#fail: the 1780’s corset

For those of you who have stayed behind and are not following minkipool.co.za, I have a corsetry related post:

With this 1780’s pair of stays from Norah Waugh’s Corsets and Crinolines I tried something new. I was interested in creating a corset that had the flat-chested cone-shaped top half of a 18th century pair of stays, but the hips of a later Victorian steel boned corset. In short, I wanted something that doesn’t have waist tabs. It was not a success.

Read more here —> and be sure to follow minkipool.co.za for any future corset posts!

I’m moving!

Hi all! After more than a year of wondering what’s going on and what to do with my neglected life on the blogosphere, I have finally decided to consolidate all my various spaces into one comprehensive blog. This new blog will make its home on my personal domain at www.minkipool.co.za and will include Lady Wilhelmine’s Boudoir and Miscellaneous Creations. This move also means that I will start blogging again a bit more frequently about corsets, miscellaneous creations and general musings over tea.

Hope to see you on the there side!

Are you wearing an authentic corset?

This is a blog post I recently wrote for the Corset Connection blog. All images used in the post and the chart are courtesy of Corset Connection and all items are available for purchase in their online store. They have a wonderful range of steel-boned Budget Beauties available to suit every pocket. Also be sure to check out their Facebook page with all their awesome prizes and giveaways. 

I bought my first corset for a high school dance and it was the most wonderful feeling to have all that rich velvet hug my body and cinch my waist into goddess-like proportions. Not only did I feel every inch a princess, I also felt empowered. I felt like I could take on the world and that nothing could stop me. I was ready to see every jaw at the dance drop as I walked by. I was ready to fight off the droves of admirers with a flick of my wrist. I was out to make small town history as their very own, real life Cinderella.

But, alas, the fairy tale didn’t last. Very soon the bones of my new corset began to buckle and bend out of shape. With every breath I could feel my waistline expand further and eventually the entire thing started unraveling at the seams. My corset had literally turned into a pumpkin.

I was angry and disappointed and my head filled with complaints. Are corsets really this flimsy? Am I really that fat? And it was then that the most important question occurred to me. The question that everyone should ask themselves if they are in the market for a corset: am I even wearing an authentic corset?

The answer for me was no. I wasn’t wearing a corset. The problem wasn’t with the top itself, but with what I had tried to do with it. Corsets have been developed over centuries of research, trial and error, and wardrobe malfunction to withstand the stresses of lacing tightly and altering or enhancing the figure. I had learned the hard way that if you try to lace any other garment like you would a corset, you may end up damaging it, or worse, hurting yourself! Likewise, if you try to wear a corset like it’s any other garment, the results will be the same.

Whenever you are looking at corsets to buy, ask yourself these questions:

Does it have laces?
Almost everything can have laces, but a corset simply cannot be a corset without it. Corsets are adjustable garments that can be laced looser or tighter as the occasion or your outfit demands. If you can’t adjust it via laces, it isn’t an authentic corset.

Can you see through it?
Lace and other sheer lingerie fabrics are not strong enough to be used in a real corset. Corsets have to operate under high stress and light, sheer fabrics simply won’t hold. Lace can be used as embellishment, but it can’t be the foundation fabric of the corset.

Can you stretch it?
If your hands can stretch it, think what your wobbly bits would be able to do to it! Coutil is a fabric that has been developed specially for corsets. It is strong, stable, doesn’t stretch and keeps the bones from breaking through. This helps a corset keep its shape, which in turn helps you to keep yours! If it can stretch it’s not an authentic corset.

Can you slouch while wearing the corset?
Most corselets and corset tops will help you with some streamlining and waist-reduction, but once you slouch they will not be able to support the weight like an authentic corset does. If it bends easily and allows you to push your tummy out a bit, it isn’t a real corset. One of the main goals of corsets throughout history has been to ensure good posture, so if it is worth its weight in steel it won’t allow slouching.

Is it cheap?
Authentic corsets are speciality garments that take a lot of skill, tools and different materials to make. Those things all cost money. If you can buy it for a few bucks out of a end-of-range bargain bin, it probably isn’t a corset. Miracles do happen, so keep your eyes peeled, but it’s always safer to pay for the quality you expect.

Of course there is nothing wrong with all the other cute tops that you tried on that aren’t steel-boned corsets! Sometimes you’ll want to wear an authentic corset and other times you just need something that looks the part but allows you some freedom of movement. So what else is there and how to tell what is what? Below are some of the options you have and also tips on how to tell them apart:

The Brassiere
Devices for supporting the breasts have been around since the time of ancient Greece, and the first modern bra was patented in 1889. The design closest to what we wear today was patented in 1914. Brassieres are usually made of soft, elastic materials that provide both support, comfort and embellishment. Usually underwires and two or more flexible plastic bones are included to help the bra keep its shape. If the strap and the body of the bra below the cups extend all the way down to the waist, it is called a bustier. This garment provides light to medium support for the bust and does not shape the torso in any way.

The Corselet
The corselet is an all in one garment that combines a light form of girdle with a brassiere. This style developed in the 1920′s when the desired figure was flat rather than curvy. The idea was to have a garment that could be anchored on the shoulders and to the garters, and so create a straight line. Today, however, they have evolved to include elastic panels and flexible plastic bones to create an understated yet feminine shape.

The Corset Top
This modern day invention looks very much like a corset, but does in fact not offer the same amount of iron-clad support as an authentic corset does. Corset tops are usually made using lighter materials an include plastic bones. They cannot stand up to the stresses of lacing tightly and will provide only a limited amount of shaping to both the waist and the bust.

The Authentic Corset
The modern authentic corset most likely evolved from the standardised everyday corsets that were first mass produced in the 1890’s. They consist of shaped panels that are supported by spring steel or spiral steel boning. It is a combination of these panels, boning and laces that gives a corset that very specific shape and the strength to support the entire torso. The top of the corset can stop below or above the breasts or anywhere in between. A general rule of thumb is that if it sits below the nipples it is an underbust corset and if sits on or above the nipples it is an overbust corset.

This Are you wearing a corset? chart allows you to look at some of the different options that are out there and you can decide what is best for you. Happy shopping!

This is a blog post I recently wrote for the Corset Connection blog. All images used in the post and the chart are courtesy of Corset Connection and all items are available for purchase in their online store. They have a wonderful range of steel-boned Budget Beauties available to suit every pocket. Also be sure to check out their Facebook page with all their awesome prizes and giveaways. 

Ribbon Corsets: Ideas Magazine competition entry

So it’s been a while…

Anyway, moving right on, here are my competition entries for the Ideas Magazine’s 2012 be creative or whatever competition. I didn’t win (heck, I wasn’t even a finalist….nor did I receive so much as a “thank you for trying, we have received your entry” acknowledgement), so I’ll post it here for other people to see.

I adapted the pattern I have previously used from Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques by Jill Salen and made some pictures of the steps I followed:

Step 2: Cutting out the pieces.

 

Step 3: pinning it all together.

 

Step 4: Sewing it all up.

 

Step 5: Insert the boning. I used cable ties because the original version contains whalebone, which is closer to cable ties than to steel. Steel bones also make the line of the waist look straighter and less voluptuous.

 

Step 6: Inserting eyelets and laces.

Being very ambitious and not at all as lazy as I’ve been all year after I finished this project, I did a whole ‘nother ribbon corset for good measure! I didn’t chronicle the process, but here are some pictures of the finished product:

1911 Corset Sew Along: The Finished Corset

Oh, do get on with it!

So I’ve been insisting that this corset is in fact finished, and here is the proof.  

Side front view of the 1911 corset.

 

Side back view of the 1911 corset.

 

Front of the 1911 corset

 

Back of 1911 corset

 

Inside of the 1911 corset with contrasting structural support.

 

Top edge detail with a bit of shiny.

 

Busk detail. As this is a single layer corset I used buttonholes to strengthen the holes for the busk loops.

 

Boning channel detail

 

Cream satin laces.

 

1911 Corset Sew Along: The Fabric

Okay, so blogging about this has been a bit on the back burner, even though I have finished the corset long long ago.

I promised to show off the fabric from hell a bit, so here goes.

I bought it at the local fabric store in the (and this should be the first clue that the fabric was a bad idea) upholstery department. But at the time I was completely seduced by the red satin stripes and the luxurious weight of the fabric in my hands. In hindsight it would probably have made wonderful curtains.

If you happen to be near Devon

Then be sure to visit the Devon Guild of Craftsmen exhibition Tracing the Blueprint on from Friday 24 February to Monday 26 March 2012.

From empires to everyday life, this exhibition traces the path of indigo-printed textiles from the Hapsburg Empire into Hungarian village life, and from Europe, via colonisation and assimilation, to Xhosa and other peoples of Southern Africa.

This exhibition concerns the fascinating social history of indigo dyeing in two countries; Hungary and South Africa. The exhibition will present photographs, text panels, samplebooks of fabrics and items of clothing to create a story about the fabrics. Fair-trade indigo items will be for sale in the shop.

And it features, among other things, a picture of the Shweshwe corset!

The exhibition has been curated by Devon Guild Member Hilary Burns, a basketmaker trained in textiles with childhood links to the Eastern Cape, and Jacqueline Sarsby, who is an anthropologist, photographer and oral historian.

If I were almost anywhere in the UK I’d most definitely find a way to swing by.

1911 Corset Sew Along: The Pattern

Remember this?

Well, I have been working on it for the past two months, even though I’ve been a bit lax on the blogging aspect of the whole experience. 

I started with the pattern. Following Jo’s very clear and easy to follow steps, scaling up the pattern to fit my apparently considerably larger than average physique was a breeze.

I added 1 inch to every panel of the pattern  including the hip gores. Although I wasn’t extremely convinced of the need for expanding the hip gores, I was keen to follow Jo’s steps exactly to see if it was any easier/more rational than the way I have been doing it. And the verdict? Most definitely.

I have a way of eyeballing and measuring and  guessing and hand drawing enlargements on a pattern  that works for me and has so far resulted in mostly perfect patterns…but it takes a while and often includes the strangest mistakes. In future I will definitely use Jo’s method first and then deviate as I see fit. The photocopier is my friend.

I used the 1911 longline underbust (“White coutil, trimmed broderie anglaise”) pattern from Corsets & Crinolines by Norah Waugh. The pattern consists of four full length panels and two hip gores. Jo suggested that we add 2 inches at the bottom to make it more consistent with other patterns being used in the Sew Along and because a small corset like this can very easily start to look boxy if width is added without also adding a bit of length.

First attempt at the pattern. 1 inch has been added to every piece and 2 inches have been added at the bottom all the way around.

After the initial pattern drafting we made a mock-up. The mock-up was initially way to big in hip area, so I took out 1 inch from every hip gore (yes, exactly as much as I put in initially!) and then the mock-up seemed to fit quite perfectly:

Mock-up of the 1911 corset.

After fitting the mock-up the pattern was updated with the changes. I took out the extra inches from the hip gores and redrafted the line of piece 4. The were also some further changes that were purely aesthetic in nature, such as the higher rise on the back 3 panels.

Second attempt at the pattern.

Next up: the beautifully evil fabric from hell (although of course I didn’t know it at the time…)

Ribbon Corset: Take 1

So I’ve been pottering around with/obsessing endlessly over ribbon corsets for a while now. They seem simple enough, but there are funny structural things going on especially in the pattern I used from Jill Salen’s Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques. This first one I made was made on the exact assumption seen here, namely that the ribbon pieces can be laid out flat together to form a single front and a back panel. This technique works well enough, but on my second attempt (yes, there is a Take 2) it turns out that if the pattern and the overlaps are followed exactly, the panels can’t lie flat. It appears that the ribbons are supposed to curve in such a way that it is moulded around the body, rather than a flat piece that takes all its shape from the curves where the pieces come together. This would also make for a tighter cinch like the one seen in the picture in Salen’s book.  But more on that later. For now, here is my first attempt at the 1900 ribbon corset!

The cinch from the front is not as dramatic as it can be. There is also some weirdness going on along the bottom edge where the side panels don’t form  a smooth line with the front and the back panel. This is the first sign that something is amiss with my interpretation of this pattern.

I made this corset in a hurry so had no time to order the proper materials like a split busk or even steel bones. Instead I improvised by making the corset with a closed front, and  used – wait for it – hacksaw blades to fortify the busk.

They were the right shape and size, exactly as bendy as spring steels and were lying round the house in great abundance…so I cleaned them and wrapped them in masking tape and voila! A corset that can saw a man in half!

I like this picture. The curve of the back is quite dramatic and any awkward flab displacement is kept to a minimum…or else masked by my makeshift chemise/top.

Now here is some more weirdness worth mentioning: I left the ribbons loose top to bottom, but added a lining at the back. This means that any flexibility gained by not joining the ribbons is completely destroyed by the flat and rigid lining, that has, might I add, no shape to it whatsoever. *facepalm* Not my brightest structural move.

Some pretty detail.

Some more detail.

All in all, I have to say that I am not very pleased. The shape is weird. The corset has no busk which makes it a pain to put on. The workmanship is shoddy at best and does not hold up to close inspection. It has pieces of hacksaw in it.

Still, I think it will look just dandy if I wear it to Madam Zingara’s Theatre of Dreams next week!

Happy 2012!

Happy new year! May this be a year of creativity and abundance for everyone!

On the corsetry front there are some very interesting things that I want to start working on. Most notably Jo from Bridges on the Body‘s nifty Sew Along:

2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and so it is only proper that it be celebrated by constructing the 1911 long line corset!

There are some other projects simmering and half baked, so I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to keep up with Jo’s schedule, but I will certainly make one before the year is out. Now that is a resolution I can live with!