I’m not much for New Year’s Resolutions. Actually, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately, which makes me wonder: who out there is one for New Year’s Resolutions? But I digress. I do like the idea of using the new year as an excuse to enact a change with oneself, but I don’t usually set specific goals. Last year, I nested cozily (though that wasn’t specifically the goal); this year, I would […]
This past Sunday, I got to meet burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese. I wasn’t alone, of course. Dita was doing a meet and greet at Dark Garden Unique Corsetry to promote her Von Follies lingerie line as well as her perfumes, both of which are exclusively available within San Francisco at Dark Garden. Dark Garden has been Dita’s “go-to corsetmaker for the past 15 years,” and I’ve been working there for […]
There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about corset bones that get circulated. I mean, first of all, why are they even called bones? The term originates from whalebone, which wasn’t bone, but baleen, the filter-feeding system used by some whales. Then there’s the raging debate as to whether flat steels are superior to spirals, or vice versa. Flat steel boning is made of strips of spring steel sheets, carefully blunted on […]
Waxing grateful once more, as I did last year, I am particularly thankful for the amazing and ever-growing resources for aspiring corsetieres. If your corset addiction has reached the point where you must begin making your own or start selling your furniture to finance your addiction, this is the page for you. (Be warned that you will soon develop a fabric addiction instead.) Much of my corsetmaking knowledge was gleaned […]
While there is something to be said for the mystique of corsetry, it has a side effect of creating a bit of a barrier, seeming distant, untouchable… and therefore daunting, and avoided. “What do I wear it with?” women ask me, somewhat bewildered, when I’m fitting for Dark Garden. “Where do your clients wear them?” people ask me when I talk about my line, Pop Antique. As soon as you […]
