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Make no bones about it (sorry!) corsets are designed to be tightly laced and they are, by their nature,
restricting. Eating, drinking, sitting and standing (not to mention driving!) can feel odd to begin
with, especially if you only wear it occasionally. The secret is to get a corset in the correct size and
not over-do things until you get used to it. A corset should not be painful. If it is you have either
tightened it much too quickly or got the wrong size!
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There are different ways of lacing corsets. Early models had a lace which simply started at the
bottom and spiralled up to the top.
Later, criss cross lacing was used. |
The largest area of confusion, which makes a big difference to the fit, is with Victorian corsets. The
lace of these finishes in a loop at the waist, not at the top or bottom. It is most important you fasten
it this way. If not it will not do it's job of pulling in your waist to it's greatest potential and will
probably be very uncomfortable. It's all to do with physics, but I'm not going into that here!
Most people do not wear corsets very often, so I always recommend that laces should be tightened
in stages. You can't put these things on in a hurry! I try to put mine on and tighten the laces over
the space of about 45 mins, longer if I can. If you are using a satin ribbon to lace your corset be
sure to tie a good double bow as the ribbon may slip.
It's a good idea to put stockings or shoes on before you do this, if you haven't already!
| 1. |
Make sure the lace at the back is pulled as loose as it can be, put the corset on and fasten the front
busk. |
| 2. |
Pull the loops at the waist, making sure the corset is in the right place, busk at centre front etc.
Work loose lace from the top down to the waist, and from the bottom up to the waist. Pull the loops
again so all slack is pulled in and it feels snug. Tie in a bow and do something else for 20 mins. |
| 3. |
Have a good stretch, arms above head etc. Repeat stage 2. Again do something else for 20 mins. |
| 4. |
A final pull on the strings, repeating the process in stage 2. |
Et voilà, a goddess!
If you can do this over a longer period of time, repeating stage 2 as often as you can, just pulling in a little at a time the more comfortable it will be and of course, this is much easier with a friend! |
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