The New & Improved Effigy Corset

5-25-01

Those who know me know that I am somewhat of a perfectionist. I am rarely pleased with something the first time around and this was the case with my first attempt at the effigy corset. The green corset had one thing I really liked, to tell the truth: The reed that I used for the boning was very comfortable. That much I was satisfied with. However, the boning was also part of the problem. I realized early on that I was going to need a good, sturdy corset that I could wash and wear and the green corset was not it. The boning was guaranteed to wilt in the water and while the chamois I had used as piping was waterproof, it was bulky, and the silk thread I had used to secure it and the boning channels was quickly ripping free, taking fabric with it. Yet another problem was the length of the point at the front of the corset. It was far too long and jabbed into my thighs when I sat in it, forcing my legs apart at a very indecent angle. The front of the corset was also ponderously low, a mistake I made while trying to be faithful to the original pattern and make it fit my measurements.

With these things in mind, I set out two days ago to make a wash 'n wear effigy corset that, above all, fit me like it should. This is the result.

Left: The old corset; Right: The new corset

The overall design of the corset was not modified significantly, except for personal adjustments in front length and raising the front of the corset by two inches. The biggest changes are in my choice of boning, fabric and piping. For the corset, I chose to use a double layer of white cotton/linen fustian. The boning is synthetic whalebone and the piping is pink bias tape.

The whalebone is plastic and does a really great job with support and best of all, can be washed. The fustian is a very strong fabric and still has enough "give", although the whalebone does not allow as much flexibility as the reed. The pink binding was so much nicer to sew by hand and it is not as bulky as the leather binding.

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Side View. Appologies for the bad digital photo on the right.

The tabs on both corsets are placed identically, but the shorter point makes it appear otherwise. A little while ago on the H-Costume list there was some discussion regarding the comfort of corsets with and without boned tabs at the waist. I've made boned tabbed corsets as well as untabbed corsets and my personal preference is to bone the tabs. This corset has boning which extends all the way down the length of the tabs at the waist which helps to comfortably redistribute body fat upward and downward, creating a smooth and comfortable line. Obviously, I am not a very big person, but I would venture to say that this style of corset would be comfortable on all sizes. It's design is such that the wearer's body fat will not be pulled toward the back, as in previous styles of corsets, but uniformly distributed to other areas without pinching. The integral shoulder straps are another bonus that helps this corset wear comfortably, allowing the shoulders to support the stress of the corset on the body.

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Back View

Now that I compare the two corsets side by side, I can see with painful clarity the problems that I had with the first corset. The reeds I used as boning were indeed the most comfortable boning material I've used, but they were difficult to work with. If you remember, I had to modify the neckline of the neckline of the green corset numerous times, eventually having to cut down the reeds to shoulder blade level. This accounts for the uneven boning you see in the first picture. The reeds were also prone to poking through the fabric and into my flesh, which made for an interesting wearing experience (something like having needles randomly stuck into your body whenever you moved). I also decided against leaving 1 inch unboned around the top of the corset. In the first corset, the reeds were constantly finding new ways to poke through the stitching at the top. In the new corset, I boned the entire length of the front and then used piping to secure the boning.

With the new corset, I made the back neckline of the corset come to a point and this time planned for the boning to go only as far as the shoulder blades. Also, I paid closer attention to the tabs and reshaped them. The observant viewer will notice that the tabs do not appear to be evenly spaced in the second picture; this is an illusion, due to the fact that I have scoliosis and my right hip is an entire inch higher than my left side. Consequently, my rib cage protrudes more on my right side as well, which alters the stress on the corset (you can see the stress of the fabric on the right side which is not mirrored on the left). I have yet to figure out how to account for this, but I have noticed that when I am wearing this corset, the placement of the boning in the back prevents me from placing my weight on my right side and corrects my posture considerably.

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Ta Daa!