A little history:
A lot of you might have seen the pictures I made with Amesbury Rose (model), Eline Spek(photographer) and Chloe Bakker(makeup and hair), back in 2012. This photoshoot still is one of my favourite shoots ever. I made a Marie Antoinette inspired stays with pocket hoops. I was, and still am very proud of this work we did together.
As with most of my shoots this was a joined TFP effort. TFP stands for Time For Print it means that the shoot was done with closed wallets. None of us payed the other. It was a shoot for all our portfolio’s and because we always have great fun working together. The photographer asked if she was allowed to send the pictures to her publisher. And since I want everyone to make the most of our trade work I agreed. As did the others.
Now the following has happened. A columnist wrote a piece about shapewear and in this article he mentioned corsets as terrible torture things women used to wear. With this column one of the pictures was used. You can find the column here, it is in Dutch.
A lot of people emailed me asking if I had seen it. Thank you to all of you! Theft of photographic material is something that happens often on the world wide web. However in this case the picture was legally bought. So no worries on the legal account.
However, the things said in the column are not something I agree with. For me the corsets, and some other items of shapewear, are exactly the things I love. I do not feel uncomfortable in my corset, in fact I love the feel of it. Also my husband loves me in a corset, (he also loves me without one, don’t worry)
In fact I love the corset so much I made it my job to make them. This is how I make a living.
Corsets are my obsession so my first response to this article was: How dare you mock my corset!
However having given it a bit more thought I am not angry or upset. The article was simply written by someone who just does not like shapeware on a woman. For him it seems uncomfortable. And let’s face it, most people who do not wear corsets on a regular basis do not know what an actual corset looks and feels like. They only see and hear the horror stories of people who fainted or had organs removed or were forced to wear corsets in order to adhere to a certain beauty ideal. For most people a corset is often something freaky and intriguing. People have the same attitude towards tattoos or piercings, and other methods of body modification. People love to ogle and judge.
We all have had people asking where our organs went or how we breathe, move, eat and live in a corset. Unusual things make people curious.
How I deal with it:
You as a corset wearer or enthusiast can be upset about all the people in the world who do not like corsets. If you love corsets and everything to do with it, it can sometimes be hurtful that your corset wearing is called “unnatural” “freakish” or “damaging to the image of women”
I made a choice not to worry about the opinion of others about my corset wearing. People are after all allowed to have their own opinions about a subject. As long as people do not touch me of say offensive things about my person I just let it go. Of course it would be great if every person in this world would first educate themselves before forming an opinion, but we all know that people are quick to judge. Every single one of us. Me included. If possible I try to educate people about corsetry. Let them try on one of mine to show them that it is not all that bad. But if someone does not love corsets. That is ok. I do not like to wear jeans. That is ok too.
So breathe, tighten your corset and let the negativity flow away from your smooth curves. Enjoy your corset wearing!
*final edit and spell check by Dineke