Category: Information

Welcome back to my series on corsets!  Last week I talked about fashion corsets.  And I shared a bunch of pretty pictures.  Each and every one of the fashion corsets I carry has a “upgraded version” that I offer by special request.  In most cases, the real corset costs at least twice as much.  If you are new to corsets, you might be wondering – why buy a real corset, when fashion corsets are perfectly cute at half the cost?

Let me describe to you what it feels like to wear a real corset.  Imagine a hug.  A gentle squeeze, perfectly proportioned all around your torso.  Imagine the best support you’ve ever felt (better than your best fitting bra) but with no weight on your shoulders, no elastic digging in anywhere.  Then imagine looking at yourself in the mirror – and seeing this gorgeous curvy bombshell figure that you never knew you could have!

There is one very simple way to tell if you are purchasing a real corset or a fashion corset.  How is it sized?  If the sizes are Small/Medium/Large/etc, that’s a fashion corset.  If the sizes are numbers, that’s a real corset.

Real corsets are designed to actually shrink your waist size, so they are sized by waist in inches.  They have steel bones, a busk in front to clasp (typically), and lacing in back that is laced in an over-under style that makes them easy to pull tight.  A good corset will be made nice and curvy, so that when you lace it tight it will squeeze your waist but curve out to give enough room for hips and bust.

Overbust Corsets

Overbust means, well, over the bust!  An Overbust corset covers the bust, so you don’t need to wear anything underneath to cover your chest.  I find that looks with overbust corsets are more elegant.  Many people say that overbust corsets can have fit issues in the chest area, but I find this to not be a problem as long as the corset has a good pattern.  My hourglass corsets, for instance, have been officially verified to fit perfectly on cup sizes from A to G.

Underbust Corsets

And similarly, I’m sure you’ve guessed that underbust means under the bust!  If you’re wearing an underbust corset, you’ll need to wear a chemise or blouse underneath (at least to be legal in public!)  You’ll have more mobility in an underbust corset, since it ends lower on your rib cage than an overbust.  If you can find an underbust corset that fits you perfectly in height as well as size, you’ll find it to be the most comfortable style too.

Midbust Corsets

You see these much less often.  Midbust corsets are somewhere in between under and overbust, and they are typically straight across the top.  Authentic historical corsets were often midbust – as there would be several layers worn over the corset, and the corset wasn’t supposed to show!  Midbust can be a great choice if you want to do a look inspired by the Tudor or Baroque era – since the necklines were extremely low and straight across in those days.  Depending on your level of endowment, you may be able to get away with wearing a midbust corset without a chemise.

And those are the primary types of real corsets.  Stay tuned for next week’s post, where I will talk about all the bits and pieces that go into making a corset.

Shopping for a nice corset can get tricky.  Because there are a whole lotta things for sale today that are called “corsets” that aren’t really corsets!  Here’s your buying guide for exactly what’s out there today, and how to tell one type of corset from another.

“Corset” Trainers

If it has latex, or rubber, it probably isn’t a corset.  Yes, there are real latex corsets (drool) but these are the exception to the rule.  Corset trainers are basically one step up from a girdle.  What’s cool about these is, they come in steel boned styles.  The steel boned styles can sometimes be used to train the waist down, depending upon your level of “squish”.  I’ll write about waist training later.  What you can do with a corset trainer, you can do way better with a real waist training corset.

“Corset” Bustiers and Bridal “Corset” undergarments

If it has bra cups, it probably isn’t a corset.  There are exceptions to this rule too – real corsets can be made with shaped cups – but a cupped corset is very unlikely to fit you unless it’s custom made to your measurements and costs at least $300.  The distance between waist and underbust (bra line) tends to vary greatly between women!  Bustiers solve this problem by being made of elastic, and not having a real waist point, only a gentle curve that can be placed higher or lower on your waist if necessary.  And they are usually plastic boned.  They’ll smooth you out a bit, and look quite nice under a strapless dress (or by themselves at a club!), but they do not truly alter your natural form.

Lingerie “Corsets”

Lingerie corsets aren’t actually a thing – it’s just something I’ve noticed.  Anytime I’ve seen a “corset” in a lingerie store, it has been the most seriously poor quality corset EVER.  And it has cost a lot too for the bit of poorly sewn fabric, lace and plastic boning.  So just a little warning for you – beware the corset that is made by a big brand lingerie store!

Fashion “Corsets”

Now here’s where it gets extremely tricky.  Fashion corsets are typically copies of real corsets made by various manufacturers overseas.  And they often steal photos to sell them!  So they’ll look just as nice and as curvy as a real corset in the photos, but what you receive could surprise you. Most of the time, fashion corsets have plastic bones.

There are also steel boned fashion corsets – but those aren’t quite the same thing as a real corset either.  The steel bones are thinner than the bones in a real corset (they are called “soft steel”
bones), and most of the time the fabrics used are thinner too.  And we all know that manufacturers (and pattern makers) often do not understand female curves!  Lol fashion corsets will most likely be less curvy than your natural form.  So it isn’t possible to reduce waist size with a fashion corset.

I still love fashion corsets (the steel boned ones, at least).  Sometimes I just want something cute, and I don’t have enough for a real corset in the budget!  I sell the cutest steel boned ones I’ve found in my store.  I don’t use the photos my supplier sends – instead take my own photos for each and every one of them, so you’ll know exactly what you are getting!  I also don’t sell fashion corsets in plus sizes.  Remember what I said earlier about the thinner steel bones and fabric?  Because of this, fashion corsets provide slightly less support than a strapless bra.  So if you are a plus size women, I’ll recommend a real corset instead, which will be better designed to handle your beautiful curves.

These are my favorite fashion corsets (at least the ones that I’ve taken pictures of so far!)

Real Corsets

Now that we’ve gotten all the random out of the way, we can talk about real corsets!

And there are so many types and so many styles of them that it will require an entire other post to share them all with you!  Watch for it coming next week.  🙂

If you were born in the Victorian Era, you would most likely be wearing a corset right now! Most girls started wearing them in their young teens in those days. Victorian times were the heyday of corsets, but to search out their origins, we must go further back in time – to the late Renaissance.

So imagine with me a setting a bit like your local Ren Fest (but less fairies, more unpleasant smells… ok let’s not imagine the smells!) and travel to the French Court. Corsets as we know them today got a big push to fame because of Catherine De Medici.

She’s on my “historical figures that would be fun to cosplay” list because she was kind of a badass (and possibly evil too.) One of the weirder things she did in her lifetime was to put a ban on “thick waists” at court. And a trend took hold.

In the early days, corsets looked like this:

They attempted to give you a torso shaped like an ice cream cone! The illusion was furthered by the style of the dresses women wore. They changed over the years, but they always featured a rather stylized figure. Here’s a gorgeous example from 1770:

The corset as we know it today came into being during the Victorian era. They had been using the corset for hundreds of years as a foundation garment to help dresses fit and look a certain way. So when the style evolved to have a small nipped waist, and tons of voluminous petticoats, corsets got nice and curvy to help the silhouette.

The Victorian corset started out short and curvy – but when the skirts got more form fitting in the 1880’s, it extended down to shape and smooth the hips and abdomen. My designs are mostly inspired by the 1880s. I absolutely love the silhouette in those days!

In the 1890s (Edwardian era), they made corsets with straight fronts and backs shaped in a way that forced your chest out and your hips back. It made the gowns look so elegant – but it made the corsets rather uncomfortable for your back.

As modern feminists, we would like to think that one day, we decided to be liberated women, and spontaneously burned all our corsets and switched to wearing only practical clothing. But it didn’t quite happen that way! The thing that really made us stop wearing corsets was World War 1. They needed more steel to make weapons/ammunition. So women helped the war effort by giving up their steel boned corsets. We still wore shapewear – like girdles, and lighter elastic corsets for decades after that.

In the 60’s – a slim athletic figure came into style. So exercise replaced shapewear for attaining an ideal figure. And for a long while, corsets were a rare item for those not into historical reenactment or the fetish scene.

Now the corset has come back into fashion – as something we wear for fun! And I’m glad that they have. I’m a mother of two who hates to exercise – so as you can probably imagine, I don’t have an ideal figure according to modern standards! But oh, do I love how I look when I wear a corset. ^.^

If you are curious to learn more about the history of corsets, may I recommend this book:

I purchased and read it before writing this post to be sure I was dotting my i’s and crossing my ts correctly!  But it turned out to be a fascinating read with lots of interesting pictures.  (The above image is an affiliate link – if you purchase with the link Amazon will pay me a small commission on the sale.  I’ve found some awesomely recommendable things on Amazon over the years – and it seemed that the easiest way to share their images in my blog was to sign up for the affiliate program!  So that’s what I did.  ^.^)

Coming next week – Corsets 101 Part 2: Corset types!

This past weekend I did my after-Halloween overhaul.  This is a several day process – where I put on an awesome audiobook, and spend some time buried up to my nose in lace and pretty fabrics – cleaning and organizing.

This year, while at it, I realized something.  Holy crap, did I make a lot of pretty things this year!  And I have a lot of pretty ideas that I still have yet to make.  Which means I need more space in my stock closet!

So… Drumroll please… I’m having a sale!

I’m putting nearly a third of my shop on 40% off!  If you’ve been eyeing one of the samples I make for photoshoots (and it hasn’t sold yet) here’s your chance to get it at an amazing discount.  You can see my size Small photoshoot samples here, and my Medium and Large photoshoot samples here.

All of my outfits and costumes will be 10% off.  You can see the Steampunk costumes here, and the Victorian Gothic section here.  If it’s something I already have on clearance, it’ll be 50% off.  The sale ends on Cyber Monday (November 26th.)

I’ve decided to start a monthly tradition! After the end of each month, I’ll take a bit of time to share with all of you what I’ve been up to.

I hope you’ll enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at Auralynne, and the chance to catch up on any info you may have missed on social media.

…Has been busy but great! I’ve taken on a partner – as of August, and this month she was trained in enough things to really save me a lot of time. This time of year it can be very difficult to keep up with customer inquiries on top of the amount of custom sewing orders I have – so it’s been great having a second person around.

We had an epic photoshoot planned for September! With beaches all having free parking after Labor Day, and the surprisingly warm weather, I thought it might be awesome to visit one of them in pirate costume (complete with props) and take some photos. Just in time for Talk Like a Pirate Day, of course!

But you know how best laid plans work… The first photo-day had to be postponed when my sister caught sick, and then some unexpected delays while working on custom orders ran me late on my sewing, and I had to sew solid for about three week’s time to catch up!

We did manage to snag some pretty photos of my burgundy/gold/beige gown in between doing festival stuff at the Vermont Steampunk festival. Here are a few of my favorites:

You can see the rest of the photos in my Portfolio.

I didn’t actually get any new patterns made this month because, well, Halloween season – but I did a little tweak to my “Tuxedo Skirt” pattern. I added pleats in the back and I think it’s at least 150% cuter now!

New things for Sale

Here is a little teaser of a few of the new things I posted for sale in my etsy shop this month:

Monthly Giveaway

This cute little hat was the prize for September’s monthly facebook giveaway. Congrats to the winner!

Thanks for reading, and happy October everyone!