Ask about corsets and corset making kits (if you can sew-if not, find someone who can).
Also, it is a MYTH that corsets were torturous cages and broke your ribs and made you unable to breath. If worn PROPERLY, it should gently hug your figure, and the stays (whalebone-now plastic), support your back. Corsets can take quite a few inches off, but you have to do what’s called waist training-meaning, you start off with it loose, and after a while, tighten it until you get used to it.
Seriously, if you’re looking for a real corset-check out the message board at Sense and Sensibility-I post there under my real name, Kathi, and the gals there are VERY helpful. If you’re serious, there are links to costumers and seamstresses. I also know of a place where you can order a corset making kit, but I have to ask the woman I’m interning with-we have an exhibit that allows two corsets for try-on. Repros, of course. I’ve tried them on every time I go in and you would not believe how nice your back feels.
I occasionally wear girdles. I’ve got a figure that looks more like I have a beer gut, so for special evenings out, I’ll put on a waist shaper to tuck that baby in. It just makes me feel a little better if I’m wearing something clingy.
About corsets, I’ve made and worn a few in my lifetime. Spending quite a bit of time at Renaissance Faires makes the leap into a tight lace rather easy. Most of the corsets I’ve made have been for the particular time period, and actually work well with my figure, since I’m terribly short waisted. Honestly, if you really do want a corset, talk to a seamstress that can make one that will fit your body comfortably. A properly fitted corset doesn’t cut off your breath nor does it crush you–like Guin said, it’s more like a good, snug hug. Also, make sure if you get one, get one with metal boning, not plastic. Plastic warps and breaks with use.
Just one thing… when wearing a corset, don’t lie down on your back… you’ll end up making an excellent turtle impersonation.
I’m shortwaisted, so I can’t. Especially girdles (or shapers) with boning - the things expect about 2 more inches of body than I actually have, so instead of creating a smooth line, they buckle and create even weirder looking bumps than going without one would.
Luckily, being under 30, it hasn’t ever been an actual issue, and only a very few times been a pretend (as in the I want to look thinner for a certain dress) issue.
Guin, what I’ve read says that it depends on the type of corset. There were the types that were just gently hugged in someone’s figure - and there were the types that would constrict breathing, and that they were very frequently abused.
Like FairyChatMom, I let it all hang out. I just try not to move around too fast; I find that I can hurt people with my flab if I swing around too fast. I never wore girdles, but when I was a waitress during college several years ago, I wore support hose with control top panties. In hot, humid weather it was a job in itself getting this garment on. It felt like a girdle from my ankles to my waist. I’m so glad that I’m a slob now.
On occasion, I will break out the tummy-tucking, gut-busting, up-lifting, hip-smoothing Lycra torture device that was so inaccurately labeled “Shaper” and squeeze myself into it. Squeeze being the operative term in that sentence.
B/F loves it because it gives me cleavage.
I love it because it gives my back my pre-baby figure.
But then again, taking it off gives my back my circulation, which is probably more important in the long run.
All in all, it only sees daylight (figuratively speaking) 2 maybe 3 times a year. Otherwise it stays in the back, back, back of the closet.
Out of sight… Out of mind… Out of pain.
The only person I know who has ever admited to wearing one was my great grandmother. Besides hers, I’ve never seen another. I’ve always wanted to try one some time, or maybe a corset instead, just to see what it would look like.
Eve, I had a corset made for me, according to my measurements, at a place called Gallery Serpentine. It was a couple of hundred dollars Aussie (they’re in Sydney, I believe, but will ship to the US) but they let you pick the style, fabric, and all other sorts of good options. I chose the hardcore steel boning, and it laced up the front. I could cinch myself from a size 9 down to a size 4 (although I have since slimmed down a bit and wear a 5). You could crack your ribs with it if you wanted to. I’m sure a quick search with Google would find you their web address.
For what it’s worth, mine was black satin brocade with a floral pattern, with black lace trim (I obviously wasn’t wearing this one /under/ anything). I have a picture of me wearing it before I sold it (don’t ask) here if you want to see: http://www.jinwicked.com/temp/corset01.jpg
One thing you should keep in mind about something like this that covers your breasts and hips is that you have absolutely zero bendability in the waist area, so sitting down is kind of awkward until you get used to it. They also take ten-twenty minutes to get into, depending on how much lacing they have and how much you want it cinched in.
Here, I found the address for you (they didn’t used to have their own domain.) They also make all kinds of reproduction, theatrical & gothic clothing and underwear, but you could easily have them make you something more plain that would be suitable for wear underneath everyday stuff.
Yeah, every once in a great while I still wear the same girdle I wore in my finishing school days (don’t laugh!) when I was 12-14 years old… when we were all supposed to be sleek and slim and stuff and pay particular attention to looking especially good in what we wore.
This particular evil, itchy little arrangement is essentially a tight, white, spandex and rubber thing that looks like a pair of “boy-leg” bathing suit bottoms. Unlike the stuff my mother wears, it’s a “junior” version… and so lacks the extra Killer Presser Panel That Smashes Your Stomach In across the front.
I’ll tell you, though, it does give ya a nice smooth finish inside fitted clothing! As to where you’d buy a new girdle, I’m sure you can… maybe from the Sears and Roebuck Catalogue? I’d have to ask my mother.
JC Penney has some of the more old-fashioned kind of girdles in their catalog, with a few modern improvements (like a side zipper, so you don’t have to struggle to get the thing on).
Again, it depends on the type you get. There are so many many many varieties out there.
Some, like the one I want, are very brief, cut under your bust and above your hips. Some are cut longer, and some have shoulder straps, etc etc.
ANY corset can be abused, but when worn correctly, it should not hurt a person. http://www.costumes.org/pages/corsetlinks.htm
I am 38 years old and have what I consider to be a great figure. However I still wear a panty girdle once in awhile depending on the outfit Have on. I prefer the brief panty kind with detachable garters because I wear them with pantyhose and sometimes with stockings. When I was 13 my mother introduced me to nylons by getting me a panty girdle and several pairs of nude pantyhose. She told me always wear panties under the girdle and always wear the girdle whenever I wear nylons. Needless to say I don’t always wear a girdle but to be honest I don’t mind wearing one. And yes, I still obey my mother and wear nylon panties when I wear a girdle!
No girdles any more? That’s a real shame - when I was much younger (much, much younger), browsing thru the girdle section of the Sears catalog (nailed up next to the seat in the outhouse), was a primary source of information about how females really looked.
I have a few Spanx undergarments. They do improve the looks of certain outfits. I don’t wear them all the time but I don’t mind them too much when I do wear them - I won’t wear anything that hurts, I don’t care how good it looks.
Yep :nodding: I had my introduction to Spanx a couple of years ago when my husband and I attended his then-employer’s 25th anniversary party. It was a dress-up high-falutin’ shindig at a posh hotel. My outfit, although mostly comfortable, was cut just a tad too short around the hips.
I opted for the Spanx pantyhose, which is basically a “shaper” (okay, somewhat girdle) attached to nylon. It took me nearly an hour to put it on. I don’t know if it made me look slimmer, but my outfit fit me around the hips once I put them on.
They were expensive, IMO, too – something like $30-40, IIRC :eek:
Somebody upthread mentioned that, in the girdle’s heyday, everybody wore them whether or not they actually needed to. One reason, as the poster pointed out, was because garters came attached with them. This was the era before pantyhose. I remember my mother telling me how much she hated wearing one but did anyway because she wasn’t going to pay extra money for a separate garter belt.
