Blog Archives — Page 4 of 4 — Skeletons in the Closet Couture and Corsetry

30 March 201630 March 2016

Waspies for plus size bodies.

First of all, I would like to say that I do not believe in rules of fashion. You should wear what you feel comfortable with not what you are dictated to wear. If you like to wear skintight clothes, wear it. Like a baggy shirt, go with it. So if you ask me: “can I wear it?” my answer will be: “Why not!”

As a plus size girl myself I do love to wear a waspie on occasion. Some outfits just look better with a belt like corset, and sometimes I just need to be a bit more flexible that I can be with a longline corset. Having the hips free allows me more room to move.

And yet when a plus size girl asks if she can wear a waspie corset, usually the advice is to go for a longline.

Like I said before you should wear what you feel comfortable with. And therein lies the heart of the problem. Most waspies are not cut for the plus size woman. We larger women have more flesh to move around. And because of that one of the things that a plus size woman can have is overspill at the edges of the corset. This is caused by an underbust and hip size that is simply too small. General aesthetics tell us to not want overspill. Aesthetics might be one part of the reason not to wear a waspie when you have more to love, but the other part is comfort. Having a garment digging into you body is not exactly comfortable. And a corset should be comfortable.

One way to cover that problem is to wear a longline corset. Corsets with a high back are quite popular with a lot of people. However, as a corsetmaker I can tell you that just raising the back of a corset does not help to get rid of the overspill. Having enough room at the back of the corset does!

Your corset just needs to make room for the change in your body. The same goes for the hips. Is the hip too small the corset will dig into your belly/hips/bottom. Having enough room there, problem solved!

Now if you want smoothed out hips, a flat tummy and a completely enclosed feel of the corset a waspie might not be for you. After all a waspie only shapes the waist, not the hips. It is simply too short for anything else. It is all about what you feel comfortable wearing.

Here are some styling tips. As I said before, I do not believe in rules of fashion, but I can tell you how I am wearing my waspie today:

I am wearing a black long shirt with bell sleeves, Black Milk transparent pants and underneath it all I wear a shapewear bodystocking. To give my body a smooth line. Also I am wearing a bra with a large band size. After all what is the point of making sure your corset does not dig into your back, only to have a bra digging into it.

Over this outfit I am wearing my waspie. As you can see I have added more boning on the panels of the corset (the Skeletons in the Closet waspie usually has 14 bones, this one has 20) This to avoid wrinkling of the corset on the panels

Front:

Side: As you can see I have a tummy, a waspie does not cover your tummy. After all it is a short corset.

Back: Sorry for the dark picture, it is hard to take a shot like this with the selftimer.

It took us a while, but finally we are now making waspies available for sizes 30-36 inch too. I do recommend to choose the optional extra of getting a bit more boning in the corset, but it is not obligated.

As you may know, we are currently booked with custom orders until the 1st of September. The only exception being the waspies! So if you want a waspie now, please go to the webshop!

(spell-check by Lady Dinah;-))

6 March 20163 April 2016

Sheer corsetry

Sheer corsetry.

As you may know, I was a little late to the sheer corsetry party. Having tried to work with lingerie mesh, and non coutil strength layer before (both not to satisfaction) I was not sold on the idea of using a mesh fabric for corsetry. After all a corset is supposed to be strong and durable.

However, seeing some amazing examples of sheer corsetry I decided to take the plunge.

The first sheer item I made was the girdle. A combination of a vintage style girdle and a corset. This lightly boned corset soon became my favourite to wear. I now have two versions of this girdle for personal wear, a light and a dark one.

Something you should know about corsetry mesh, is that although it does not stretch is does have a little give. This means that it will break in easily and quickly forms to your body while still being strong enough to chinch.

A corset in mesh feels flexible and airy, it is a great material for cupped rib corsets and lingerie like pieces. They are also fun to wear with a contrasting colour underneath. As corset mesh is only available in black and ivory, they are also pretty to combine with coloured silks. Like this Honoria Waspie.

The down side of the mesh is that it is made out of polyester. So I always wear something underneath my corsets, both to protect my corset from sweat and to protect my skin from the sometimes harsh feel of the polyester. A mesh corset is not always the better choice in hot weather, sometimes a single layer cotton coutil corset might even feel better.

There are corsetmakers who use cotton bobinette. This is something I have yet to experiment with, but could be something for the future. Being made out of cotton it must feel more comfortable against the skin.

Is a sheer corset better or worse than a cotton coutil corset? That would depend on where you need the corset for, what type of wearer you are and what you expect of a corset. Not all corsets are suitable for every corset wearer, and not all corset wearers have the same needs from their corset every day.

If you are a lacer who likes a strong feel of the corset, you might want a double layer coutil corset. If you need something lingerie like, but still strong a sheer corset might be just the thing.

Here is my newest example of sheer corsetry. A Lady Aistikas corset in satin coutil and corsetry mesh, with external boning casings and a little bit of lace. The lady Aistikas corset is a four pannel corset, that gives quite a bit of curve. As you can see on this lovely woman! Necia Navine shot this corset and collar for me.

Lady Aistikas corset and Fringe Collar by Skeletons in the Closet. Model and Photographer Necia Navine.

And on the dummy!

If you would like your own made to measure sheer Sophia Eden girdle, or lady Aistikas corset. They will be available on the website as made to order items on the 1rst of September 2016. I know it is a little while away, but we are booked up until then.

19 February 201619 February 2016

Skeletons in the Closet in 2016

The new year is well underway and things are quite busy at Skeletons in the Closet!

The last few weeks I have been down with the flu, but we are up and running again, catching up on orders.

For 2016 we have some exciting plans I would like to share with you.

Custom orders:

We are now completely booked for custom corset and gown orders until fall 2016.

This spring we will focus on finishing the custom orders. I hope to show all of you what I am working on. Keep an eye on my facebook page if you would like to stay up to date.

If you are looking to commission a gown or corset for the fall of 2016, you can always get in touch to discuss design and prices. That way you will know what to save up for, when I can accept your order in the fall.

Waspies

The only exception to the no-custom-order-rule, are the Honoria waspies. At the moment they are my favourite item to make. They do not take an extreme amount of time to make and are great starter corsets for those looking to get into corset wearing. So in order to get my corset fix, I have scheduled some time to make waspies.

Ready to ship items

Another things I will focus on this year is trying out some more ready to ship items. This can be feathery accessories, or corsets in a larger range of sizes. So I can keep my creativity going and make some lovely new items. Also the goal is to try out new things, patterns and techniques that will improve my work.

There are some things on the drawing board already. A ribbon corset, mesh corsetry, sample corsets in larger sizes, feather neck corsets and ruffle shrugs.

Since I do not work in collections, the items will be listed on occasion in the webshop. You can check out my social media to see what new items there are for sale in the store.

The reason I do not work in collections is because I have an eclectic taste. I love antique corsetry, but also fetish fashion and pin up. And since my clients are as diverse as I am, there is no need for me to work in collections. I am really thankful for all of you that allow me to create beautiful things.

Blogs

Another thing I shall start up again is writing blog posts. Since corsetry is a passion of mine I love to talk about it all day! So I want to start up again on writing about it to share my thoughts with you.

Links

The webshop can be found here:

http://www.skeletonsintheclosetclothing.com/product-category/readytoship/

The blog can be found here:

http://www.skeletonsintheclosetclothing.com/blog/

1 January 2016

Single Layer Corsetry

Single layer corsetry.

Corsets come in lots of different shapes and sizes. They also come in different construction methods. One of those construction methods is the single layer construction. When I first started out corsetmaking I thought that corsets were supposed to have at least 3 layers. A fashion fabric and two strength layers, and sometimes even a floating lining and a fusible interfacing. Needless to say that my sewing machine pretty much hated me.

When I started studying antique corsets I noticed that there are indeed corset that are very thick, sometimes with quilted panels. But there were also corsets made out of a single layer of strong fabric. The so called single layer corsets. And these corsets were also very strong and suitable for a proper reduction.

Single layer corsets are quite comfortable. Not having that many layers makes them more breathable and therefore not as hot as double or triple layer corsets. They are also easier to “break in”. As a general rule they mold to your body quicker.

The key for making a single layer corset is using a strong fabric. I always use coutil for single layer corset, coutil is available as a plain cotton or synthetic satin fabric, but also available as a brocade or broche fabric! So you can have a fancy corset, that is still only made out of 1 layer of fabric.

Another thing that makes for a great single layer corset is, making sure that you use good boning incased in strong boning channels. So that you do not get any bones popping out. And of course the corset will need a waist tape.

Like the vampire corset, made out of a single layer of rosebud coutil (my favorite) It gives an amazing shape.