Disclosure: I have been a speaker at the Oxford Conference of Corsetry since its inception last year. I am also an employee at Dark Garden Unique Corsetry, whose proprietress, Autumn Adamme, was our keynote speaker this year. All opinions are my own and were not solicited by the parties discussed. The Oxford Conference of Corsetry is an annual event for corset makers in — where else? — Oxford, England. This […]
With the Oxford Conference of Corsetry coming up this weekend, England is flooded with corset makers and enthusiasts. Today I spent the day in Sparklewren’s studio, aka Corset Paradise, with Jenni “Wren” Hampshire, Lucy of Lucy’s Corsetry, and Lowana of Vanyanís. InaGlo Photography was also present to shoot a few styles for Vanyanís, and Sparklewren’s Jenni Hampshire got behind the camera for several impromptu photoshoots with me as I tried on […]
Ladies and gentlemen, I come here today to confess to you. Of the corset-related advice that I dispense and the standards set by the corseting community, some of it I do not follow myself. And I know I’m not alone. To say that all corsetmakers ignore these guidelines all the time would, of course, be quite hyperbolic, so I don’t want to claim to speak for all of my colleagues. […]
Part three in the corset lacing series will discuss the most common mistakes made in lacing the corset onto the body. Part 1 covered the structure and hardware, Part 2 explained the back gap. As I mentioned in my original introduction, fit and comfort are deeply tied into how your corset is laced, but did you know that how you tie yourself up can also make an appreciable difference in […]
In corsetry, custom, bespoke, and made-to-measure all mean essentially the same thing, just as ready-to-wear, off-the-rack, and made-to-order have similar or overlapping definitions, depending on the maker. Which means they should all follow a similar process, right? Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. All too often, I hear sad tales of made-to-measure corsets that don’t fit because an essential step was skipped. Here’s what you should expect when ordering a […]
