How to Put On (and Break In!) Your Corset

A corset's prime feature is its waist cinching capability. Unlike girdles or waist cinchers or corselettes, a real corset will take your waist in by at least 2-4 inches. Curvy women may find that a corset can take their waist in six inches or more. In other words, a woman with a 34" waist could go down to a 28" waist with good corsetiere and proper waist training.

But before you start dreaming of itty bitty wasp waists, I have to stress the importance of breaking in your corset. I can't tell you how much it distresses me to see someone abuse a corset. I just don't understand why you spend a couple hundred dollars, if not more, on a garment and then not take care of it. So, before one of you makes me cry with a tale of a broken busk, let me share with you the best way to break in a corset.

Actually, before I start that, I should say that you want to have a empty stomach and an empty bladder before you put on a corset. Eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom are very...adventurous enterprises when you're all cinched up.

So...the first thing you want to do when you get your corset is loosen it all the way. If you've ordered a corset that's 4" smaller than your waist, you will not be able to get it on if it's laced up tightly. If your corset has a front closure, like a busk, you also want to undo that. Make sure your corset is right side up (sometimes indicated by the presence of garter loops; if uncertain, e-mail the manufacturer), then bring it around your body, making sure the modesty panel is flat if you have one.

Hooking the eyes is where I have the most trouble, and I find that starting from the middle works best. If you start from the ends, the single hooked closure you manage to fasten acts like a hinge, keeping all the other closures well out reach. Exhale, sucking in your tummy, and fasten the rest.

At this point, it's helpful if you have someone there with you, but if not, no worries. Reaching behind, grab the lacing loops (sometimes called rabbit ears), and pull them away from your body. Now, since you're breaking the corset in, you don't want to pull too tightly. Now is not the time to see how small you make your waist. Pull until you have a little bit of cinch and a little bit of tension, then stop, tie your laces and go do something else. I've embedded a video from What Katie Did if you're a visual learner.




If you feel like it, you can tighten again later, but it's very important not to rush things. Being overeager can result in broken busks, warped ribs, snapped laces, torn grommets, and any number of expensive, hard-to-repair nasties. Never tighten until it's painful or you're having a trouble breathing.

I didn't mention this before, but you may want to have a undershirt or tube top on under the corset. That way, your body oils won't stain the corset.

When taking the corset off, do not, I repeat--Do Not--unfasten the busk first. You have to loosen the laces and then, when your corset is loose enough to wiggle around a bit, then unhook the busk. Unhooking the busk first could break your corset, and we don't want that happening.

After you're done wearing your corset, hang it up to air out (with the laces over the hanger). You can leave it there until your next wear or fold it up for later. Never wash a corset (other than perhaps a damp cloth on the outside). For more cleaning instructions, you want to contact the manufacturer.

This is a repost of a blog I follow from Treacle the founder of The Lingerie Addict blog

A well fitting bra will have the following

A well fitting bra will have the following

The chest band should be horizontal around the body and should not ride up at the back. This should mean it is firm but comfortable and ideally you should be able to fit two fingers under the band at any point.

The wires at the front of the bra should lie flat against your rib cage (sternum) and should not dig-in, rub or poke your boobs.

The cup of the bra should fully enclose each boob without causing any wrinkling of the fabric. At the top of the bra, the fabric should meet your boobs with a smooth line without a gap or ridge. Even when you raise your arms up, the boobs should remain enclosed in the cup of the bra.

Your Boobs should not bulge over the top or sides of the cups and should not create a ridge.

With the straps correctly fitted, they should not dig into your shoulders or cause the back of the bra to ride up. At the other extreme, the straps should not fall off your shoulders.

If all the above features are correct, your boobs should be primarily supported by the band and not just the shoulder straps. The bra should therefore be comfortable to wear enabling you to move and breath easily.

You should use the above criteria as your primary method for finding you bra size. It will involve trying on lots of different sized bras!

Europeans ahead of the fashion

So as I was saying in my first blog, I have been looking through a bunch of other blogs. Getting an education and just seeing what is being written as well as what people are discussing.
To me it seems that the Europeans seem to be so ahead of the fashion world. American companies do not cater to the plus size figure. They are afraid of showing off curves. I remember a while back that the television world would not play a sexy lingerie ad for Lane Bryant. But they have no problem airing an entire show of Victorias Secret fashion show. It just doesn't make sense.
Vogue Italia featured on the front cover three plus size models. Now I came across this website about Vogue Italia: http://www.vogue.it/en/vogue-curvy

This is what is needed. This is what young women need to see. That you don't have to be a size zero to be thought of as pretty or perfect or even sexy. Women with curves are very sexy. In fact that's all everyone is talking about with Hollywood stars such as Sofia Vergara or Christina Hendricks. Very beautiful women with very sexy curves.