corset sizes larger than 26″ find it easier to wear conical rib corsets compared to very lean corset wearers who wear smaller waist sizes.

Singing, public speaking, or playing a brass instrument

Singing, public speaking, and other activities which require projecting the voice, usually requires diaphragmatic breathing and a large lung capacity. Since conical rib corsets can result in more shallow breathing, speakers and performers that depend on the strength of their voice may prefer a more round rib corset.

Brass instruments strengthen the diaphragm and costal muscles in a way that singing or most woodwind instruments don’t. Blowing through a tiny aperture in order to create the “buzz” takes a lot of strength to overcome the resistance. Not only does this build up the muscles around your ribs (and more muscle tone can make your body more resistant to waist training) but also taking full, deep breaths over and over again for years during brass practice can cause your ribs to expand or flare permanently, creating a more barrel-shaped rib cage.

Woodwind instruments don’t require as much diaphragmatic strength so they typically don’t have as much resistant muscle, but they still require a large lung capacity.

Of course – if you don’t use it, you lose it – if you quit playing the tuba after middle school, you will likely lose some of that muscle tone, but a flared rib can persist. If you no longer practice a brass or woodwind instrument and your goal is to make your ribs appear more narrow, a conical corset may help with this.

Competitive sports – especially swimming

While all strenuous sports require deep breathing, competitive swimming is particularly demanding on core and back strength, as well as regulating your breathing. This goes for speed swimming as well as synchronized swimming, and even “mermaiding” and freediving (where a large lung capacity is advantageous to stay underwater for extended periods of time).

Just like with playing brass instruments, this type of exercise builds up corset-resistant muscles around the ribs, and also can eventually cause flared ribs. If you no longer swim competitively and your goal is to train your larger ribs to be more narrow, a conical corset may help with this.

Ballet and/or Pilates

Ah, finally a sport that complements corseting instead of fighting against it! Ballet and Pilates are both activities designed to contract the core and “close” the ribs. They prioritize both lean strength and flexibility of the body’s muscle groups. As conical rib corsets also “close” and taper the ribs, wearers who have previous experience with these activities may be at an advantage. Learning how to breathe with contracted ribs through sport, they may already naturally breathe in a way that’s conducive to wearing corsets. And if they have sufficient flexibility in their oblique muscles, they might find it comfortable to wear corsets.

Those who dance professionally may not want to waist train strenuously or as a lifestyle, because wearing corsets for 23 hours a day, 6-7 days a week can atrophy core muscles and work against your dance training. However, those who dance moderately or casually can also lace moderately. It’s common for corset wearers to be mistaken for dancers due to their good posture and subtle changes to their movement!

Cracked or broken ribs, past or present (childhood accidents, contact sports, etc)

This goes without saying – if you have any previous injuries to your ribs, this can cause rib sensitivity, asymmetry through the ribs, more rib rigidity (bone fractures can put you at marginally higher risk for refracture), and generally more discomfort and resistance to anything pushing down on your ribs, also known as A Bad Time when it comes to trying to wear a conical rib corset.

Interestingly, some folks with hypermobility can experience spontaneous rib dislocation, where their ribs “pop out” of place suddenly and painfully. Bioanthropologist Dr Rebecca Gibson and Kitty Krell of Crimson Rose Corsetry are two such people with H-EDS who experience this, and both wear corsets for medical purposes – a conical silhouette corset can place continuous pressure on the ribs to prevent them from popping out.

If you’ve ever had an injury to your ribs, whether it led to a broken rib or not, proceed with caution and even bring it up with your doctor before attempting to train your ribs.

Pregnancy

All sorts of interesting things happen during pregnancy (especially in third trimester). Most relevant among them: your body creates the hormone relaxin which loosens all the ligaments of your body. This is designed to widen the pelvis to allow passage of the baby during natural labor, but as the hormone doesn’t discriminate and affects every joint in your body, it can also result in side effects like one’s feet growing a shoe size – and flaring of the ribs (especially in someone with a short torso and/or large baby that pushes out on the ribs).

That’s not to say that one can’t wear a conical rib corset to train the ribs inward again, but it may take more work and more discomfort compared to someone who was never pregnant. And if you ever plan to have more kids, you can expect your ribs to flare right back out again, leading some to believe that training the ribs between pregnancies is a practice of futility. If this is you, you may be more comfortable with a round rib silhouette in the interim – at least until you’re certain you’re done having children.

Digestive issues

This is another situation where YMMV, especially in the case of IBS where one can fluctuate between constipation and diarrhea, and any number of irritants or food sensitivities can set one off. One person might be able to eat grapes and high-FODMAP fruits in a corset without bloating, another person might be able to drink milk just fine, and yet another person might be able to consume neither without debilitating pain.

Oddly enough, it’s worth mentioning that (anecdotally! Not done in any peer-reviewed study) the conical rib seems to be a more comfortable choice for people who have sensitive tummies, while the “pinchy” waist restriction of a very cupped or pipestem corset can set off acid reflux or IBS issues for some. While we could speculate as to why this happens (it may have to do with the effectiveness with which a cupped-rib corset can “divide and conquer” as Fran Blanche put it in an old article), it really seems to depend on the person.

Of course, ideally you should be in good health with regular digestion if you wish to pursue waist training at all. You will need to be monitoring your bathroom activities when you start waist training anyway.

Previous corseting experience

The body responds best to consistency. If you started with a round rib corset, it may feel easier to continue with round ribbed corsets (maybe even progressing to “rounder” and more cupped in silhouette).

Likewise, if you started with a more tapered-rib corset, you may find yourself gravitating towards more conical silhouettes (maybe even progressing to dramatically “geometric” ice-cream cone ribbed corsets).

If you’re still looking for your very first corset, the Gemini may not be the corset for you because it is specifically designed to give a very dramatic, striking silhouette, designed for advanced waist reduction. (However, if your body is naturally curvy (curvier than an hourglass) such that a Gemini might be the right beginner corset for you, continue reading through the rest of this article to determine which silhouette might be better to start with.)

Model wears the Gemini corset in the conical sihouette (left) and the round rib silhouette (right)

Psychological factors and personal preference:

Claustrophobia

If you have claustrophobia or if you get anxious from waist restriction, the Gemini corset may not be the corset for you because it is specifically designed to be a very dramatic, striking silhouette, designed for advanced waist reduction.

However, this conversation is meant to be about silhouette in general, not necessarily waist reduction (there are more mild-reduction corsets out there that have straight ribs or rounded ribs, if you’re more of a beginner and trying to choose between them!).

If you have limited experience with corsets, any round rib style is likely to be better for those who might have claustrophobia or anxiety around corseting. A round rib Gemini corset has the ability to place pressure primarily at the waistline, and little to no pressure on the ribs and hips, so it can feel more like a narrow training belt (while still looking stunning).

YMMV though, as some folks like the narrow band of pressure, while others find it unnerving and would much rather have the smooth, gradual (for lack of a better word) gradient of pressure that comes with a conical rib, even though it results in more compression overall. As with all things that affect your psyche, it’s very much subjective and up to individual preference.

Your main purpose or goal for wearing a corset

Different tissues and systems of the body have different levels of difficulty when it comes to waist training. As we mentioned under #1, fat (adipose) tissue is the softest and compresses readily by corsets (although it also tends to bounce back easily, and so it’s more difficult to see long-term results if you’re compressing primarily adipose tissue).

Oblique muscles take time to first stretch and then ‘mold’ to the shape of a corset (can take many months). Bones take the longest time as it requires your costal joints to become more flexible, and for very advanced (lifestyle) corseters, there’s even an element of bone remodeling over years! So if your main goal is long-term waist training to make your natural waist smaller (semi)permanently, then the conical rib will be more effective in achieving this.

If however your goal is for a temporary but dramatic-as-possible tightlaced silhouette, the round rib may be the better choice.

If you are looking for a gentle hug of a corset for back support and pain relief, going for a gently tapered silhouette in a mild waist reduction will be better than swinging too dramatically on either end of the spectrum (too conical can hurt one’s ribs, and too cupped can hurt one’s lower back if it’s not well fitted to your body or experience level).

Your aesthetic preference (and taste in historical clothing)

Most historical corsets have a more tapered rib, from the very straight Elizabethan bodies, to the smoothly tapered Victorian corsets, and the even slightly more conical Edwardian S-curve corsets. The very conical silhouette of the straight-ribbed Gemini lends itself particularly well under 1940s and 1950s Dior New Look retro style clothing.

On the other hand, when corset enthusiasts speak of anatomically correct / anatomically patterned corsets, they are typically talking about more round-ribbed and convex-hipped corsets which gently cup and support the rigid areas of the skeletal frame, while only compressing the soft areas of the body (the squishy waistline). If this is your preference, and if you like “stealthing” under modern clothing, the round rib may be more to your liking.

What additional factors, if any, would you add to this list? Do you personally prefer round rib or conical rib corsets? Leave a comment below!

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The X-Rays were ‘Doctored’ – Gibson’s Newest study exposes O’Followell’s Le Corset as a hoax

Summary (TL;DR)

  • Anthropologist Dr. Rebecca Gibson published an article on June 20, 2023 critiquing Ludovic O’Followell’s famous 1908 study Le Corset and exposing it as faulty.
  • The data was messy, the x-rays were heavily manipulated, and the subjects might not have been alive.
  • Even physicians and researchers are not immune to bias, but O’Followell’s ‘doctored’ research should be viewed as what it is: deceit.
  • Since it was the first (and for a long time, only) study on the physical effects of corseting that used x-ray imaging (radiography), many of his incorrect conclusions were blindly accepted as fact and went without debate or correction for over a century. Other studies on corseting provided exaggerated illustrations, but no radiographs, and were even worse (Gibson even referring to them as hoaxes).
  • The one thing O’Followell and Gibson agreed on is the conclusion that responsible wearing of corsets shows “no correlation with other diseases or death.”

Read Dr. Gibson’s study
Versus
Read Dr. O’Followell’s study

Gibson states that the Le Corset (1908) does not stand the test of time.

Not only because medical knowledge has advanced so much in the past century, but also because O’Followell’s study is a lens into a culture and time where misogyny was even more rampant in the medical community and society at large (women were often diagnosed with hysteria; women were not considered legal persons with equal access to education or voting rights; women were often reduced to mindless “victims of fashion” with no agency or bodily autonomy, thought to have suffered to appease the male gaze).

“Throughout his book, O’Followell argues that the medical “harms” done to women who corseted were self-inflicted, either by abuse of the corset, or by wearing a bad corset (badly made, ill-fitted, unsupportive, laced “too” tight).”

Gibson 2023

O’Followell also believed that tightlacing for vanity’s sake by young women ought to be “punished.” O’Followell conceded several times in his work that only tightlacing would be a risk for certain health issues and that a well-constructed, properly-worn corset that’s not tightlaced would pose no danger to the heart and circulatory system.

Despite this begrudging admission, the main argument O’Followell put forth was that corsets compressed the ribs (and therefore it’s reasonable to assume that any organs lying within the ribs would also be compressed) and he tried to “prove” this with radiographs.

Evidence shows that the x-rays were likely manipulated.

X-ray projection of a straight-front (“line”) corset, from “Le Corset” (1908) via Wikipedia Commons. Gibson spends considerable time breaking down the flaws of this particular radiograph.
Slack laces shown in blue (Gibson 2023)

The laces are too slack (blue)

Gibson’s observations: The metal wire lacing (used to show the lacing in the x-ray) was slack on the top half of the corset – indicating that O’Followell was not consistent in the way he laced his subjects for the study. He also mentioned that his subjects didn’t participate in lacing up their own corsets (more on why later) so the way the corsets are worn in these images may not be indicative of how women normally wore their corsets. How could his results possibly be reproducible if the corsets aren’t properly and consistently laced and tightened to fit?

Lucy’s thoughts – what if O’Followell deliberately overtightened the corsets at the floating ribs in a way that caused the subjects discomfort? How is it possible to get an accurate “snapshot” of how the corset affects the body over time if that snapshot is not consistent with how these subjects wore them on a daily basis? (You’ll soon learn why that wasn’t an issue after all.)

Binding overhang shown in red (Gibson 2023)

That is not how binding works (red)

Gibson’s observations: In radiographs, soft tissues of the body (fat and muscle) are seen as transparent, hazy shading, while denser materials like bones and metal are more opaque. The metal ‘suture’ was said to be inserted into the top and bottom binding of the corset to visualize the borders, but it doesn’t wrap around to the front of the body – rather it flies off to the side in a way that doesn’t make sense and doesn’t accurately follow the true edge of the corset. In fact, Gibson says that the orientation of this wire seems more indicative of the metal laid on top of a body that might be lying down.

Lucy’s thoughts: I initially thought the dark haze above the black line was “muffin top” or flesh which might indicate that the top was overtightened, but I think I’m wrong here as the original shown above from Wikicommons doesn’t show the same darkness – and it’s hard to overtighten an area where the laces are so slack as previously outlined in blue. At first I wasn’t going to bother mentioning this, but my readers may have drawn a similar conclusion.

Boning protruding through the binding in purple (Gibson 2023)

The bones are too long

Gibson’s observations: The steel bones are protruding through the top of the binding, which is inconsistent with the way any corset at the time would have been constructed. They’re clearly too long for the corset. (While this might not seem relevant to the conclusions drawn in O’Followell’s study, it’s another example of sloppy, unreproducible work and perhaps the use of a corset that is atypical of the era.)

Lucy’s thoughts – if the bones were removable and not secured in, this may affect the fit of the corset – it’s not providing proper vertical tension, and may lead to the fabric collapsing and wrinkling uncomfortably in places. If, on the other hand, the steels were not in the corset at all, and instead laid down overtop of the subject… well, nothing would surprise me at this point.

No organ outlines, but also no front of the ribs. (Gibson 2023)

Where are the organs?

Gibson’s observations: often in radiographs, different organs can be partially visualized and distinguished from each other – the lungs are full of air and they look different next to the heart or solid liver, for example. Gibson took the images to radiology technologist Rory Langton to see if they could see the outlines of any organs. It was inconclusive. X-ray technology was still a bit crude (it had only been around for 10 years at the time of publishing).

But, weirdly, the front of the rib cage and sternum can’t be viewed here either, and usually the far-side of the ribs are not obscured by soft organs in x-rays. Gibson says, “Such complete opacity is more consistent with the rib cage having been stuffed with something to maintain its shape.”

Vertebrae outlined in green – this orientation would cause instant paralysis, shock and death (Gibson 2023)

(MOST CRITICAL) The spine is not compatible with life

Gibson’s observations: The lumbar vertebrae make no sense on a living person. (In normal x-rays, the spine looks like a literal column with the vertebral bodies stacked like thick layers on a cake, similar to this image, pulled from this study on AI learning in radiology – Lucy)

Compare with O’Followell’s image: you’re looking more at a top-down view of each vertebra, through the canals where the spinal cord should be – the spine is not stacked at all, but rather each vertebra is rotated upwards 90° and then twisted clockwise another 45°. This is probably not compatible with life and there’s no corset that could do something this drastic. Langton says that this is an x-ray of either a dead body or artificial body parts.

Lucy’s thoughts: having studied anatomy and physiology, I’m frankly embarrassed that I didn’t see this earlier. (Then again, a century of health science experts didn’t notice either.) But this is also why I had no need to worry about the corset being uncomfortably wrinkled or overtightened on the body, and why the subjects didn’t “participate” in their own lacing of their corsets. Because they weren’t alive, and maybe never were.

If you’d like to play around with the orientation of a 3D model of a vertebra for yourself, you can do so here (from Sketchfab.com)

Normally, the vertebral bodies (2) are stacked on top of one another like thick layers on a cake, the spinous processes (6) face backwards like little dorsal fins, and the spinal cord runs vertically through the canal.

But wait, there’s more (trickery)

Gibson goes on to analyze other x-rays from the Le Corset, including an x-ray showing the back of the ribs, with the busk showing in front of the pelvis, meaning that the corset was possibly worn backwards. But upon closer inspection…

Yikes

According to the Langton, the pelvis is imaged from the front – but the orientation of the ribs look like they’re imaged from the back. So Gibson says this was likely a composite image of “at least two” radiographs with the back of someone’s thorax pasted onto the front of the pelvis.

Also, there were no corsets in 1908 that had this specific contouring on the edges. The metal lines again appear to be laid on top of a body that was lying down. And again, whether this subject had all of their internal organs is “inconclusive.”

Understandably, some bodies of literature that relied on O’Followell’s findings and took them to be fact may now be (at least partially) called into question. 

In Gibson’s previous publications (her doctorate thesis in 2015 which I covered on my channel, and her followup book The Corseted Skeleton in 2020), Gibson borrowed skeletons from 19th century European gravesites and studied their ribs and spines – noting distinctions between different cultures (corset wearer or non-wearer), sexes, ages, etc. She noted that corset wearers during this time period did show the influence of the corset’s pressure on their skeletal structure. But importantly, she also noted that in nearly 4000 death records, zero of them mentioned corsets or tightlacing being related to the cause of death. (And she said some of those “causes” on the written records were creative, like “died from evil”, so you’d think corsets would’ve come up at least once. It never did.)

Gibson goes on to say it’s important not to confound the causes of certain skeletal deformations and erroneously blame the corset for certain findings, as some other anthropologists are guilty of doing.

Can be caused by rickets alone, but NOT corsets aloneChanges to the sternum (pigeon-chest), “waviness” of ribs.
Can be caused by corsets alone, but NOT rickets aloneDownward angling of the spinous processes (Gibson 2015).
Can be caused by rickets OR corsets (or both, but not necessarily)Flattening and/or narrowing of the rib cage.
Allegedly requires BOTH rickets AND the wearing of corsets from pre-pubertyRachitic Flat Pelvis, or the “flattening” of the pelvic girdle from back to front (which can only happen with extremely soft and malleable bone from malnutrition and starting from a young age, and the unique downward pressure on pelvic tendons caused by specific corsets) (Ortner & Putschar 1985, p 279).
Lucy’s thoughts: I personally need more evidence re: rachitic flat pelvis. Different types of rachitic pelvis can be seen in male and female skeletons, young and old, but I haven’t been able to find any publication that proves that rachitic FLAT pelvis is unique to corset-wearing European women.

Notable quotes and conclusions

Were corseted women all victims of violent, patriarchally-enforced dress codes?

Gibson hints that this is certainly the narrative that some researchers seem to benefit from propagating. But just as humans today are not a monolith, so women in 18th and 19th century France possessed – and expressed, in writing to magazines and newspapers – differing opinions, preferences, and experiences. Some men penned essays on the silliness or dangers of women’s fashion, while others called a woman’s natural silhouette “uncivilized”. There is also plenty of evidence of women responding to these opinion columns rejecting both of these claims.

“The corset became, if not villain, then antihero for which some could root, against what most of society and most of the medical community believed and advised.”

Gibson 2023

Humans are not immune from bias – including physicians, researchers, and society in general.

Gibson states that we cannot take outdated medical publications as 100% fact, or continue seeing the researchers as an unerring authority, especially when there is clear evidence of cherry-picking their subjects and patients, using small sample sizes, manipulating their data, doctoring their evidence, and relying on anecdotes – and particularly when the author of the work is clearly biased or otherwise had a conflict of interest, as O’Followell did.

Society / culture (and the individual people who make up that society) can definitely hold biases and this can definitely skew their conclusions. But it’s particularly egregious to manipulate the raw data to fit one’s agenda.

“In many cases, inaccuracies were passed to researchers, or from researchers to the reader, for various reasons—the culture may have had their own agenda.”

Gibson 2023

Conclusion: are corsets dangerous or not?

According to O’Followell: in Le Corset (1908) he admitted, perhaps begrudgingly, that only tightlacing would be considered a risk for certain health issues – and that a well-constructed, properly-worn corset that’s not tightlaced “cannot have any dangerous influence on the heart in particular and on the circulatory system in general.”

According to Gibson: in The Corseted Skeleton (2020) she shares how nearly 4000 death records failed to blame the corset as the cause of death, and she goes on to say that although there are clear permanent effects of tightlaced corsets on the skeletons she studied, her “examination showed no correlation with other diseases or death.”

Read Dr. Gibson’s study
Versus
Read Dr. O’Followell’s study

What do you think of Rebecca Gibson’s latest study?

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“Changes” to the Gemini Corset Size Chart

Greetings everyone! Recently Timeless Trends and I agreed to change the measurements chart of the Gemini corset. To clarify, the actual measurements of the pattern/ silhouette have not changed, just the way we communicate the measurements and where they were taken.

Gemini Measurements – original (standard) length

  • Underbust – 8.5″ rib spring. Because of the high back, and when a person’s torso is long / their waistline is low, it can be a little tricksy and has been known to accommodate up to 10″ spring.
  • (Waist – 0″ spring, goes without saying)
  • (Very) High hip – measured 2 inches down from the waistline (for those with high, square hip bones): 12″ spring
  • High(-ish) hip – measured 3 inches down from the waist (for those with a somewhat more common, sloping hips): 14″ spring
  • Mid hip – measured 4.5 inches down from the waist at ~ lap level: 16″ spring
Gemini Original Corset in beige cotton – conical rib on the left, and round rib on the right

Gemini Measurements – Longline (“Gem Long”)

  • Underbust – 8.5″ rib spring (the Gemini original and longline are essentially identical from the waist up in terms of measurements, although I made a few patterning improvements and very minor tweaks with the longline).
  • Waist – 0″ spring
  • High(-ish) hip – measured 3 inches down from the waistline: 12″ spring
  • Mid hip – measured 4.5 inches down from the waistline: 14″ spring
  • Low hip – measured 6 inches down from the waist: 16″ spring
Gemini Longline Corset on Lucy (who doesn’t have the hips to fill out the bottom) – round rib on the left, and conical rib on the right

What changed on the size charts?

You may see conflicting information on the internet that the Gemini has a 12″ high hip spring, or a 14″ high hip spring, or a 16″ low hip spring. All are true depending on where you measure and which Gemini corset you’re considering.

Way back in 2016 I communicated the hip spring at the 2″ mark because I wanted to show exactly how dramatic and curvy the corset is with its “hip shelf“. However, none of the other corsets in my shop have hip springs at the 2” mark (save for the cincher I think because it’s cut so short on the side). Over the years it’s become clear that customers would appreciate the hip springs all being measured at approximately the same spot.

The primary reason why the Gemini is returned (in particular the original length Gemini, not the longline) is because the wearer’s hips are often too small or too sloping to fill out the bottom half of the corset, and since the majority of folks have a sloping hip (as opposed to square), I pitched the idea of communicating the “high hip” measurement one inch further down, where the hip bones are more likely to be, will help our client base to better predict how the Gemini will fit.

So instead of saying the Gemini has a 12″ high hip spring, Timeless Trends and I have changed our size charts to say that the standard length Gemini has a 14″ high hip spring instead as it better communicates that a dramatic pear-shaped figure is required to fill out the hips appropriately (hopefully reducing the number of returns).

Both the 12″ measurement and the 14″ measurement are true, because the hip springs are measured at different spots (2 inches down vs 3 inches down).

The majority of wearers do not have high, square hips, which is why the Gemini longline was later created for those who are curvy and pear-shaped but have slightly more sloping hips. Measuring the hip at 3 inches down on both Gemini corsets, the original Gemini will have a 14″ spring, while the longline will have a 12″ spring at that same spot.

Special thanks to the reader who brought to my attention the discrepancy between my old Youtube video and the current size charts – hopefully this blog post explains any discrepancy!

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below and I’ll be happy to clarify.

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The Perfect Lacing Length Calculator

Earlier this year, I worked on a new calculator to determine the ideal length of lacing anyone needs for their corset, and I shared it on Patreon but I completely forgot to share it here on my site once it was beta tested!

It looks extremely simple, and I’m hoping that ends up being a good thing for most. Do keep in mind however that this is an estimation – it’s not going to take into account teensy details like whether the grommets are closer at the waistline. That would be overkill for only negligible differences in the total lacing length. It’s just laces folks!

The calculator takes both centimeters and inches for your natural waist size and the corset size, and it will give you the total length lacing answer in both yards and meters.

I will eventually update this post with a video tutorial, but if you’d like to try the calculator for yourself, I’d love some feedback on it! If you don’t trust the calculator and you’d prefer to calculate your own length, then below the calculator I will post a step-by-step guide on how to determine for yourself how much lacing you need for your own corset and individual situation. :) But the calculator is designed to work whether you own the corset yet or not – in other words, if you’re trying to decide whether you need to purchase extra laces along with your new corset, this is a good way to test it before checking out.

Remember: this formula should theoretically work for any corset brand!

How to calculate the ideal length of lacing without my calculator:

(If you want me to “show my work” so to speak and break down how the calculator works)

Step 1: take your corset and expand the back enough that you’re able to do up the busk easily (if you’re struggling with the busk, the laces are too short). Don’t tighten the laces – just remove your corset and lie it flat, so that the laces are still extended to the ideal amount.

(The first step is important: don’t just take your corset off at the end of the day and measure the laces then. The point of Step 1 is to make sure you have a measurement of the lacing gap when you’re putting the corset on at the beginning of the day, not when you’re taking the corset off. Because the waistline is marginally smaller after several hours of waist training, it might take you 6 inches of slack to comfortably put the corset on, but only 4 inches to take the corset off, so be mindful of this difference.)

Step 2: take a tape measure and measure how wide the lacing gap is at the widest point – you want to measure from grommet to grommet (the holes that the laces are threaded through), instead of back edge to back edge of the corset.

Example: say your corset is 10 inches wide from edge to edge; it’s probably closer to 12 inches wide from the grommets on the left side to the grommets on the right side since you’re going over the bone and the fabric, to the middle of the hole.

Step 3: multiply that by the number of grommets in the corset.

Really we’re using the number of grommets as a substitute for the # of times the lacing criss-crosses the back. For the most common lacing methods without any tricky business, the number of grommets always matches the number of times the laces criss cross along the back but it’s easier to count grommets than it is to count a mess of laces. Don’t take my word for it, you can count it yourself!

Example: For the Gemini, it has 28 grommets, 14 on each side. You’ll see the laces criss-cross 28 times from one side of the corset to the other. Counting the Xs, there are seven on the outside the corset, meaning it crosses 14 times. On the inside of the corset there are another six Xs, so it crosses 12 times. Plus the very top and very bottom where the lacing runs straight across two single times. 

So a 12 inch wide lacing gap x 28 criss-crosses across the back = 336 inches

Step 4: we’re not done yet – it’s good to have a little extra more, just in case. Do you see how each criss-cross, or “X” is on an angle, the laces are not going straight across? Remember back to trigonometry in school where you were made to find the hypotenuse of a triangle, the hypotenuse is always going to be a little longer than the base. When it comes to a triangle as squat as this, the difference is quite small, but when you add them up with 28 different triangles, all those little bits can add up!

But let’s not make it too tedious – let’s fudge the answer for the sake of simplicity and add the length of the back of the corset times 2.

Example: The Gemini is 14 inches high at the back, add (14×2 = 28 inches). Adding this to the above, 336 + 28 = 364 inches.

364 inches is about 10.1 yards, or 9.24 (about 9 and ¼ meters).

So, if you need your corset to expand at least 10 inches wide (from edge to edge) to get the corset on and off, that’s about how many inches of lacing you’ll likely need!   When it comes to lacing I will almost always round up to the nearest half meter (because places like Fabricland or JoAnn will often ask for rounded measurements when it comes to lacing and trim). The additional length will to make it even easier to get the corset on and off, and if it’s excessive, I can always trim the lacing back if it’s too much. More than likely though, the extra tiny bit will just go into the bunny ears of the corset so that you can get a good grip on these to tighten your corset.

Remember, this formula should work for any corset brand!

Did this calculator work for you? Let me know in the comments what changes or improvements you’d make.

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How 15 years of Corset Training affected my Pregnancy Experience

Did my experience with corset wear help or hinder me – or in any way affect my pregnancy experience? Here I’ve done my best to compare and contrast my 15+ years of corset training experience with my one pregnancy experience, separating them into five different categories: organs, skeletal frame, eating, breathing, and movement. In some ways, my corseting experience has helped prepare my body for pregnancy, making for a more comfortable or even semi-familiar experience – but in other ways, corseting couldn’t have possibly prepared me!

Read more below, and please excuse any typos, as I typed this as a sleep-deprived frazzled ball of newmom stress – hopefully you’ll be able to glean some useful information from this (and I’ll be able to edit this into a more coherent article by the time my kid is in school ;) ).

Organ displacement:

Lucy at 8 months pregnant

Displacing my intestines wasn’t (and still isn’t) a horrible experience, whether during pregnancy or while corseting, as intestines are designed to move – in fact, they move all the time due to peristalsis, and if they didn’t move, we would die out as a species.

While many pregnant folks complain of constipation, I kept my bowel movements regular through diet and regular physical activity as I’ve learned to do while corset training (I will also touch on this in my upcoming treadmill desk update).

But when the baby starts kicking your liver and head-butting your bladder, it gets uncomfortable for sure. Corsets make you more in tune with your body, so I know where each of my major organs sit while I’m in and out of a corset, and I also know which organ my baby was using as a punching bag in the moment. For instance, when my kiddo was having a dance party and I felt a sudden punt to my upper right quadrant (where my liver is), it made a different kind of vibration compared to when he was kicking the front of my uterus (which is stretched and pushed against the inside of my abdominal muscles), or my empty stomach on the left side. Physicians learn to tap on different parts of the body and listen to each organ (which a different reverberation) and they can determine whether the liver is enlarged or inflamed based on this reverberation. If you’re very still and in tune when babies kick you from the inside, you can sense different reverbs as well.

Another thing that an assertive kick to the liver does is cause a vasovagal response, which can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure. The baby isn’t super strong, so these movements didn’t make me drop like a rock, but if I felt a kick in the upper right quadrant and instantly felt nauseated or a little light headed, I knew it was likely due to the baby hitting a nerve that caused a temporary vasodepression. Thankfully that didn’t happen too often – but this is an example of where corsets couldn’t prepare me. Corsets always give an even, constant, slow compression and don’t kick you from the inside without warning.

Eating:

Corsets have also trained me to be okay with eating small portions throughout the day so as to minimize discomfort or reflux. Around 10 years ago I would have labeled myself a grazer. In recent years I really prefer not to graze but rather have two large meals a day – but once I became pregnant, grazing and having small, frequent meals eventually became a necessity, and it was easy to switch back into that mode of eating.

Because of my long-term experience with corsets, I was already familiar with the foods that were problematic to me: mainly dairy (mild lactose intolerance), and high FODMAP type foods like corn and grapes – the foods that cause bloating, indigestion and discomfort during corseting were the same foods that caused problems in pregnancy, so it was easy to recognize and avoid those.

Acid reflux was so much worse with pregnancy – my digestive organs were squished more than there ever was with a corset, but added to this was the hormonal factor: the high levels of estrogen and relaxin causing my esophageal sphincter to relax, which allowed more reflux than I had ever experienced before. Previously, the only corsets that ever caused even a little bit of reflux were specifically underbust corsets finished with a sweetheart shape in the front, (rather than a corset that was straight or pointed upwards at the sternum). The sweetheart shape dips down in the front, leaving part of my solar plexus area completely unsupported, which causes my diaphragm to bulge out over of the top edge of the corset – this difference in pressure is not a good time (I know that plenty of folks love the feel of a sweetheart underbust, and likely these folks have a lower sternum than I do, so that their xyphoid process covers more of their solar plexus and diaphragm than in my situation). But pregnancy was easily 10x worse for reflux compared to my worst corset.

Breathing:

Corsets taught me how to breathe from my chest rather than my abdomen, so I found it incredibly easy to breathe even with the growing belly – up to around 7 months gestation. The final two months were way worse than any corset, for several reasons:

Firstly, most of my corsets are generally rounded in the ribs and they only compress the squishiest part of the waistline below the diaphragm, so my lung capacity typically isn’t as affected by corset wear compared to those who might wear a stricter and higher corset (like a conical rib overbust corset, for instance) – or the growing uterus pushing up significantly on the diaphragm.

Secondly, the increased blood volume. I remember reading that a significant portion of protein consumption by the fetus and placenta (up to 50%) are not for growing the fetus but rather to make hormones that regulate the mother’s metabolism and homeostasis – including appetite and respiration rate, to ensure that there is sufficient nutrients and oxygen for the extra blood cells circulating the body – so there there is a hormonal and body fluid influence on respiration rate over and above the physical hindrance to the descent of the diaphragm.

Thirdly, carrying 35 lbs of extra weight tuckered me out faster than usual. I could walk easily, but dancing or running was more challenging. I would say that in the final 6-8 weeks of pregnancy, breathing was far more labored (ha!) than I had ever experienced in a corset.

Skeletal frame (ribs, hips, and lumbar spine)

In terms of my skeletal frame, I was able to somewhat predict in what ways pregnancy would be a little easier on me, and what ways in wouldn’t. For instance, I know from my measurements that I have a slightly longer torso (this can contribute to carrying small), but also it somewhat protects my ribs from dislocations in the final months, especially as my sternum is very high. My floating ribs are also very flexible, they would swing inward with relative ease with corsets, and could also swing outwards when I used to be a floutist and sang in choir, so this flexibility was used to my advantage.

Where pregnancy was probably a bit more difficult is the fact that I have relatively narrow hip bones. When compared to my friends in school, they often noted that my Venus dimples were closer together than anyone else’s; I was able to buy my jeans from the boys’ section; my gait was narrow (I would walk practically with one foot in front of the other); I’ve never had a thigh gap ever despite having a lanky frame through my teen years, etc.

Around the 6th month of pregnancy, the relaxin started kicking in to loosen the ligaments in my pelvis and widen the joints. My sacro-iliac (SI) joints started slipping, and it aggravated the sciatica that I sustained from my car accident eight years ago. And then about a month after that, I started getting pain in the front (symphysis pubis dysfunction, or SPD). I immediately asked my OB doctor for some exercise recommendations, and I increased my activity at my treadmill desk again through the 3rd trimester. I know that with those who suffer from extreme SPD, they can end up bed-bound, as they need to avoid anything that forces them to even temporarily balance on one foot or the other… including walking. So with SPD, your mileage may vary. (Literally.) I was fortunate not to have an extreme case of it, but if my SPD continued for months or years postpartum, I would certainly make use of my longline corsets to help stabilize my pelvis.

Regarding my lower back, I thankfully had a very positive experience here. I think a combination of my corset wear and my standing desk affected my posture greatly. For the first two trimesters of my pregnancy, I carried small compared to many other childbearers in my family (which, as mentioned before, is partly influenced by the length of my torso), but I think the other part of of it is due to the strength of my muscles in my lumbar spine, and around my hips and glutes – such that even as my center of gravity was shifted forward, I resisted developing that telltale lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt until the very last few months of pregnancy. But the thing about “carrying small” is also that the baby isn’t small – the uterus is just displacing more of your peritoneal organs in the abdominal cavity instead of growing outward past your ribs (see above for my commentary on displacement of organs).

(One last contributor to “carrying small” is a tilted / retroverted uterus, which I do not have, but it’s worth mentioning just for a complete discussion on this topic.)

The only negative effect I experienced with regards to my lower back was about three months of lower back soreness at the site of the epidural injection, and some “back labor” (painful contractions that are felt most strongly in the lower back and tailbone), which obviously subsided after the delivery.

Reduced range of motion:

Not surprisingly, I lost the ability to bend significantly at the waist about 20 weeks into gestation. Corseting prepared me for this loss of range of motion in my torso, and I was able to easily compensate by bending at the hip and squatting (putting more movement through my legs instead of my waist) when I needed to pick things up off the floor, putting my shoes on, etc.

As an aside: regarding the whole “boots before corsets” argument, as a Canadian who is not in the habit of wearing shoes in the home, this typically doesn’t really apply to me; although I have some indoor shoes that I use exclusively for my treadmill desk, and slippers that I use when walking across cold tile. Having a long shoehorn is a nice-to-have, but I can and do put my shoes on without one (in and out of a corset, and also during pregnancy), and I wouldn’t consider myself to be particularly limber.

It’s more about having the proper form, as well as not having the corset (or your pregnant belly) hang below the hip flexor. Another requirement is having enough leg and hip strength to squat when picking things up off the floor, which circles back to the importance of physical activity in my third trimester, in tandem with with my years of prior posture training from corsets.

That’s all I can think of at the moment about how corsets may have affected or influenced my pregnancy experience, but I may add more if it comes to me. If you have any questions you’d like me to answer regarding my experience with corsets vs pregnancy, feel free to leave a comment and I’d be happy to add more to this article.

In summary, pregnancy was much more uncomfortable than corseting for a variety of reasons – and that’s coming from someone who has had a relatively easy and uneventful pregnancy experience. I’ll return to this topic again in several months once I have more experience with corseting postpartum, and how it relates to my nulliparous corseting experience – but I’ve only very recently returned to corseting, and would prefer have more experience before commenting on it officially.

If you have any experience with becoming pregnant before and/or after corseting and would like to comment on the differences between the two experiences, feel free to share your thoughts below!

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Corset-Adjacent Garments: Modern Descendants of the Corset

As any historian would attest, the corset was not merely a fashionable garment designed to shape the wearer into the desired silhouette of the day. It was utilitarian foundation-wear that served to support the bustline before bras were invented, distribute the weight of 10+ pounds of petticoats, support the back of the working class, promote good posture (however that was defined at the time), and more.

Naturally, humans strive to invent, innovate, and improve upon earlier designs. As the corset fell out of mainstream fashion in the 20th century, many (and I do mean many) different garments and devices cropped up to functionally replace the corset. Some were improved upon, but as many of the writers in Solaced have come to realize, sometimes it’s reasonable to go old-school with a well-fitted corset that combines the functionality of multiple products here, rather than reinventing the wheel.

Here I’ll go through a dozen or so of the descendants of the corset. Call it an extended family reunion, if you will.

(P.S. you can test your knowledge in my Corset Descendants Quiz here!)

1. Brassiere

We’re starting with the most obvious, mostly because I want to get it out of the way. Yes, we are all familiar with the story of Mary Phelps Jacob and her 1914 patented handkerchief brassiere.

Bras hoist the bust tissue like a cantilever bridge using tension around both the ribs and the shoulders, while corsets provide a resting place for the breast to sit on, more like a beam bridge (the “beams” being the vertical bones) or perhaps a window flower box. The physics for each is different, but sound.

Where bras can become troublesome is with particularly heavy bosoms; too much tension on the shoulders can squeeze the nerves and blood vessels against the collarbone – this is much more serious than just permanent deep grooves in the shoulders. It can lead to numbness, tingling, pain, and eventually neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome.

2. Waist Trainer / Cincher / Faja

Often made out of of latex rubber or neoprene (blended with cotton or polyester), a trainer or cincher is a wide, stretchy belt that provides compression to narrow the waistline – albeit, a more gentle compression than corsets are capable of achieving, and the latex may dry-rot or stretch out over time. It may also cause allergic reactions in some individuals.

It is also designed to hold in body heat and sweat via its unbreathable fabrics (whereas cotton and linen corsets allow for heat exchange and sweat to be wicked away). These cinchers claim that the metabolism will increase with body heat, and increased sweating will detoxify the body. As we now know, it really just temporarily gets rid of edema and dehydrates the wearer but this does not cause fat loss.

The single one-up that this garment has over corsets is that it’s more flexible and “stealthable” under clothing, but modern innovations are challenging this claim with the No Line and the Power Corset.

3. Post-partum belly binder

Gentle post-partum belly binding has been practiced independently for centuries, by different civilizations all over the world. The belly cloth or binder goes by many different names – sarashi in Japan, faja in South America (originally a simple cloth, not to be confused with the rubber faja above), and Bengkung in Malaysia (seen here).

The binding practice is supposed to help keep the body warm (in line with the Indian practice of banantana, where no cold food or drink is allowed, no cool showers, drafty dwellings, etc), assist in contracting the uterus, and pull the abdominal muscles together to minimize diastasis recti. Especially notable is the way the bengkung is wrapped and tied back to front – not pulling from front-to-back as in the case of many front-lacing corsets.

If wrapped low enough over the hip bones, it can also stabilize the pelvis as relaxin leaves the body and your joints become less loosey-goosey.

The operative word here is gentle binding. I would not recommend wearing an actual corset any sooner than 6-8 weeks postpartum (or more!) – whenever your midwife/OB says you are finished with your pelvic rest period, your pelvic floor has fully healed and strengthened, and you’re free to return to normal activities, including vigorous exercise.

4. Post-surgical Compression Binder

There are many different types of post-operative binders, but most of them are some variation of a wide, stretchy, adjustable tensor bandage. Surgeons keep these on hand and gently wrap the patient with one of these bad boys (overtop of the regular gauze and dressings) after some kind of abdominal surgery – whether that’s bariatric surgery, liposuction, tummy tuck, gall bladder removal, endometrial excision, hernia correction, or some other type of surgery.

It is flexible enough to allow limited movement in the patient, but not so much that the patient will accidentally pop their stitches / staples. The compression will also curb edema and prevent the body from swelling too much (excessive inflammation can impede proper healing). This is also helpful after liposuction, where the skin may be slightly loose and the compression can help the skin to contract (to a limit).

After open surgery (where a large incision is made and organs might be moved/pushed out of the way), compression can help the organs return back to their original positions (more or less – peritoneal organs are less fixed than we believe!). In laparoscopic surgery where there’s usually insufflation (the abdomen is pumped full of carbon dioxide to inflate the area and allow the camera to see where you’re navigating), the gas has to eventually escape by whatever means possible – through incisions, burping, passing wind – and compressing the abdomen may help expedite this process.

This type of garment (made by NYOrtho in this case) is cheaply manufactured and designed to be discarded, which is a positive in this case as it will very likely become soiled with blood and other fluids draining from the incision sites. It would be a shame to soil an expensive corset!

5. TLSO (Rigid Orthopedic Back Brace)

The Sforzesco brace for scoliosis

There are dozens of different rigid corrective braces out there: Milwaukee brace, Charleston brace, Boston brace, Lyon brace, etc. but the Sforzesco brace (seen here) caught my eye, for reasons you can probably guess.

TLSO stands for Thoracic (the part of the spine where the ribs are attached), Lumbar (the lower back), Sacral (the fused part of the spine attached to the pelvis) Orthoses. A longline underbust covers from the lower thorax to the sacrum; an overbust can cover from even higher on the thorax.

The Sforzesco brace was created in Milan, a fashion-forward city, and was designed to functionally outcompete many other TLSO braces while at the same time being (mostly) transparent rigid plastic; thin and easily stealthable under clothing; and creating a (mostly) symmetric and fashionable silhouette – all features that may appeal to a self-conscious young scoliosis patient, thus encouraging patient compliance to wear the orthosis as much as possible, for the best possible outcome.

There are corset makers who are able to create stabilizing asymmetric textile braces and traction units for scoliosis patients, but be sure to carefully weigh the pros and cons for yourself and discuss with your trusted osteopath/ chiropractor/ orthopedic physician before jumping in.

6. SI-Joint Belt

An SI-joint belt (SI = sacro-iliac) is designed more for symptomatic pain relief rather than claiming to correct an asymmetry, in the case of the TLSO brace above.

That being said, this particular belt by BraceAbility comes with many lofty promises, including being able to help with SI-joint dysfunction and symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD, a condition that affects pregnant women where the joints of the pelvis loosen and slip around painfully), stabilizing hairline vertebral fractures, providing relief for arthritis of the spine and hips, and more. The “lacing gap” in the back also clears the tailbone if the wearer suffers from a cracked or bruised coccyx.

While SI-joint belts and lumbar braces come in many forms (usually padded velcro belts) I was tickled to see this one by BraceAbility with a pulley system that closely resembles the form and function of a back-lacing corset. It’s also not uncommon to find lumbar braces with vertical bones to provide the necessary perpendicular tension to hug the small of the back without collapsing on itself.

7. Kidney Belt

Betcha thought this was yet another lumbar brace – but it actually serves a completely different purpose in this context! Sure, it provides some posture correction and lumbar support, but the kidney belt replaced what the corset did for cavalry (soldiers on horseback) since the 1820s or so.

Spending all day, every day on horseback (or in today’s case, on motorcycles) constantly jostles the body – from bouncing steeds to vibrations on gravelly or pothole-riddled roads, your organs take a hit – now, the intestines are fairly durable, but kidneys are sensitive (they’re enrobed in a layer of fat and we have two of them for a reason, in case one eventually gives out). Riding often enough or long enough can result in kidney damage over time, and there was a time when it was not uncommon for a rider to see blood in their urine. This belt holds the kidneys still, minimizing injury – and the belt can also serve as armor, shielding the lumbar spine from damage if the rider is thrown.

8. Cummerbund

The pink sash sported by Fairytale Groom Ken (which I had a very similar Ken doll in my toddlerhood) is designed to replace a waistcoat in a 3-part tuxedo – but more interestingly, it hails back to a protective and practical garment worn by military, sportsmen, and ushers alike.

The etymology and history of the cummerbund is one of my favorites. The name comes from two Hindi words: kamar, meaning “waist”, and band meaning “belt” or “tie”. So cummerbund literally means a cloth to bind the waist.

Cummerbunds were originally simple sashes used in the Middle East and India for over 400 years, worn by military (likely used for the same purpose as kidney belts or cavalry belts, see above). Today, some modern military groups (including the US Navy) still wear a cummerbund as part of their formal dress.

Cummerbunds were also used in sporting events in the 1800s and early 1900s – whether to wick away sweat or to provide postural support, perhaps in the same way as modern lifting belts (we’re getting to that next!).

Lastly, cummerbunds were often worn by servicemen in high-class facilities (“fancy buildings”). E.g. worn by ushers in opera houses, doorkeeps at galas, bellhops in high-end hotels, etc. The upward-facing pleats of the belt functioned as several tiers of shallow pockets – enabling the wearer to keep ticket stubs, cash tips/change, or other small items within easy reach.

Depending on how tightly a traditional cummerbund is fitted to the body, it can also pull in the abdomen and prevent one’s spreading figure from outgrowing their uniform.

These days, cummerbunds usually have an elastic or velcro backing and don’t provide much support, but are now only for show. They’re most commonly worn during proms or weddings as an alternative to a waistcoat – so it’s more lightweight and cool for someone who doesn’t want too many layers.

Corsets for men obviously exist today, and can easily be disguised as cummerbunds or waistcoats.

9. Weight Lifting Belt

As mentioned above, the weight lifting belt has existed in “primitive” forms as a tight cloth wrapped around the waist back in the 19th century, and has since been reinvented as ever-more-macho wide leather belts designed to be worn around the navel.

Weight lifting belts serve several purposes – according to ProFitness (the producer of this particular piece), the belt supports and holds the lumbar spine and abdomen in a neutral position – preventing muscular strain, herniated discs, or other injuries. It also applies counter-pressure to the abdominal stress already being exerted on the body from the lifting action, preventing umbilical or abdominal hernias.

Encouraging good form and allowing the lifter to build good muscle memory will also enhance their performance and allow them to lift up to 10% more weight, they say.

10. Hernia Girdle

Sometimes hernias happen: whether you lifted too much without proper support (see above), you gestated a child and your diastasis recti was uncontrolled, you had surgery and the muscles never properly healed, or you have a congenital condition – plenty of people have abdominal hernias. Particularly common are umbilical hernias, because when you were in the womb, your belly button used to be a literal hole where the umbilical cord outside your body led to a vein inside your body (it went to your liver and vena cava, for those curious – and it closes up minutes after birth).

Anywho, you have quite a lot of pressure inside your body, and your muscles hold everything in nicely – most of the time. But if you have a hole in your muscles, and the pressure inside your body is greater than the pressure outside of your body, your intestines want to make their slippery escape. This is painful – and dangerous, if blood flow to the bulging intestine is pinched off. Hernia girdles stop this from happening by applying external pressure on the area and pushing the intestines back in.

Corsets have been known to do this as well – but it’s important to note that it’s only good for abdominal hernias. Inguinal (groin) or hiatal hernias (where the stomach pushes through the diaphragm) require a different type of bracing or truss (or surgery). Corsets, as well as the abdominal binder seen here, will not help with inguinal and hiatal hernias, and in fact might exacerbate the condition, so be sure to know exactly what you’re dealing with.

11. Shoulder Posture Harness

I don’t blame you if you’re confused by this harness being here, because back in #1 we discussed some of the advantages of corsets NOT having shoulder straps. But corsets can help reduce a rolled shoulder posture actively (through the use of waistcoat corsets or corsets with shoulder straps) OR passively, simply by virtue of taking the weight off the shoulders and allowing them to relax and return to a more neutral position.

Many folks who suffer with a heavy bustline will find that a supportive overbust corset relieves the weight that pulls the pectoral and trapezius muscles forward – allowing the wearer to open and stretch their chest muscles, hold their shoulders back, and reduce slouching much in the same way as this harness. However, one should be careful not to go overboard with a “proud” posture (looking at you, Edwardian S-curve!).

There’s such thing as “too much of a good thing” so whether you use a corset or a posture-corrective shoulder harness, be sure that it’s properly fitted and not too tight or forcing you into an unnatural stance.

12. Bustier

I am loath to include this in the list (I’m a bit of a snob) but the family tree would not be complete if I didn’t invite the bustier to this reunion.

The bustier is visually the most similar to a corset, but it does have some marked differences in form and function. They are most often worn as lingerie or club wear.

Bustiers do provide some bust support, with or without shoulder straps. They can have separate cups, or look similar to the one shown here. However, they tend to come in a limited range of bust sizes – and because they are more lightly structured than corsets, they can have a tendency to slip down (but few people care if they plan to only wear it short-term anyway).

Most bustiers also have bones to hold vertical tension, albeit usually featherweight plastic boning. Bustiers also always have some elasticity to allow for greater range of motion, to more easily fit a wider range of bodies, and also to be able to use hooks & eyes or a zipper to secure the garment (instead of a lacing system).

As such, apart from some modest bust support, the bustier’s main purpose is primarily aesthetic – which is 100% okay, it just should not be conflated with the corset, which offers a broader range of practical uses.

Is there any other garment or device that you would add to this list? Leave a comment below! Also, now that you’re familiar with the corset-adjacent modern garments, test your knowledge in my newest quiz here.

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(Newly Updated and Improved) Solaced Book in Paperback is finally here!

I’m thrilled to announce that, 5.5 years after the release of my ebook, Solaced: 101 True Stories About Corsets, Well-Being, and Hope is finally available in Paperback! Here are the links to where you can find the paperback depending on where you live:

United States
Canada
UK
Germany
France
Italy
Spain
Australia
Japan

Here are some quick stats:

  • 418 pages in total
  • in reality 110 stories (if you count my own “origin story” and the Victorian newspaper clippings!)
  • 21 chapters and themes
  • new graphics and photos
  • a few story updates from contributors in the past 5 years, and two brand new stories
  • painstakingly polished by two editors and five proofreaders, for a final product that the corset community can be proud of!

The book is print-on-demand on Amazon, which means wherever you are in the world, you can have the book printed (relatively) locally and shipped as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

We pushed hard to get the book out in time to be delivered before Christmas, and it might make an ideal stocking stuffer for the corset enthusiast in your life. 💖

What’s changed & improved from the original 2016 ebook?

  • Two new stories have been swapped out: the new stories include “Stealthlacing VS Cancer” (using corsets to reduce scar pain after cancer removal, and restoring symmetry to the ribcage after the surgery) as well as “Chagas and Corsets” (using corsets to help with symptoms of mega-colon, as well as related hernia and blood flow issues due to long-term Chagas’ Disease caused by a chronic protozoa infection).
  • All stories have been re-edited by multiple copy-editors, proofreaders, beta-readers, and sensitivity readers. In addition to typos and misspellings being corrected, some passages have been edited for clarity (to avoid ambiguity) and outdated terms have been updated according to today’s standards on gender, disability, ethnicity, medical terminology, etc.
  • Names, pronouns, business names / job descriptions, etc. of some writers (and mentioned colleagues) have been updated to match their current identity.
  • Some stories have been updated with new information since their relationship with corsetry has developed over the past 5-6 years.
  • New vector graphics for every chapter, and new photos included for select stories.

What has stayed the same?

Overall, 95% of the stories have remained the same apart from some very light editing for punctuation, typos, grammar and clarity. I’ve strived as much as possible to keep every story in the contributor’s original voice, with no embellishments or hyperbole, and no pressure to make stories more emotional or punchier. It was (and still is) extremely important to me that each writer is portrayed exactly as they want to be, and were not censored from expressing their thoughts and views (even when some views contradict the views of other contributors).

You can also get a free Kindle sample if you’d like to read most of the first chapter, or use the “Look Inside” feature if you’d like to know more about the paperback book – here are the links once more (so you don’t have to scroll to the top):

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Want to know even more details about each chapter?

(I like your style!)

  1. Back Injuries ~ corsets used to temporarily aid in recovery from injuries, or used as long-term support for chronic injuries (8 testimonies)
  2. Spinal Curve ~ corsets used in correction and/or support for scoliosis, lumbar lordosis [swayback], or kyphosis, with related structural considerations like uneven pelvis / turned foot (6 testimonies)
  3. Breast Support ~ corsets replacing bras for bust support; helping with thoracic outlet syndrome, migraines, pulled muscles, costochondritis, and other problems caused by a heavier bust (3 testimonies)
  4. Weight Loss & Lifestyle ~ corsets used in appetite control, with or without bariatric surgery; improving quality of nutrition through promotion of good digestion while waist training (3 testimonies)
  5. Hypermobility and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) ~ corsets used to support loose joints, prevent dislocations & subluxations, help improve low blood pressure, and prevent injuries (5 testimonies)
  6. Other Physiological Disorders Lucy’s note: this is one of my favorite chapters! ~ corsets used for asthma and low blood pressure, correcting an out-turned foot, providing a “barrier” for sensory processing disorder and improving apraxia, helping with bodily asymmetries caused by PFFD (one leg significantly shorter than the other), support during stroke rehabilitation and for spina bifida, Polio, and cerebral palsy (8 testimonies)
  7. Fibromyalgia ~ corsets used to soothe chronic pain and chronic fatigue, and relaxing trigger points through traction and acupressure (5 testimonies)
  8. Gastrointestinal Disorders ~ corsets used to prevent blockages from mega-colon, as well as preventing constipation, and relieving pain from IBS and ulcerative colitis (5 testimonies)
  9. Dysmenorrhea & Endometriosis ~ corsets used for pain relief during menstruation (periods), reducing cramping, lightening or shortening the duration of periods, or providing post-surgical compression after endometriosis surgery (4 testimonies )
  10. Post-Surgical Recovery ~ corsets used to restore symmetry after abdominal muscle grafts or cancer removal, reducing hypersensitivity/ scar pain, providing support after abdominal muscles have been destroyed from multiple injuries/surgeries, and concealing ileostomy bags (5 testimonies)
  11. Armor ~ corsets protecting against injury during car collisions and against violent aggressors / muggers (4 testimonies)
  12. Body Positivity ~ use of corsets to combat body dysmorphia, improve relationship with the body, promote self-love and acceptance, and as a tool / part of a structured regimen in recovering from disordered eating (8 testimonies)
  13. Pregnancy & Postpartum ~ corsets for SPD (pelvic girdle pain) recovery, soothing postpartum depression, as part of diastasis recti correction, and regaining sense of self / defining identity in motherhood (4 testimonies)
  14. Gender Identity ~ the use of corsets for reducing gender dysphoria; shaping the figure to exhibit more (or less) stereotypically feminine traits, enhancing or binding the bust; transitioning and gender confirmation (3 testimonies)
  15. Mental Health (Anxiety & Depression) ~ corsets as deep pressure therapy for calming anxiety, stopping and preventing panic attacks, providing a comforting hug during depression; acting as a “barrier” to the outside world to dampen agoraphobia triggers; grounding to keep the mind present during fugue / dissociation (7 testimonies)
  16. Autism Spectrum ~ corsets as deep pressure therapy specifically in context of those with ASD; especially managing anxiety, overwhelm and overstimulation (2 testimonies)
  17. PTSD & Coping with Adversity ~ corsets as deep pressure therapy specifically in context of past trauma and hardships; improving confidence, self-advocacy; escaping abusive relationships & domestic violence; and living one’s truth (8 testimonies)
  18. Mature Corseting ~ corsets to maintain a youthful posture, figure & gait; manage menopause symptoms; protect osteoporotic spine, hips and ribs from fractures; assist in heavy lifting; and provide support after breast cancer recovery (3 testimonies)
  19. Corsets & Metaphysics ~ corsets & new age spirituality; corsets as acupressure and steel bones as conductive rods in Reiki practice; activation of the solar plexus chakra during meditation (2 testimonies)
  20. Noteworthy Newspaper Clippings ~ corsets saving the lives of Victorian women who were stabbed, slashed, or shot; woman thrown from a horse onto barbed wire; woman suspended from a bridge /overpass by her laces, preventing a fatal fall (8 newspaper articles)
  21. Potpourri Lucy’s note: this is another one of my favorite chapters! ~ corsets used as a tool in stage performance; improving public speaking; balancing on motorcycles; managing intracranial hypertension (IIH) treatment; smoothing hip-dips (violin hips) caused by poorly-fitted low-rise jeans; as well as thoughts on societal views, corset stigma, bodily autonomy, feminism, and the corset community (8 testimonies)

Are there any other changes, new formats, or improvements happening in the future?

I’ve received several questions on whether Solaced is likely to be published in hardback, as an audiobook, or other formats – the answer is likely no, unfortunately. This has been a costly passion project which has yet to break even in book sales (I honestly doubt it ever will), and the only way that it was possible to release the book in paperback 5 years later has been thanks to the generous support of my patrons.

However, if this book proves to be successful and the mission of the Solaced project inspires others to continue to write in with their own true stories of how corsets have helped them therapeutically, I would be thrilled for the opportunity to make a second volume!

Where can I learn more about the history of the Corset Benefits List and Solaced Project?

Click here if you’d like to watch my YouTube playlist going back all the way to 2011 on Corset Benefits (previously called “How Corsets Heal” but I changed it for obvious reasons).

Click here if you would like to read previous posts about the Solaced project from back in 2015-2016 when the ebook was being compiled.

Click here for the official Corset Benefits list (organized by physical benefits, emotional/psychological benefits, and societal impact of corsets).

And finally, Click here for the original About Solaced page!

Click here if you would like to follow the development of the paperback on Patreon this past year.

If you have any other questions about the book, or if you want to share your own experience with corsets, or if you’ve found a wayward typo in the book and want to submit a correction, you are more than welcome to email me at any time!

Ready for more? Find the book on Amazon here:

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My Custom Corset Commission Journey: Three “Phases” (Priorities) when Choosing a Corsetiere to Work With

This post was inspired by an email I received a few months ago from a client who was ready to graduate from OTR to custom, and asked me how I went about choosing which corsetiere to work with (amidst the hundreds of known options). Admittedly, I’ve commissioned a lot of custom corsets — and also admittedly, I’ve made a few mistakes along the way! I thought it would be great to share some of these experiences, what I learned, and what I’d do differently in the future.

Phase 1 (2010-2011): Price

I went with the cheapest corset maker possible; those that could make custom pieces under $200.
What I found with these makers is that they were not always incredibly experienced, and many were just trying to get their foot in the market — so there were often fitting issues, strength/ durability issues, communication issues, long wait times, etc.

My very first custom corset was a front-lacing piece and I discussed all my regrets around this cincher in a previous post.

My second custom piece was by Heavenly Corsets, which at first I defended (as you can see when I addressed some complaints from others about untidy seams, the bowing steels in the back, etc), but over time I had to make several alterations and corrections to this corset and ended up selling it off. Although there are some unicorns in the corset industry where you can indeed find a decent custom corset for under $200, more often than not, buying the cheapest custom corset available is a risky game.

Almost no corset maker keeps their corsets under $200 or $300 for more than a year or two – either there are “catches” to their skills or service that justifies “you get what you pay for”, or they quickly become too popular due to their competitive price and they burn out or they have to raise their prices.

Phase 2 (2012-2013): Proximity

By 2012, I had purchased three custom pieces (each under $200) and spent about $500. After continual disappointment in fit, comfort, or usability, I began to see the value in not flitting from one “cheapest” brand to the next, and instead investing in a local (but more expensive) experience corsetiere who can do it once and do it right.
So I started seeking out corset makers in the Toronto area, like Totally Waisted (now Bone & Busk Couture), Starkers Corsetry, and L’Atelier de LaFleur. With each of these corsetieres, I had a different experience.

In the case of Bone & Busk Couture, I visited Kate twice — first to have a bonafide mockup fitting where Kate was able to tuck loose areas and slash tight areas, and the second time to pick up my completed corset.

With Starkers Corsetry, I actually didn’t order a custom piece, but rather I took advantage of a sample sale and went to try on the sample before I purchased (so this wasn’t exactly a commission, but more on-par with trying on a ready-to-wear corset in-store before purchasing – an experience I never had before because there were never brick-and-mortar corset shops near me).

When I visited L’Atelier de LaFleur, because Mina and I wore a similar corset size at the time, I had the unique opportunity of trying on some of her personal corset collection and design samples, and we also got to chat and sit down to an interview together. While trying in several samples isn’t exactly like a mockup fitting (in that Mina didn’t slash or tuck the corset samples, she was able to determine what to change anyway. I then came back a couple of months later after the piece was completed.

Having an in-person mockup fitting is one of THE most valuable parts of the custom process. Depending on the corsetiere, they may offer a mockup fitting, or they might have samples for you to try on (depending on the size you wear; samples tend to be on the smaller side), or possibly even both if you’re lucky – but most experienced corsetieres will offer fittings. If you have any OTR corsets, I would even recommend bringing along your best-fitting one so you can show them how your body responds to the compression of a corset and you can discuss what you’d like to change. Trying on something in the presence of the maker and letting them know that you could do an inch smaller in the waist or you’d like two inches more height in the back, while getting their expert input as well on fixing certain areas that you may not have even noticed, is all included in the extra fee — you’re not just paying for a product (the corset), you’re also paying for the fitting service and for their expert input. In my case, buying locally meant that I had to pay easily twice the price of my first few customs, but it was worth it to me (I’m lucky that the Torontonian makers here all have close to 20 years of experience, as well as they all have made therapeutic / medical corsets in the past), and I also feel good about supporting my local artists.

(Incidentally, if you’re looking for a corset maker near you, check out the free Corsetiere Map. If you live in the US or western Europe, there’s a good chance that one or several makers are within driving distance of you!)

At this point I was still looking for my “perfect” Little Black Corset, but I started experimenting with getting little embellishments here and there (because purchasing a plain black corset from 10 different makers is boring). I also realized that there are SO many different construction methods, so many patterns and silhouettes that can come from the same set of body measurements, etc. It was a very expensive period of trial and error.

Phase 3 (2013-current) Prestige/ Ingenuity:

When I was ready to buy my first custom overbust, I immediately knew I wanted to work with Sparklewren, who was one of the most esteemed corset makers at the time (and some people still believe that she may be one of the greatest corsetieres of our generation). I knew that she only took orders sporadically but I trusted her quality, I loved her shaping and embellishment, and I knew that her prices would only go up over time, so once I had saved up enough, I jumped at the opportunity to own one of her luxury pieces.

I also jumped at the opportunity to own a summer mesh training piece from Contour Corsets once I saw that her prices were going to increase significantly soon. When independent artists announce that their prices are about to nearly double, they’re generally at a crossroads (they are overworked and underpaid and only have a finite amount of labor and time, so they are forced to either charge more or leave the industry).

It was already by this time that I realized that there is no “perfect” way to make a corset, just different ways that are more or less suited to your tastes. If you get an absolutely “perfect” corset for your very first piece, consider yourself a lucky part of the 0.001%

How to obtain The One (perfect corset) for yourself:

If I wanted one perfect corset for myself, I wouldn’t have flitted around from one corsetiere to the next for the past nearly 10 years. That’s on me because there is a veritable buffet of wonderful artists that I’d love to discover, befriend, support, and showcase their work. But for those who need an absolutely perfect corset (for lifestyle, medical, or training purposes), these clients tend to have some things in common:

  • They are willing to travel (even sometimes crossing country borders) to seek out a well-reputed corsetiere whose construction methods, artistic style, communication and philosophy suit the client’s needs, aesthetic, and communication style. They often prefer to be fitted in person.
  • They are excessively open and clear (but polite) with their communication, expressing their likes and dislikes during mockup/sample fittings, not being vague about potential fit or comfort issues (because lack of communication means this discomfort can be overlooked and perpetuated into the final corset).
  • They tend to be “loyal” and build a rapport with one or two corset makers, and as their body might change with age, weight fluctuations, training, recovery of any past injuries, stabilizations of any weakness (in the case of therapeutic corsets), they express these changes and continue to buy corsets every year or few years from the same corsetiere, making small tweaks with each one.
  • They are patient and understand that this can still be a pricey journey. (Medical corsets can be subsidized or covered by insurance depending on the maker and the country, but it’s still an investment nonetheless.) Perfection takes time and funds.

Did you have any distinct phases, major priorities, or criteria when you were choosing a corsetiere to work with for your custom corset? What mistakes would you be willing to commit to as you grew in your corset journey? Leave a comment below!

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Review: Lara Mesh Underbust (Glamorous Corset)

This entry is a summary of the review video “Review: Lara Mesh Underbust (Glamorous Corset)”. If you would like more complete information and side notes about the corset, you can watch the video on YouTube here. See the quick stats in the table below the video, and my written personal opinion at the bottom!

Quick Stats:

Fit, lengthCustom drafted to my measurements: Center front is 12.5 inches long, princess seam is 10 inches (5.5 inches from the waist up, 4.5 inches from the waist down), the side seam is 11 inches and the center back is 12.5 inches long. Rib spring is 7″, hip spring is 10″. Ribs are relatively conical and brings in the floating ribs, hip very slightly curved.
MaterialEssentially one layer of open weave fishnet style fabric. Vertical panels at center front, back, and boning channels are black cotton twill.
Pattern6 panel pattern (same pattern as their other Lara underbusts in different fabrics).Panels 1-2 converge towards lower tummy, panels 3-4 give space over the hip, panel 5 has a bit of curve for both the back and hip, and panel 6 is fairly straight.
ConstructionStraightforward single-layer construction; the mesh fabric is sandwiched between the boning channels to reinforce the seams and provide a place for the bones to go.
Waist tapeVery apparent waist tape present of the inside of the corset, 1 inch wide black grosgrain ribbon.
BindingBias strips of black cotton twill, machine stitched on both sides. Stitched in the ditch on the outside, and edge serged and stitched flat on the inside (probably to reduce bulk). Garter tabs also included.
Modesty panelBack modesty panel is 5.5 inches wide (covering lacing gap of about ~4 inches). Made from 2 layers of black cotton twill, unstiffened, stitched to the side (easily removable if desired). There’s also a small modesty placket in the front, also made from black cotton twill (1/4″ wide).
BuskStandard flexible busk (1/2″ on each side), 11 inches long, 5 loops and pins with the bottom two closer together for better control at the lower tummy. Adjacent spiral steels add some support.
Boning26 bones total in this corset, 13 on each side (not including busk or modesty panel). Double boned on the seams (5 seams on each side, so 10 spiral steels on each side). There’s also the spiral bone by the busk (see my thoughts at the bottom for more on that) and two flat steels sandwiching the grommets (these are stainless steel so they’re less magnetic than mild carbon steels.
GrommetsThere are 24, two-part size #0 grommets (12 on each side). They have a small/medium flange and are spaced equidistantly, and finished in silver. Unfortunately a couple of the grommets at the waistline are loose / wobbly. (See Final Thoughts for more)
LacesThe laces are your standard workhorse of the lacing world: 1/4″ wide black flat nylon shoelace-style laces, which are extremely long, with a little bit of spring or stretch, and they’re abrasion-resistant.
Price & size range The Lara Mesh is available in sizes 18″ through 40″ and priced at $84 USD. Glamorous Corset has generously provided a discount for my followers, which you can find through this link!

Final Thoughts:

The first thing that stood out to me about the Lara Mesh is that it’s a lower-price point affordable OTR open-weave mesh corset, but it manages to retain its relatively conical / straight rib silhouette. Normally in fishnet-style corsets, the wearer’s ribs push out the corset to give a rounded silhouette. This doesn’t happen with fine-weave mesh, but fine-weave is usually a less cool and breezy option. Part of the reason that this corset retains its conical silhouette (apart from the pattern, obviously) is its heavy use of double-boning channels, leaving relatively little space between the panels for the ribs to allow expansion. I surmise that the smaller the corset (i,e. the less space between the panels), the more this retaining of the conical silhouette is true — and the larger the corset, the wider the panels, and the more likely the ribs are to show some roundness. But it’s an interesting observation nonetheless!

One odd choice in construction includes the spiral steel bones adjacent to the busk – spiral bones only contribute to maintaining vertical tension (helping to reduce wrinkling or collapsing of the fabric) but they tend not to add rigidity and flatness the way flat steels do. The purpose of the busk is not only for vertical tension, but it provides quick access in and out of the corset (obviously) and also flattens the tummy in the center front. The purpose of adjacent flat steels by the busk is to further flatten the tummy, so flat steels should always be used adjacent to the busk.

It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed a corset with grommet issues, but unfortunately this corset did show some wobbly grommets right at the waistline. This might be due to less fabric for the grommet to “bite” into (compared to the all-cotton or velvet Lara corsets, assuming that all corsets have the panel-6 fabric extend right to the grommet system), and the mesh fabric obviously doesn’t have much to bite into. Another possibility is simply the property of the fishnet fabric itself being more flexible and allowing distortion of the back panel. This is not a slight against the company; as my fishnet style corsets from other brands have also eventually had grommet issues. If panel 6 were made entirely cotton twill and the grommet system were reinforced perhaps with one more layer, the grommets would have less chance of pulling out. But again, I’m not personally faulting Glamorous Corset, because to my memory, all of the curvy fishnet OTR corsets I’ve owned for 3+ months, regardless of the brand, had at least one grommet pull out.

Whether you go for the mesh or another finish for the Lara Underbust, Rachel from Glamorous Corset has generously provided a discount code for my followers.

Have you tried this mesh corset or another mesh piece from Glamorous Corset? What do you think of it? Leave a comment down below!

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Review: Emerald Queen Art Bespoke Silver Ribbon Corset

This entry is a summary of the review video “Review: Custom Silver Ribbon Cincher (Court of the Emerald Queen)”. If you would like more complete information and side notes about the corset, you can watch the video on YouTube here. See the quick stats in the table below the video, and my written personal opinion at the bottom!

Quick Stats:

Fit, length Custom drafted to my measurements: Center front is 13 inches long, princess seam is 11 inches (5.5 inches from the waist up, 5.5 inches from the waist down), the side seam is 10.5 inches and the center back is 13.5 inches long — longer than the average ribbon corset.
Rib spring is 7″, hip spring is 12″. Ribs are relatively conical and brings in the floating ribs, hip is more curved than usual in a ribbon cincher.
Material Essentially one layer of synthetic ribbon. Vertical panels at center front, side, and back are lined in black herringbone coutil.
Pattern Ribbon cinchers may be considered one of two ways: all horizontal pieces are considered a single pattern piece (in which case there are ~2 main “pattern pieces”) or you can consider every piece of ribbon its own pattern piece (in which case this corset has 14 “pattern pieces”) and the vertical ribbons don’t necessarily affect the shape.
Construction Straightforward single-layer construction; the horizontal ribbons are sandwiched between layers of coutil in the vertical panels at the center front, side, and center back.
Waist tape By default, most ribbon cinchers do not have a waist tape – however, if one single long piece of ribbon were used at the waistline (not cut into individual pieces at the seams), this would essentially function identical to a waist tape.
Binding Instead of separate binding sewn onto the vertical panels, Urszula chose to fold under the ribbon and stitched tidily to make a kind of “self binding” and finish the raw edges. The horizontal ribbons don’t need any binding as their edges are finished.
Modesty panel Back modesty panel is boned and suspended on the laces, 5.5″ wide, made from two layers of black coutil. A vertical piece of ribbon runs down the center so that if the corset were worn with a >2.5 inch gap, the modesty panel would match the rest of the corset. The modesty placket in front is 3/4″ wide, made from matching ribbon, and the center front is expertly mirror-matched (a great attention to detail).
Busk Standard flexible busk (1/2″ on each side), 11 inches long, 5 loops and pins with the bottom two closer together for better control at the lower tummy. Adjacent flat steels add more rigidity.
Boning 16 bones total in this corset, 8 on each side (not including busk or modesty panel). On each side: one flat steel adjacent to the busk, 3 flat steels in the center back panel, and 4 spiral steels all butted next to one another in the side panel.
Grommets There are 28, two-part size #0 grommets (14 on each side). They have a medium flange and are spaced a bit closer together at the waistline, and finished in silver. They may be Prym brand 2-part eyelets, which are high quality and tend to roll nicely and not pull out.
Laces The laces are 1/2″ wide black double-faced (DF) satin lacing. They have no spring or stretch, they are lovely and flat so they wear nicely under clothing, the satin is a bit slippery but it holds bows and knots well (if tied properly).
Price The price for a custom ribbon cincher from the Emerald Queen Art ranges from $170 – $250 USD, and of course since this is a custom commission, you can choose any ribbon that Urszula can source, or possibly provide your own if it’s high enough quality. You can start a custom commission by messaging Emerald Queen Art on Etsy.

Final Thoughts:

I’m going to get right to the point: this is my new favorite ribbon corset. As I progress through my corset journey, I find more and more that I’m gravitating towards more lightweight, flexible, breezier corset with an expertly patterned silhouette designed for cinching while accommodating my body’s natural idiosyncrasies, instead of working against them or forcing my body into a silhouette not right for my frame. And this custom ribbon corset felt almost like a second skin the moment I put it on.

Most ribbon cinchers are somewhat U-shaped in silhouette and are not designed to accommodate any convex curves around the ribcage or dramatically wrap around a hip shelf, but Urszula (the Emerald Queen herself) has somehow discovered a way to do it.

I love how Urszula mirror matched the vertical ribbons in the center front and center back – a fantastic attention to detail. It might seem like a small thing to others, but to incorporate a modesty placket in the front (thus creating a structurally asymmetric garment on the left and right halves) but still a thoughtfully mirrored center front aesthetically requires some planning and careful placement.

One thing that I love about this corset is the flexible busk and how it plays with the pattern and silhouette of the corset itself, creating a soft inward curve at the center front while still keeping the lower tummy relatively flat. Some of you may remember my previous post on how different corsets create different silhouettes in the side-view, which many consider a feature and not a bug. While I usually like a corset with a more rigid busk and straight front, I have to admit that the profile in this corset and the slight curve in the front is both comfortable and flattering on my figure.

While the modesty panel contains plastic bones instead of steel bones, I don’t mind this — I’ve seen plastic bones in modesty panels of other corset brands (and in fact, in previous sewing tutorials, I have used plastic myself to stiffen modesty panels). The primary concern around plastic bones is that they may warp or kink when put under a strong curve on the body — but when it comes to modesty panels, they typically don’t curve on the body much at all, unless you count the gentle swoop of the lumbar curve. The biggest advantage to plastic bones in a modesty panel is that the panel can be removed and hand-washed on a regular basis without worry of the bones rusting with repeated exposure to water.

Emerald Queen Art has extremely affordable prices for custom (it’s a well-observed trend that many corsetieres in Poland tend to offer lower prices), where her custom corsets can be less than many higher-end OTR corsets. This would be a great entry-point option for someone just starting to dip their toe into the world of bespoke corsetry. You can start a custom commission by messaging Emerald Queen Art on Etsy.

Do you have a piece by The Court of the Emerald Queen? What do you think of it? Leave a comment down below!

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Pirate Fashions “Buxom Bodice” Corset Review

"Buxom Bodice" by Pirate Fashions - price ranges from $139 to $159 USD.

This entry is a summary of the review video “Review: Buxom Bodice Underbust Corset (Pirate Fashions)”. If you would like more complete information and side notes about the corset, you can watch the video on YouTube here:

 

Fit, length Center front is 13.5 inches long, princess seam is 11.5 inches (5 inches from the waist up, 6.5 inches from the waist down), the side seam is 12 inches and the center back is very high at 16.5 inches long.
Rib spring is 4″, lower hip spring is 9″ (but can be expanded to 14″ or more!). Ribs are very conical and brings in the floating ribs – this corset would fit someone with a long torso and pear shape best.
Material Two main layers (poly brocade fashion fabric, cotton twill lining).
Construction 6-panel pattern (12 panels total). Panels 2,3,4 and 5 all have a little bit of ease over the hip. Panel 2 is cut very long to create the shoulder straps, and panels 4, 5, and 6 are high to create the high back. Layers were flatlined and treated as one; panels were assembled with seam allowances facing inward and topstitched. Internal boning channels were laid down on the lining side and straddle the seams. Single boned on the seams (for sizes 20″ through 32″).
Waist tape One-inch-wide waist tape made from satin ribbon, exposed on the lining of the corset, secured down at each boning channel. It’s a partial-width waist tape, starting from panel 2 and extending to panel 5.
Binding Commercially-sourced black satin bias tape, machine stitched on both sides. Also includes 6 garter loops (garters sold separately).
Modesty panel 4 modesty panels in this corset (large one at the back, 8.5″ wide, will cover back lacing gap of at least 5 inches), front narrow modesty panel (3” wide), and two small panels to protect hips under the hip ties (widest part 4.5” wide). All of them are finished in the same black brocade fashion fabric and cotton twill lining. (See Final Thoughts for extra details.)
Busk No busk – the front is a lacing panel, 24 grommets. (see Final Thoughts for getting into and out of this corset!)
Boning 18 bones total in this corset, 9 on each side. Mostly single boned on the seams, and mostly flat steel bones (exception being the bones on the side seam that run over the hip). Sizes 34-40 are double boned (they have 24 bones).
Grommets There are 32, two-part size #0 grommets (16 on each side). They have a small/medium flange and are spaced equidistantly, and finished in silver. They’ve rolled nicely and they’re not pulling out, but I don’t tightlace in this corset (it’s a gentle reduction on me). A few grommets catch on the laces (the laces get “fuzzy” but they haven’t snapped).
Laces The laces are black round nylon cord. They have no spring or stretch, but they hold bows and knots well enough, and they are definitely long enough (almost too long!).
Price Available in the red, blue, green, brown, silver, and black brocade. All colorways are available in waist sizes 22″ through 38″, while the black brocade is also available in two extra sizes (20″ and 40″). The price is $139 USD for sizes 20-32 but the price goes up another $20 (up to $159 USD) for sizes 34-40, because these larger sizes are fully double boned.

 

Final Thoughts:

The Buxom Bodice somewhat qualifies as a waistcoat corset, as it has a high back and flexible shoulder straps.

"Buxom Bodice" by Pirate Fashions - price ranges from $139 to $159 USD.
“Buxom Bodice” by Pirate Fashions – price ranges from $139 to $159 USD.

I tend to see plenty of OTR corsets that feature halter straps, but not too many that include a high back and adjustable shoulder straps that can either go straight back or be criss-crossed for varying support. The high back prevents any back squidge (“muffin top”) whatsoever, and the straps pull the shoulders back to correct posture and prevent rounding of the shoulders. If this corset has the right measurements for you, it might even be an okay support garment if you’re looking to avoid postural kyphosis, at a fraction of the price of other corsets with shoulder straps. (Of course, if you have a medical condition and you need a therapeutic brace, please ask your doctor first!)

Because this corset is so long in the waist, I wouldn’t recommend this for someone who is short of stature/ short-waisted and spends the majority of their time sitting down, as the top edge will push up and lift your bust (hence “Buxom Bodice”) and the bottom edge may hit your lap. This corset best suits those with a longer torso – and because this corset is longer from the waist down than it is from the waist up, it would especially suit someone with a high waistline / deep pelvis. It’s very narrow through the ribs while the hips can be freely expanded, so it best suits straight or pear-shaped corseters.

While the chart above mentions that the hip ties can be expanded an additional 5 inches, in reality they can be expanded a bit more than that – however the little modesty panels under the hip lacing area will not stretch across the gap. I quite like the panels under the hip ties especially, as this is a fairly unique feature. (I’ve reviewed plenty of corsets with hip ties but this is the first that features cute panels underneath to protect the hips from the grommets/laces). But these panels can be tucked back or removed with a seam ripper if you dislike them.

The biggest issue I found with this corset is the time it takes to get the corset on and off, particularly because it doesn’t have a front busk (Pirate Fashions explained that they wanted to stay true to the Piratey aesthetic). How I put this corset on:

  1. I first loosen the laces in the back by about 8 inches.
  2. Then I undo the lacing knot at the bottom of the center front, and unthread the laces to about waist length.
  3. Once the front is loosened enough, I can step into the bodice and pull it up over my hips, and slip my arms through the arm holes.
  4. I quickly rethread the front of the corset (I might skip a few grommets for speed) and tighten just enough to test that everything is sitting properly on my body. I needed several try-ons to get the straps to a comfortable snugness. (This is so much easier with another person helping!)
  5. Once the straps are at the right length and the bodice is positioned properly, I’ll rethread the front properly (not skipping grommets), knot it off at the bottom, tighten up the front and pull it closed, and tuck the “bunny ears” up into the top edge of my corset.
  6. Then I lace up the back like a normal corset so it’s comfortably snug.

It’s definitely a process to get into and out of, and does take longer than a busk – but it does get easier after several wears!

Do you have this corset, or another corset from Pirate Fashions? What do you think of it? Leave a comment down below! See the Buxom Bodice and other themed clothing on Pirate Fashions here.

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Avoid Getting Scammed by Corset Re-Sellers

WKD Baby cincher Luna waspie avoid scam second hand corset sale

Settle in kids, today I’m going to tell you a story of how I possibly got scammed on a Facebook Buy / Sell/ Trade group.

I thought I was a savvy corset thrift-shopper – after all, I’ve made videos on how to prep and pack your gently used corsets for shipping, as well as tips and tricks when buying gently used corsets – but in this most recent transaction, there were so many red flags that I disregarded, and I wound up getting burned for it. So in this post, I’ll be pointing out the red flags and discussing what should have gone differently. (You can watch the video above, or read the written version below.)

 

Disclaimer:

I’m going to start off by saying that I’m not giving any identifying information about the other party in this video – this video is not about slander, I’m not going to name and shame the person, but I do want to share a cautionary tale so others learn from my mistakes.

The corset I tried to buy was What Katie Did brand, but I have never had any issue with this brand’s customer service or quality – I’ve reviewed this brand a dozen times on my channel before – their corsets have stood up over time. So there is no issue with WKD themselves.

 

It was a regular August afternoon, just like any other.

Each month I put up a poll on my Patreon page asking my lovely patrons which corset brand and style they want me to review next. In July there was a tie between an Etsy sample and one of the new WKD style (since they recently redesigned all their corsets).

I was about to purchase a corset directly from WKD’s site, but I decided to check some BST (buy, sell, trade) corset groups in various forums and social media pages, just in case someone posted a WKD corset in my size.

Almost serendipitously, there was someone selling their Luna waspie in my size! I messaged them right away. The price new would be £140 while this person was selling theirs for £100 plus shipping. (This is a reasonable price for a 2nd hand corset; I usually look for a savings of 60% to 75% of the original price, if it’s gently used with no damage and little signs of wear.)

I am very experienced with buying and selling lightly used corsets, so I didn’t anticipate this situation to be any different than the others.

 

Red Flag #1: Asking that I cover the Paypal fees.

First, the seller asked that I cover the Paypal fees. This is against Paypal’s terms of service (which I’ll explain later) but I know that this sort of this is common in these groups. So I made a mental note of this, but I thought “Whatever… adding another 3% on top of the discounted price is still a good deal.” I agreed to pay £119 total: £100 for the corset, £15 for shipping and £4 on top of that (which amounts to ~ 3% fees).

 

Red Flag #2: Asking additional fees after I had already paid what we agreed on.

I sent the payment through Paypal and when they received the money, they told me it wasn’t enough and wanted me to pay an additional amount on top of the fees I had already paid for. At that point I was getting a little bit suspicious, but I kept it polite and cordial – I explained that we did not agree to pay more than what we had previously discussed, so if it was going to cost more than that, I change my mind about the purchase and could they kindly give a refund. (The corset hadn’t shipped yet so it was still fair to ask this).

The seller said “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, the price is close enough,” and shipped the corset. (They said they would ship it on the 10th, but the stamp said it was not shipped until more than a week later – but this is small enough that I don’t consider it too big a red flag; after all, life gets busy sometimes.)

 

Red Flag #3: Overstating the value of the corset in the customs forms.

Several weeks later, I went to the post office to pick up my new corset, and was shocked to hear that I owed them $126 in taxes and duty. The reason for this is because the value stated on the parcel was (for some bizarre reason) £200, or $348 when converted. That is not what the Luna corset was even worth brand new (even with the price of shipping, VAT, any additional fees, etc, it still would not have come up to that much). This is twice the purchase price we had agreed on for the corset itself. The only reason I could think of for them overestimating the value of a parcel is if they:
a) wanted to cash in on extra money if the parcel were lost in the post (which is deceitful anyway), or
b) they might have been bitter about my refusing to pay more, and wanted me to get dinged by the post once delivered.

I had no choice but to pay the $126, but I will be contesting it because I still have the Paypal receipt for what I paid – but from what I’ve read, people do not often successfully get reimbursed when they’re overcharged duty.

Over $330 dollars later (more than I would have paid if I just bought the corset brand new), the corset is finally in my hands.

Finally, I unboxed the corset during this month’s Patreon livestream. I noted that it was very similar in its cut and construction to WKD’s old styles, but it was dark at the time so I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until the next morning that I was taking a closer look at it, that I realized it’s not the Luna corset at all.

 

Red Flag #4: It’s not even the right corset!!

After looking closely at some archived images and dimensions (thanks to the Wayback machine and my Corset Database), I realized that I had received the Baby waspie, one of their WKD’d old styles, which I have already reviewed in the past.

  • The measurements match the Baby, and does not match the stated measurements for the Luna.
  • It has a 3-pin busk (like the Baby) instead of a 4-pin busk (like the Luna).
  • It is single boned on the seams, with external boning channels, like the Baby (the Luna has sandwiched double bones).
  • It has an attached modesty panel like the Baby corset (the Luna does not come with a modesty panel, but a floating panel can be purchased separately).
  • The hardware, like the busk width/ quality and the grommets are all old-style, whereas they’ve changed their hardware sources for the Luna.

 

Normally I prefer to assume the best in others – what if this person purchased the corset in WKD’s shop, and they thought it was the Luna corset but they were mistaken? Maybe they couldn’t tell the difference. But then again, the Baby corset has been discontinued for well over a year now.

I also know that in some buy/sell/trade groups, some people will buy out dresses or products in side-walk sales, clearance racks, and liquidation events for up to 80% off, and then re-sell those items in Facebook buy/sell/trade groups for profit. (Oftentimes Facebook marketplace allows this – this type of resale of clothing is technically not illegal). Could this seller have done the same in this situation, snapping up a Baby corset at deep discount and selling it for more?

There was technically only one way to find out: I messaged the seller.

 

Red Flag #5: No response / ignored by the seller.

Again, I tried the sugar approach – I told them that the corset arrived safely, thanked them for the prompt shipping, but mentioned that I noticed that it’s not the Luna corset as advertised, it’s the discontinued Baby corset instead. I noted the evidence of the corset being the Baby and not the Luna (old hardware, old measurements, old construction). I asked them around what timeframe they had purchased this corset. I kept it cordial and asked a clear question, allowing them space to answer, or even give some kind of excuse.

My message was read just a few minutes later, but they never responded.

So, over $330 later, I have a corset that is… wearable (it’s functional!), but it’s not what was advertised and it’s useless for a review. However, I could (and I’m tempted to) re-review this corset out of spite, so that my money wouldn’t be a total waist waste. The last time I reviewed the Baby corset, it was 2011 and I hadn’t yet established my systematic order of doing reviews – so if you want me to review this corset again, comment below and I can do so – but I don’t know who it’s going to serve because this style is not available for purchase (unless you want to buy this corset off me, so I can get a bit of my money back).

I thought I was a savvy and seasoned corset shopper, but even I messed up this time.

 

So, what should have been done differently?

Here are some tips for buyers so you can avoid getting scammed in these BST groups (and sellers, so you can learn to play by the rules properly):

(Also see my second-hand FAQ article for more tips and tricks)

  1. The seller should never ask the buyer to cover Paypal / bank fees. It is a common occurrence in buy/sell/trade groups, but you have to know that this is against their terms of service. If they catch you, they could terminate your account without warning or appeal. If you’re a seller and you hate the idea of losing $3-4 on your $100 corset, you can inflate your sales price (e.g. $105 instead of $100), and it’s up to the buyer if they want to meet your price. But you cannot specifically demand that others cover a sales fee.
  2. Send your payment as “goods and services”. The seller should not specifically ask or demand that you send payment as a family or friend (unless the seller really is family / friend and you trust them a lot). If you send money as a friend, then as far as the system is concerned, you are sending a loved one a monetary gift, and there is no buyer protection – so if your parcel gets lost in the mail or if the seller doesn’t ship anything, you’re not able to easily dispute it.
  3. When you’re sending payment, there is usually a box to write comments – spend the extra 30 seconds or a minute to fill it out with the details of your purchase. Break down the cost for each part – for instance, write, “Hello [seller’s name], here is $80 for the [brand, style name, color, size] dress, plus $10 for shipping.” Sellers: if you are sending an invoice, you can break down the price like this too – so you have absolute proof of what you agreed on, in case you need to contest the value, or you accidentally received something different.
  4. If you are selling and shipping an item, state the purchase price of that item on the parcel as the value, no more, no less. Don’t include the shipping fee in the value of the item. Don’t include the tax of the item (if you’re shipping to a different country, that international customer DOES NOT pay state/federal taxes!). Buyers, DO NOT ask a seller to declare the value of a parcel as less than it is (like stating that a $100 item is only $10 or something) because that’s illegal, and the highest penalty for that could be tax fraud. But there are also problems with stating the value as too much – like the government charging too much duty.
  5. Do save the listing of an independent seller and compare it with the original listing on the brand’s website. Screencap the listing if necessary, and compare both the pictures and the descriptions, side by side. Count the busk pins if it’s a corset. Ask for more info if the listing is sparse. Ask for close-up photos if none are provided in the listing (especially if there’s any damage declared). (In my case, the listing was removed before I could save it, but I do have FB messenger evidence.)
  6. If you doubt the label/ brand of the corset, ask for photo evidence. In my case, I received a real WKD corset (not a knockoff), but if you have doubts about whether someone might be selling a knockoff of a certain dress or design, ask for a photo of the label. Ask the seller to include a post-it note with your name or the date written on it, stuck beside the designer label so you know that the seller didn’t just swipe a picture of the label off the internet and send it to you.

 

What do you think – rookie seller mistake, or scam? What other tips would you include to avoid getting scammed? Leave a comment down below!

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3 Tips to Keep Cool and Prevent Overheating while Waist Training

Hey everyone! I’m creating this in the middle of a heat wave, it’s a humidex of 40°C here or (~105°F) and I realized that I hadn’t really made a video solely dedicated on preventing overheating while waist training. (Despite my Caribbean heritage, I’m actually a bit heat intolerant so I have to be extra careful not to get heat exhaustion, so I have plenty of experience with trying to stay cool in the summer.)

When you’re wearing a corset, you have several extra layers of fabric around your core, holding heat in — so it’s all the more important to stay cool and hydrated.

Every once in awhile I will hear or read of another corset wearer who fainted at a nightclub / convention / Renfaire, and oftentimes it can be explained by dehydration and overheating, low blood sugar, or exhaustion. However, the Victorians’ weird preoccupation with swooning ladies did not help with the rumors around the alleged dangers of corsets (read more about the Victorian swooning culture here, because it was definitely a learned behavior and not necessarily due to the corset itself).

I will make another video in the future on tips for wearing corsets as part of your cosplay, but for now, let’s jump into my 3 tips for keeping cool in general, whether you’re wearing your corset over or under your clothes:

1: Invest in a mesh or ventilated corset

Choose a corset that’s thinner or more breathable. Mesh corsets are the first and obvious choice that comes to mind, but they have their pros and cons. I have a whole other post dedicated to comparing mesh corsets here. Mesh corsets are more thin and breezy, which allows heat and sweat to escape — but they usually don’t have the longevity of an all-cotton corset.

Click here to see the post where I compare all these different mesh corsets.

Victorian corsets were often made from a single layer of strong cotton, which you can do as well. Upon the resurgence of the corset’s popularity in the last ~10 years, single-layer corsets used to relatively unpopular because they seemed a bit flimsy compared to the “4-5 layer super-duper heavy-duty training corsets” that certain OTR corsets were touting as higher quality — and subsequently, this formed the misconception that fewer layers meant less strength — but it makes more sense that a single layer of good quality coutil is more breathable, and also stronger/ less resistant to stretching out compared to 3 layers of cheap elastic satin, for instance. and as the community of waist trainers has grown in recent years, including many who train throughout the year and some who live in hotter climates year-round, I think the demand for thinner and more lightweight corsets has grown.

Victorians also had mesh and ventilated corsets to help keep themselves cooler (despite the several layers overtop). Lace Embrace Atelier makes recreations of mesh and skeleton corsets, as well as corsets made from cute cotton eyelet fabric.

Melanie Talkington, owner of Lace Embrace, models her own summer mesh Victorian reproduction corset.

Narrowed Visions also has recreated 1895 ventilated corset below which looks gorgeous. (I had experimented with making my own skeleton corset, which came out hideous but it was a good learning experience that later led to my sports mesh corset.)

Nikki Swift of Narrowed Visions made this lovely ventilated corset from an 1895 antique pattern, made with drab coutil.


2: Stay hydrated.

It’s probably obvious, but it’s too important to leave out. Even if you don’t think you’re sweating under your corset — believe me, you are. Even if you’re in an air-conditioned building (and air conditioned spaces tend to have dry air), still take in water. But especially if you’re out and about, bring a water bottle and sip it every half hour at minimum, and do not down it all at once. Because if you feel dehydrated and nauseated, and then you chug a pint of water all at once, you’re probably going to feel even more sick. If you’re sweating profusely, you’re also losing salt, so put a pinch of salt or an electrolyte mix in your water bottle and sip frequently.

Related Content: See the Guided Galleries, Lucy’s regularly updated master post on some of the most gorgeous Summer, Mesh, Sheer, and Ventilated Corsets by OTR brands and custom corsetieres


3: Try a Bodice Chiller!

If you have a tendency to overheat, one amazing thing that was recommended to me was a bodice cooler or bodice chiller. It’s essentially a metal vial that you put in the freezer in advance and stick it in your cleavage or down the front of your corset to keep you cool. This works better with overbust corsets than underbust, because most overbusts leave you a bit of space between the breasts and at the sternum, whereas underbusts tend to fit more flush around the ribs.

Now, these are surprisingly difficult to find. Sometimes they are sold at Renfaires, they can be made from metal or glass — I’d personally be afraid of putting glass that close to my solar plexus (but if it’s designed to go from hot to cold frequently, then most likely it will be tempered glass that’s resistant to shattering). I’ve found one on Etsy here made from stainless steel — it’s available in several different colors and designs, and best of all it’s $20 USD which is much less than you’ll find at most Renaissance Faires.

If you can’t find a bodice chiller nearby, you could also get one of those long stainless steel chillers designed for beer or wine. I have actually not bought a bodice chiller yet, but what I have done is take small freezies or ice pops, wrap it in a paper towel so the plastic doesn’t risk cutting me (and the paper towel also catches condensation and prevents frostnip), and the best part is that they’re easy to find and only cost ~20 cents each. Since they’re sealed, you can pop them back in the freezer when you’re done — but let’s be honest, I usually end up eating them.

What did the Victorians do to keep cool?

While Victorians didn’t have air conditioning (currently my best friend), they did have ventilated, mesh, or skeleton corsets as mentioned above — other ways that Victorians kept cool was by using fans and carrying parasols to shade themselves from the sun. There are patents dating back to the 1800s showing that they even had ceiling fans in some areas, although they worked using a spring and crank, and were usually operated by slaves / servants (another reason why we can feel better about modern air conditioning). Lastly, Victorian women also had summer dresses made from lightweight cotton and linen, which despite wearing multiple layers can sometimes still be cooler than modern synthetic fabrics.

Ready to buy a mesh or a lightweight summer corset? Hey, I’ve got them corsets in my shop! Support this blog and stay cool this summer at the same time.