In 2016 a lovely client contacted me to make a corset body. I had never done that before but I was excited about the challenge. And boy it was a challenge
The difficult part of a corset body is that it does not stretch, at all. After all you do not want a corset to stretch. But you also do not want the body to sag or be too tight.
It took us 2 mock-ups but then the corset was finished
The corset is made out of red silk with black satin coutil boning casings. The corset has a little
Corset Body By Skeletons in the ClosetCorset Body By Skeletons in the ClosetCorset Body By Skeletons in the Closet
black lace accents.
I could not put it on a dummy since the bottom was closed so I filled it up with our pillows. I hope you get the idea.
This is one of my most recent commissions. A lovely lady asked me to make her a wedding dress. But not a long, white, trained wedding gown, but a short, fun lace wedding gown.
I loved making it. It features a satin underdress, in dark green. Over it sits 3 meters of black lace. It has small cap sleeves. It has a petticoat underneath for just a little poof.
I loved making it and I hope this bride had a great wedding day.
People who know me for a while know that I started sewing when I wanted to wear gothy clothes. This evolved into a fascination with the Victorian era and corsetry.
When my client asked me to make her a Victorian corset in all black materials I was very happy. Combining the two things I love. We chose as a base a corset modelled after one of the Symington patterns. For a true historical look. It is the same style I used as a basis for the Victorian halfbust corset.
We talked a bit over skype for the measurements and the materials.
Victorian halfbust corset
We chose a Black Rosebud coutil, with black cotton sateen coutil boning casings. The top of the corset is trimmed with a black cotton lace. The boning casings are finished at the bottom with black cotton perle flossing.
Victorian Corset Flossing
At the back of the corset I added two diagonal bones. For a historical touch.
Victorian Halfbust corset
So we have a lot of black ingredients in this corset. The external boning casings and flossing adding texture to a corset that might have been seen as boring otherwise. I love it. And I hope you love it too.
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.
Marie Antoinette Hybrid Corset
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.
Marie Antoinette Hybrid corset
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.
Marie Antoinette Hybrid Corset
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!
I promised to write a blog post about this coutil corset. I have decided to call this corset Xiamara. Yes this is a book reference. 10 points to the person who knows what book series I am currently reading 😉
This is a black coutil corset, made out of rosebud coutil. It has a heavy duty zipper at the front. It has internal boning casings. This corset I made as a strong yet light daily wear corset. Something basic to tightlace in.
Xiamara Corset by Skeletons in the Closet
The most fun part of this corset is that it has 2 hip gussets. These are little triangle like parts sewn into the corset. The triangle parts make sure that the hips are wide, and if you cut them right they make for a smooth hip curve.
Xiamara Corset by Skeletons in the Closet
The pattern of this corset is based on a patent from 1900. The 1900’s have given us great patterns. Usually the front of those corsets were quite flat, something we modern day corset wearers love too. As you can see when you follow the link to the patent, most of the curve of the pattern comes from the side and the back. Thus creating this great curve.
Xiamara Corset by Skeletons in the Closet
This corset has a total of 22 steel bones, plus a wide under busk underneath the zipper.
Xiamara Corset by Skeletons in the Closet
As with all my corsets I have taken inspiration and techniques from a historical example and used modern day parts to put it together. Always learn from the past!
If you would like to order a similar corset in coutil, with either a zipper or a busk. This corset is available as a made to measure corset starting at €295
These handmade couture corsets are made out of lovely silks, coutil, cotton and steel. A couture curve corset is a corset made to your measurements. Smooth curves and lots of steel boning highlight these corsets. Since we love dupion and taffeta silk, we make our corsets in those fabrics. (ofcourse we can make you a silk satin or coutil version if you want)
Expertly cut patterning is our thing and this collection shows you the sweeping lines and epic plunges that really draws in the eye. You can choose for a couture lace finish on your corset or just keep the clean lines.
Here are some examples of our collection. As Always our work is constantly in progress so more corsets will be added at a later date.
Vampire Vixen. Necia Navince for Skeletons in the Closet by Marco Edelman. Make-up by Ashley Design make-up artistry
The Vampire Vixen corset combines two amazing features. The plunging neckline and the low hip curve. This corset has a wide steel busk and lots of boning. It is hand finished and has optional fine French lace.
Lady Aistikas corset in silk
The Lady Aistikas corset is one of our favorite underbust corsets. 28 cm long at the front this corset is made out of just 4 pannels per side, but can still give an amazing curve! Check out the video at the bottom of this blog post!
Vixen corset Lara Aimee by Richard Terborg. Hair Jessica vd Zee
The Vixen corset is a short hip version of the vampire vixen corset. It has the same amazing plunge neckline but with its shorter hips is great to wear with a wide skirt or paniers. Listed in the webshop as a dupioni silk version with couture lace, it can ofcourse also be made out of satin with spikes.
Gold Annabelle Longline overbust corset. Photo by Josefien Hoekstra, Model Whitney Marcial. Muah Ashely Wolters
The Annabelle corset is a great sweethart neckline corset made out of silk with external boning casings. The external casings give the corset a great structural look.
Alathea Victorian underbust corset Photo by Henk van Rijssen Model: Herboyfriendsblues
And oldy but still a favorite. The Alathea Victorian Underbust corset. Made with external boning casings and flossing this corset celebrates all kinds of historical influences in modern day Corsetry.
Every year we (my husband and I) go to several costume events. We love to have a place to wear our pretty frocks and doll up completely.
Last Christmas (2015) Maarten said that he wanted a new military inspired costume. So there we were, at our Christmas brunch firing up Pinterest to see what we both would like. Maarten decided on a costume worn by The Duke of Cambridge, Lord Nelson. A Royal Navy uniform from about 1795-1812.
About this costume I will write a full article later in the year when it is completely finished. Because it is a super interesting costume.
When we go to an event, Maarten and I always try to somewhat match our costumes. Be it the same colours, or the same period, or the same style.
However, as you may have noticed, my main inspiration comes for the Victorian age. Hoop skirts, bustles, corsets I love it. The end of the 18th century is not my comfort zone. So I started doing some pinterest searches for myself.
As you can see both inspirations are mid 18th century. They both have lovely colours and lots of lace and trimmings. If you have followed my work for quite some time you know I love elegant clean lines. I am not one to use a ton of lace, or lots of different colours. This time however I decided to get out of my comfort zone. I did not want to make a late 18th century ladies costume, because I could not find a example I truly loved. Except for the sleepy hollow gown, but that would not match with Maarten.
But there was a bit of a time limit. Maarten’s costume took quite some time to finish and I had to make 2 wedding dresses. So I could not make a complete outfit. I had to scavenge and be creative. Luckely it so happens that I am quite creative.
So I needed to be creative. I decided to wear a hoop skirt and a Victorian corset underneath the new gown. This because I just love that silhouette. A friend of mine gifted me with a lovely gold and blue silk, that matched amazing with my blue skirt. And I set out to make a 18th century style dress / jacket I could wear with this hoop skirt. As a base I used this pattern, and drafted a dress I would wear over my Victorian corset.
18th century gown by Skeletons in the Closet, picture by f22.nl
I finished it up with lace, and made a hat to match the pirate feel of the dress. The reason I wanted a big hat, is because a big dress makes your head look small and you need something to balance it out.
At Elfia, Karin in her regency gown, Maarten in his Lord Nelson costume and Sannie in a Piraty 18th century fantasy gown
Now this outfit is by no means historical correct. In the future I shall make the right underpinnings and underskirt to go with the outfit for a more historical look.
But to be honest, I love it like this. I make historical inspired costumes. And although my strength is being able to interpret historical shapes and draft good patterns, I do not always make something 100% historical correct. I do love using modern techniques to put a costume together, and I really enjoy using history as an inspiration making something new. But I also enjoy making something completely historical accurate, like a replica of a museum corset.
If you want to have something unique, and you have a painting or historical figure that truly inspired you and you would like a costume to match, contact me. You do not need to have a cristal clear idea of what you want exactly. As you can see we can just use it as an inspiration and go from there!
History is a great place for inspiration, go to a museum, see the old example and use that inspiration for something new.
The Beautiful Basic collection show you the essential corsets for any corset wearer. Made out of cotton, satin or brocade coutil these corsets are made for daily wear. The corsets are available as standard size items or as made to measure. The corsets start at basic price point and have optional extra’s. All Beautiful Basic corsets are hand made to order. They are handmade corset is our own atelier in the Netherlands. So if there is anything we need to adjust you can always ask!
The Honoria Waspie: A great starter corset, or a corset for the more active days. This short corset is still extremely curvy. It took us a while but we have not made a pattern we are happy with! The wide underbust allows for a nice chinch while keeping the spillage to a minimum.
The Victorian Underbust: The Victorian underbust is a versatile basic corset. It is longer than our waspie with it 28 cm front busk. It has 5 panels per side, and is very suitable for daily wear. As you can see there is no picture yet. That is because I have made this corset a portfolio deal. I have made Victorian underbust corset before, but only in fancy fabrics. Now I could make a sample, or I could have any of you guys get an amazing deal on a corset.
Ribbon Corset
The Ribbon Corset: The ribbon corset is an Edwardian classic with a modern twist. The only beautiful basic corset that comes standard with a zipper. This corset is made out of ribbon and pieces of coutil. Great for active days or as lounge wear.
The Heather Longline Underbust: A tightlacers special. This longline underbust is made with curve in mind! The corset has a wide busk and external boning casings. This longline corset is curvier than any of the Beautiful Basics, and therefore more suitable for experience corset wearers. This corset is one of our favourites as it covers the tummy and is low over the hips.
Victorian Half Bust Corset
The Victorian Half Bust: This corset is made as a base foundation for any gothic outfit. The half bust corset is based off a Victorian pattern and also extremely suitable to wear underneath your Victorian costumes.
Victorian Overbust Corset
The Overbust: The Victorian overbust corset is a modern classic. With its sweetheart neckline and it gentle curves it is great for evening wear or even a wedding! The corset is high underneath the arms to avoid spillage, and has steel boning to keep the ladies up. It also gently curves in at the bottom to keep your tummy in.
Extra’s: There are optional extra’s you can add to your corset. We wanted to make handmade corsets for a basic price, and have you decide what you want to add to it, depending on your needs and budget. You can add extra steel boning, or have the corset made to your measurements.
In the future we might add to this collection or have a stock ready to ship, but for now it is all made to order.
The corsets have some colours listed as base colour. However, our favourite coutil, the rosebud, is available in lots of different colours. If you want to have another colour you can always ask! There is no surcharge if you with to have another rosebud or satin coutil colour. And if you want to go all basic and have the corset made out of cotton coutil, you can even get a small discount.
We at Skeletons in the Closet make corset, but we do not only specialize in corsets. We started out making gothic gowns and we still love the dark side.
Therefore, we have put together a collection in our web shop for all you dark ladies. This collection contains both old and new items. Some have been on our website for ages, some are new. Some have been gone for a while and are now back. There is a bit for everyone.
Here are some of the main pieces in this collection. Available from the 1rst of September in our webshop. Like with every collection of Skeletons in the Closet, there will be pieces added to it through the year. After all, Gothic Fashion does not follow any fashionable seasons.
The Viola top and Florance Fan skirt A lovely chiffon top great to wear with your corsets, and a classic Victorian skirt.
Victorian Halfbust Corset, model Bunny Glittergun
The Hazel Bustle dress. Again a new item, because we love the bustle period.
Hazel Bustle Dress, Model Bunny Glittergun
The Verna Victorian gown, for the more dramatic look.
If you have browsed the website. You might have come across a new section! The Ante Mundane Accessories. Now you might wonder what on earth are those!
These are little bits of historical inspired items that can bring your outfit to the new level! These are always ready to ship items. So what you see is what you can buy at that time.
My inspiration is both Victorian and historical fashions as well fetish fashion oriented. So pretty much everything is possible in this section.
From faux leather collars to victorian capes. Anything to make your outfit more than average. Or to take your photoshoot up to the next level! Please check back regularly for new items. Or follow our Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.
Cage SkirtFringe Collar
Photocredits: Xanthy by Josefien Hoekstra, Muah Dominique visagiste.
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