My own hand-drafted pattern from a V&A museum piece. Spiral steel , silk, and herringbone twill lining.
this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2025
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Thanks so much for adding all this detail <3
Also wow, that's so heavy; it must feel like armour. Recently I was learning that apparently modern corsets are typically far heavier than historic ones were, and that this contributes to the popular idea of corsets as being uncomfortable cages. I've been meaning to buy some synthetic whalebone, because I've never used it before, and I am curious about the prospect of making a corset that has more boning and structure in it than other corsets I've made, but is also lighter (though perhaps a better way to experiment with lighter corsets would be to try some corded designs that wouldn't require me buying more things to add to my stash).
I thank you for sharing this; I am feeling wistful towards my past time as a hobbyist corsetière, and inspired to get back into it. There's a decent likelihood that I'll burn out before I actually get round to making something, but regardless, it's nice to revel in this atmosphere of creativity.
I’d love to see some of your work!
I’ve tried both cording and synthetic whalebone – I prefer spiral steel, but that’s likely because I like the more shaped 1880s to earlier eras.
Cording doesn’t give much support (it’s great for youth ‘training’ corsets, utility, and maternity corsets, though). Synthetic whalebone is either not conforming enough (the rigid stuff) or too conforming (the lightweight stuff ), in my opinion, but since corsets are so individualised, everyone will have favourites and my opinion could be dead wrong for you.
Funnily, even though spiral steel is pretty heavy, I find it to be perfectly supportive and very comfortable, and since it ‘breaks in’ after a few times wearing, the corset very soon fits you like a glove. If you unpick your own corset after a year or so of wear, you’ll find the spirals have shifted slightly in places to conform to your shape without losing structure. Synthetic whalebone doesn’t do that.
Sorry for going on about it, but it’s nice to find someone else with interest in this. Thanks for coming to my TED talk, lol.