Category: Blog

Kitty’s Guide to Finding Your Perfect Corset

Posted on by Felix

…being an excruciatingly detailed treatise on fit and construction

A properly made corset is a thing of beauty – your breasts lovingly upped and cupped, your waist looking tiny next to deliciously flaring hips, your spine held in perfect posture, your proportions magically transformed into the perfect hourglass.

And yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s supposed to be perfectly, utterly comfortable.

So why do so many people think corsets hurt?  And why do so many people look frankly unfortunate in their corsets?  You’ve seen it: bustlines spilling sideways over the neckline, the tummy pushed down to bulge under the bottom instead of neatly tucked inside, strange rolling bumps where there should only be smooth curves.

And the complaints.  “My corset digs in under the arms.”  “I can’t sit down.”  “I think my breasts are making a break for freedom.”  “The boning broke through and poked me in the chin.”  “My corset bent and pushed into my ribs and now I have bruises!”

You’re about to find out why these things happen — and how you can keep them from happening to you.  Learn the following lessons well, and you’ll be spectacularly sexy and comfy in your corset.

Flimsy Cheap Boning is the Evil Work of Satan

“Boning” is that rigid stuff inside your corsets, without which a corset is no different from any old top.  Boning is what does all the heavy lifting in a corset.  To keep it simple, the sturdier and higher-quality the boning, the better the corset.   Though it might seem counter-intuitive at first, heavier boning = more comfortable corset (provided that it’s the right shape for you, of course – more on that in a minute).

If the boning is too weak to support your soft bits, it will gradually bend and start forming kinks that are like hard fingers jabbing into your body.  It will hurt.  It can leave bruises.  It can do permanent damage to your body if you let it go far enough.

Always test the boning in a corset before you let anyone put it on your body.  If you can grab a four-inch length of it between your hands and bend it in half, run for your life!  Really good boning should be as wide as your finger, and you should not be able to fold it in half.

“Steel boning” doesn’t necessarily mean good boning – not if it fails the bend test.  Learn what the good stuff feels like and trust your common sense.  If it bends in your hands it can bend on your body.

One more thing: inexpensively made corsets often have decent stiffening at the front but flimsier boning at the sides and other panels.  Check ALL the bones.

That said, there’s nothing wrong with inexpensive plastic-boned corsets, if all you’re looking to do is prance around in the bedroom for 10 minutes before throwing them off.  Just don’t wear them out to the three-hour concert (ow ow ow!).

The “One Size Fits None” Phenomenon

Have you ever noticed that the fashion industry thinks that all women are 5’7’’ and a B cup, no matter what the size?

That’s annoying enough when you’re shopping for a shirt, but when you’re shopping for a corset, it can actually really hurt you.

Remember this critical lesson: shape is more important than size!

Let’s say we go forth into the street and grab ten women who wear the same “size” (to most corset makers, this means the waist size).  You could have women of every height from 4’9’’ to 6’2’’.  You could have B cups or HHH cups.  You could have long-waisted and short-waisted women, women with narrow hips or bountiful hips, swaybacks or ramrod-straight backs, wide rib cages or narrow.

Now imagine all these women being put into the same “size” corset.

This is why ordering a corset online is a bit like playing darts blindfolded.

This Could be You….

Let’s take an example.   You’re a woman of “average” height, maybe 5’5’’, and an “average” bra size (let’s say 40C), so you order an average corset.

But say you have a super-short waist for your height, so your rib cage ends a lot higher than the numbers would indicate.  An “average” corset would be too long in the torso and dig horribly into your hip bones.

You wear a 40C bra, but that’s really misleading, because you happen to have a very broad back, which means you need a larger band size, which brings down your cup size on paper (adjusted for your band size, your actual cup size is probably DD).  So an “average” corset would mean you would spill up, over, and sideways.  But wait, you can’t get a “Tall” corset, because then it would just stick into your armpits!

You notice that after half an hour or so into wearing your new corset, your lower back aches.  That’s because you have a spine that curves out into a swayback, and your corset doesn’t.  Take it off now, or you could throw out your back.

Now your corset is chafing you under the arms.  Blisters are becoming an option.  Why? You happen to have a very narrow upper rib cage, so the corset’s too wide for you there.

So what are you supposed to do about it?

There’s only one way to avoid this sort of thing.  First, get to know your corset makers, if you possibly can.  Ask them how many SHAPES PER STYLE they make.

Careful – this is not the same thing as “How many sizes” or “how many styles.”  You want to know that they have separate patterns to accommodate different heights, proportions, rib cage shapes, hip flares, spinal curves, bust height (important if you don’t want nipples making an unscheduled appearance), cup sizes, and any special issues or special features you might have.

Be suspicious of anyone who’s willing to sell you a corset without giving you a good grope (to get to know your bone structure, of course!).   True, a long-distance consultation is sometimes unavoidable.  But if that’s the only option, your corset maker should be asking you a gazillion questions and demanding photos of you from several angles, at the very least.

Corsets are not created alike

(or, if anyone tries to sell you an uncomfortable corset, smack ‘em one)

Some corsets are made in the tradition of the bad old days, when corsets could be torture devices for ladies who didn’t need to move or breathe much.

Other corsets feel so ridiculously comfortable that they’re sort of dangerous – you have no idea how tightly you’re laced, and might go too far without knowing it.

Kitty regularly has to deal with novices who believe a corset isn’t tight unless it hurts and restricts breathing, and will keep begging to go tighter: “Oh, please go tighter, I can still breathe.  Really, it doesn’t hurt.  Go tighter, tighter, tighter, ti…” (falls down in dead faint).

A well-made corset should be utterly, uncompromisingly, perfectly comfortable.  You feel supported and your posture is perfect.  Your bustline is lifted, but never so it hits your chin.  If you suffer from back pain, you might feel immediate relief.  Nothing digs in, standing or sitting.  Ten minutes after you put it on, you should forget it’s there.

You should lose about three to six inches off your waist to begin, but you shouldn’t feel any discomfort or difficulty breathing.  When you take it off, you should feel sad, and sincerely be able to say “I felt so much better with it on.”

The difference between a perfectly comfy corset and a painful one is often the cut or shape of the panels that make up the corset.  You want to find someone who shapes the panels so they never compress your diaphragm, scoop too deeply into the side of your torso, or force your spine into an unnatural (if Victorian) S-curve.

If anyone ever tells you “It’s supposed to hurt!  Beauty knows no pain!”, you go ahead and kick them in the shins.

A Few Other Considerations

Do you have a maid?  Are your arms long and freakishly flexible?  If not, you might want to look into getting a style where you don’t need someone else to tighten or loosen the back for you every time you put on or take off the corset.  Busks may be a problem, for example, unless you have a perpetually helpful and present roommate or boyfriend.

Are you going to be able to afford more than one good, proper corset?  Real corsets aren’t cheap, folks (sorry to break it to you, but that $79.99 special really isn’t one).  If you’ve decided to invest in one well-made corset rather than three dodgy ones that will explode the second time you wear them (about the same price), consider choosing a subtler and more neutral colour and texture.  Yes, it can be hard to pass by all those glowing prints and shiny trims, but you’ll get a lot more use out of a corset you can pair with everything you own.

How are you going to clean the beastie?  Make sure you find out how to deal if you get something nasty on your corset (marinara sauce, cat pee, chocolate body paint….).  You do not want boning that will rust if you wash it…or melt in the dry-cleaning fluid.

What are you going to wear with it?  While the bedroom and the fetish club are fine and noble venues for your corset, you should try it with a plain dress shirt and dark slacks.  Pretend it’s a vest and that you naturally have that perfect figure and pert bustline – who’s going to know it you don’t tell (this is easier to do with a lace-front corset, as the traditional busk does rather scream “I’m a corset!”).  Throw on a blazer and you could take it to the office.  Try it with a tank top, leather pants, and cowboy boots.  Or a low-necked T-shirt and jeans.

And that just about covers it.  If you have burning questions that remain unaddressed, please feel free to contact Kitty and she will do her best to provide you with answers.

It’s Smaller on the Outside

Posted on by Kitty

(Or, Kitty makes a TARDIS-inspired corset)

As promised, here is the TARDIS corset, a la Felix & Kitty.

Felix and Kitty are newcomers to the Doctor Who phenomenon.  And Kitty is a newcomer to just about anything from the 20th century onwards, being a technophobe and general crank regarding all things Pop Culture.  But who doesn’t like the idea of a stark barking mad man in a box that can take you anywhere (and anywhen)?

There’s something about the dramatic blue-and-white-and-black lines of the TARDIS that immediately made Kitty think of corsets.  While a corset can’t transport you in space and time, at least it CAN make you smaller on the outside!

The Materials

First, you’ve got to have the right blue.  Murphy’s Law of Textiles says that the moment you start looking for a particular colour of fabric, it instantly vanishes from the universe, or at least the local fabric stores.  But Felix & Kitty’s usual flannel-backed satin in royal blue was close enough for now.

It’s a bit shiny for wood, so next time, Kitty might try a blue suede.  But it gives you the general idea of police box blue.

Next, the windows.  Any old plain white material might do, but where’s the fun in that?  Kitty has found that many character-inspired costume wearables have a tendency to look cartoonish or cheap; she thinks it’s partly due to overly graphic blocks of plain materials.  Subtly textured fabrics add depth and richness, which the brain subconsciously interprets as “real.”  So she went with this white check material with silver lines and dots.  It suggests windowpanes without being too literal about it, and adds lovely visual complexity.

Finally, the framework.  No, police boxes don’t have black trim running down their length, but this corset needed a strong vertical accent and a contrast colour to make the blue and white pop properly.  Good design sometimes means taking liberties.  Kitty chose this black velvet ribbon to add yet another layer of texture.

The Finished TARDIS corset

And here’s Amelia in the completed corset.  In the background, you see the Wall of 1001 Corsets, aka Felix & Kitty’s living room.

Kitty stuck with the usual front-laced closure, and she thinks it doesn’t interfere with the general TARDIS-ish quality of the corset.  But it could be made with a solid closed front if you didn’t mind needing minions to do up the back for you.  Or a busk, if you were willing to deal with the many fussy issues that accompanies a busk.  Or even a super-heavy-duty upholstery-weight zipper, which Kitty wouldn’t normally recommend, but which really does go well with this look (but only if you were willing to follow the rules regarding zipped corsets).

Kitty intends to make one for herself for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, and maybe a few more in popular sizes if she can squeeze out the time.  These things are a labour of love – they’re very time-consuming to make!

This is because you can’t just slap on rectangles for the “windows” over the bust area; they need to navigate the 3-dimensional curve of the breast, so each window panel must be carefully cut and shaped differently for each cup size and shape.  Trust Kitty – if you just try the rectangle trick, you’ll look like you’re wearing placards stuck to your bosom.  She speaks with the voice of experience, having tried to cover her bountiful tracts of chest real estate with puny flat rectangles during her first attempt.  No, you don’t get to see that, unless you bribe her with puppies and kittens.

NEXT TIME: The trumpet skirt (is it worth developing, or should Kitty stick to pre-Edwardian designs?)

P.S.: If you think you might want one of these corsets for yourself, email us.  If you want one at CCEE, give Kitty as much notice as you can, because, as mentioned, these things take a bit of extra fiddling (no one wants windows that don’t fit right over the girls!). 

Kitty Designs a Steampunk Jacket

Posted on by Kitty

(In which Kitty photo-documents the process by which a sketch becomes a wearable garment, with many hiccups and downfalls along the way, and refers to herself in the third person)

We apologise for the lighting for the photos.  We really do make all this in the basement, and nasty fluorescent lighting is what we need to get enough brightness.

Step 1: Kitty makes a wish

Kitty wished she had a waist.  And hips, which you rather need if you want to have a waist.

Kitty is a rectangle somewhat over-burdened by a generous bosom.  Her hips and waist measure the same.  This is a major handicap for someone who designs Victorian-inspired clothes (the hips, not the bosom).  Lots of people have this problem, or at least also lack the requisite small-waist-and-smoothly-curved-hip thing a Victorian/Steampunk lady is supposed to possess.

She therefore wanted to come up with a garment that would create that lovely wasp-waisted, curvaceous Streampunk silhouette on ANY figure, by force if necessary.  She made a drawing of what she thought would be a good shape, rejected it, and made a few more drawings and corrections.

Step 2: Kitty makes a muslin

Meet Amelia, Kitty’s friend on a stand.  Obviously, Amelia is not Kitty’s body double.  Amelia’s bust is twelve inches larger than her waist, and she has a completely unrealistically tapered rib cage and no lumps, bumps, or fluff anywhere.  But Kitty will drape her new design on Amelia for several reasons: a) Kitty lives in the middle of nowhere with a donkey and senior citizens as neighbours and b) Amelia doesn’t complain when Kitty sticks here full of pins.

You might think that a design fitted on Amelia might just not work on a normal human body, and that’s a valid concern, which is why the first few events where Felix & Kitty take a new item, you get the drastically reduced prototype pricing – it’s how we test new ideas on lots of different body types.

But Kitty has learned over the years that with clever underpinnings and hidden engineering, she can create some really amazing visual illusions.  Her purpose with this jacket in progress is to make YOU look like you have Amelia’s proportions, whether you’re a flat-chested size 0 or a Rubenesque 28.  This is just the test pattern, though, so it looks sort of raggedy and suspiciously flopsy.  But Kitty is just checking basic girth and length and the proportions of detail.

Step 3: Fitting the Muslin

The test pattern was too big on Amelia’s waist, which is pretty normal.  It’s also too wide on her shoulders, which isn’t.  Kitty nips and tucks the muslin until it more or less fits.  She fiddles with the collar until the shape and size seems harmonious.

She also decides she needs to add loops or rings in the back later to make the waist size adjustable, so you could wear this by itself or over a corset (which could reduce your waist by up to 8 or so inches). She marks where they will go, but you won’t see them until the actual jacket is being assembled.

Step 4: Making the First Version

We’ll be using this electric-blue material with black flocking for the body of the jacket, and black satin for the collar.  The collar will be lined with something with enough stiffness so it shouldn’t require interfacing.  Kitty generally hisses at interfacing, unless it can’t be avoided (not that there’s anything wring with interfacing; she’s just lazy).

This is where Kitty tries to figure out which bits need lining, whether it’s the whole garment, or just the front, or something in between.  She tries lining only the center front panel and part of the center back for the first iteration

Step 5: A Sleeve Innovation

The sleeves on jackets always seem to short or too long.  Kitty tried to get around this in the hooded jackets from last season by making the sleeve hems pointed, but she has a different idea this time – maybe make them actually adjustable!  The same idea from the adjustable-length Victorian skirts should work here.

 

Look! Adjustable-length sleeves!

Step 6: Closures

Hmm.  Buttons, buckles, clasps, ties…. Which goes best with the design?  Kitty decides clasps would be too medieval and ties too fussy for the streamlined Victorian lines of this jacket.  She chooses buttonholes for this version, because buckles would mean Felix has to cut and rivet the leather strapping for them, and Kitty doesn’t want to pry him away from the hunk of plywood he’s hewing in the shop (he’s making fabric storage shelving).

Silver buttons would go best with the electric blue.

Step 7: Amelia gets a New Jacket

Finally, the jacket is finished!  Actually, it looks pretty darn good for the first version.  Quite often, at this stage, Kitty wads up the newborn item and hurls it into a corner and spends the next ten minutes banging her head against her cutting table.  But this time, she is cautiously pleased at what she sees.

Look at the back waist adjustment detail.  It needed to be pulled in a bit, because, as mentioned before, Amelia has an inhumanly small waist in proportion to the rest of her.

Step 8: Corrections

No, we won’t walk you through every last correction that needs to get made before Kitty decides this pattern is ready for mass production (don’t you love that?  Saying “mass production” for stuff turned out by one woman?).

But Kitty wants to make some changes for sure.  First, the partial lining will have to go.  Even though it will mean more time and materials and therefore a higher final price for you, she thinks a full lining is the way to go for this particular design.

The lining will hide the infrastructure that will cinch in your waist and support the beautiful flare of the skirt of the jacket, thus creating that perfect hourglass for all shapes and sizes.  Kitty is also determined to add a pocket this time, and in order not to spoil the lines, it will have to be attached to the lining.

Other than that, it’s just going to be cleaning up little issues that come up with later versions, and with different fabrics.  Kitty will also be making patterns for larger cup sizes for each dress size.  If all goes well, we’ll have this jacket ready at our next event.

Hope you enjoyed your inside look into our design process!

Next time, the TARDIS corset…

Starting a Blog

Posted on by Kitty

As we greet the New Year and recover from the debauches of the year-end celebrations, Kitty’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of new designs for the upcoming season.

Enough of you have asked us about who makes all our clothes, where it happens, and how, that we thought it would be fun to document the whole process from start to finish.  Yes, we do really, really make it all in our little basement at home.  No, we don’t have a factory in China or a Parisian atelier staffed with elf slaves.  And as of 2016, ALL designs originals are by Kitty!

So enjoy Kitty’s first attempt at a blog, where she shows you everything from the conception of a new idea on paper to the finished ready-to-wear garment.  We’re going to try adding other articles and blogs periodically throughout the next few months, so if you have any topics you’d like to know more about, or questions you’ve wanted answered, please let us know!