Geen categorie Archives — Skeletons in the Closet Couture and Corsetry

5 February 202011 February 2020

Ribbon corset, because the edwardians knew what they were doing.

This ribbon corset was a custom order by a lovely customer of mine. She wanted a corset that would give curves but is easy to move around in and was long enough. Beeing an performer and artist she needed something light but still giving shape.

Ribbon corsets have been around for quite some time. As I said on my Instagram posts, those Edwardians knew what they were doing.

Most historical examples of ribbon corsets I have seen date back to around 1900. Sometimes made out of the most beautiful silk ribbons. If you have the time go google some of those examples they will surely inspire you. They say ribbon corsets were made to rest in, or as part of a lingerie set.

Fun fact about a ribbon corset is the shaping. In the case of this corset the centre front, side and centre back pieces are made out of straight strips of satin coutil. The side front and side back are made out of strips of ribbon. The shape therefore comes from the ribbon panels. In fact when you draft the pattern for a ribbon corset you basically make all the shape in two panels per side! Awesome right?!

Anyhow I hope you like It as much as I do, you can order yours here:

And for more Edwardian viewing pleasure, have you seen the shaping of Edwardian skirts? They are awesome, flat at the front and full at the back.

14 December 201926 December 2019

Dutch Masters Underbust

Dutch Masters Corset

This fabric has become a bit of my thing over the past years. I love the colour and print on this cotton fabric.

This corset was made for a lovely experienced tightlacer. This means that the corset is extremely curvy.

When working with a patterned fabric you need to match the pattern or else the entire corset will look like an imbalanced mess. However due to the extremely curvy nature of this corset you cannot match the pattern everywhere, you have to choose where you want the flowers to flow over from one panel to the other, and where you are ok with not making the cut. Also, you have to keep in mind the grain of the fabric you are working with. After all you do not want wrinkles.

All in all, I am quite proud of this corset.

As you may have noticed, although I am not taking on any big orders (I still have my full-time job) I have found some room in my schedule for the occasional corset or bra. Please do understand that I do not wish to have a year fully booked, so I am taking it a season at the time. In a period of 3 months I take on a very limited amount of orders. For this fall we did the Dutch masters bra’s and Moonchild corsets, and for the winter we will open for 2 or so corset orders.

Stay tuned and follow me on Instagram and Facebook if you want to be the first to know. Or even better sign up to my mailing list.

28 February 201813 April 2018

Dark Love

Last december I was contacted by my friend Stephanie if I wanted to participate for a shoot with the theme “Lovers”

She was able to borrow some awesome Mohawks from Pioro Blue, and needed some dresses to go with it. Luckely I had something in the same shades lying around.

So on a cold december day, we went to the Hague and shot these beauties. We send them to Gothic And Amazing Magazine and they were published in the februari love edition.

Lovers:
Corsets and Gown by Skeletons in the Closet
Mohawk by Pioro Blue
Models Stephanie Winter and Helena Lush, Photographer: Sanne van Bergenhenegouwen Mua Iris Makeup

Stephanie is wearing our black velvet gown with a green silk corded underbust corset.

Helena Lush is wearing our beatle wing gown.

Models: Stephanie Winter and Helena Lush

Photographer: Sanne van Bergenhenegouwen.

Mua: Iris Alround Make-up Artist.

Did this shoot inspire you to have your own custom gown made. Please contact me!

16 January 2018

Purple Edwardian

Historical corsetry and especially Edwardian corsetry is special to me. The unusual lines creating lovely shapes just grabs me every time.

This time I made an Edwardian corset out of silk. For pattern I used the s-curve pattern from the book corsets and crinolines. I did change the bust a bit to give it a bit of a more sweetheart shape.

What is so special about Edwardian corsetry are panels. Where in modern Victorian style corsetry boning follows the lines of the corset in Edwardian corsetry this is not the case. The boning does not follow the seams of the corset but go across all seam lines. It is not entirely visible on the corset due to the lace, but I hope you can still see it.

This corset is made with purple Italian silk taffeta, a coutil strength layer and a soft cotton lining. The lace I used for this corset is a high quality lace that was white. Together with my mother in law I dyed it in a liliac shade to match the purple of the corset better.

This style of lace is so lovely and delicate.

Edwardian corset by Skeletons in the Closet

As you can see the dummy is a tad to big for the corset making the hips flare out a tad more than they should. I hope to get this corset shot on a human beeing this spring.

Would you like a corset like this? Send me an email or use the contact form on the website.

1 January 20181 January 2018

Paris Adventures

Paris adventures!

Last year I went with Richard Terborg and Lisa on a road trip to Paris. We both wanted to go somewhere where we could be inspired by different surroundings and meet up with different people. Since we wanted to bring loads of stuff we went by car.

Driving is Paris was quite adventurous but luckily Richard is not scared of anything.

Lisa is a great model, and has an amazing feel for styling an outfit. We put together 3 different looks for her.

We dressed up in the Hotel room and then just wandered the streets to take some pictures in lovely places.

The first one was this gothic style morgana corset and skirt combo. The corset is a cotton coutil version with hand embroidery (flossing). Paired with a long black skirt with train. We shot it in the early morning light creating this soft look.

Corset by Skeletons in the Closet
Lisa by Richard Terborg

The second set had just a bit more drama. It is a ruffle hoop skirt, paired with the hearts underbust corset and a satin bra top.

The last outfit was something completely different. We used the Nix corset and paired it with black pants and a lovely pink blouse. Creating quite the Parisian feel.

In Paris we met the beautiful Theresa. Theresa is a lovely model/singer who has been modelling for quite some time now. Her facebook page can be found here.

Queen, outfit by Skeletons in the Closet
. Theresa by Richard Terborg

For this shoot I made something new. In this case a royal blue chiffon gown. Worn with a gold and blue corset it makes quite an impression. We paired it with some gold jewellery and together it makes a regal statement.

The chiffon gown is now available in the webshop.

Blue Queen shift gown
Photocredits :Theresa by Richard Terborg

Of course we could not just do one set. So we rushed back to the hotel and did a bit more of a gothic look. You cannot shoot with Theresa and not do something more goth.

Gothic lady, outfit by Skeletons in the Closet
. Theresa by Richard Terborg

So for this look we put together a mermaid skirt with the raven corset, a beaded neck corset and the vixen bra top.

This concluded our Paris adventure and we went back home. Stopping at a lovely little village for some lunch (with cheese)

I hope you love the pictures as much as I do. As always shooting with Richard was a joy with lots of laughs but he also makes amazing fashion photographs.

28 November 201721 January 2018

Serena Underbust corset

Introducing a new corset for the Couture Curve collection.

The Serena corset is a lovely light short corset. This corset is longer than a waspie but shorter than the Alathea corset. The Serena is about 24-26 cm long at the front, making is great for people with a shorter torso or who just want to wear a short corset but not as short as a waspie.

The corset is made out of silk, it has a coutil strength layer and a soft cotton lining. It has 14 steel bones and a busk. As with all Couture Curve corsets it is made out of dupioni silk. Dupioni silk is available is so many lovely colours. Often they can look as jewel tones.

Serena corset by Skeletons in the Closet

This corset is a made to measure corset. You can order it by using our contact form.

As we make all corsets by hand so if you love this corset but is just not quite for you yet we can add things for a surcharge.

For example you might like more boning, either double boning at the seamlines or extra bones at the centre of the panels. Or perhaps you would love some lace or flossing on this corset, we also embellish corsets if you like. In fact this lovely silk waspie is now adorned with some light white lace to match the Serena bralette as you can see here.

Serena waspie corset — Serena corset and Bralette

Perhaps you love the shape of this corset but you want something that is not as delicate as silk. It is also possible to buy this corset as a Beautiful Basic Corset in a rosebud or satin coutil.

18 November 201721 January 2018

Dutch Masters corsetry

Dutch Masters floral corsetry.

Dutch Masters Corsetry
Photocredits: Bunny Glittergun by Henk van Rijssen.

If you follow my work on instagram you may have noticed that I love floral prints. Recently a new sort of floral print fabric came on the market. Specifically a floral fabric named Hollandse meesters (translated Dutch Masters)

I think that this floral print is inspired by a painting of Abraham Mignon, but I am not 100% certain. *edit: I recently learned it is probably a painting by Jacob van Walscapelle ‘Flowers in a Glass Vase’

This style of printed fabric uses a method called photo printing. Creating a lifelike image on fabric. Most photo printed fabrics are tricot, but I found this cotton fabric and just fell in love.

I matched most of the pattern at the front of the corset. For the more curvy places of the corset I choose a certain flower or leaf to match. You can not match is over the full lenght of the pattern. The curvier the panel the harder it is to match perfectly. And as you may have noticed, I love curvy corsets.

The edges are bound in velvet. This because I love the wintery feel of the velvet binding.

You may have become intrigued and want one of the floral corsets for yourself. Because I love this fabric so much I am doing an introduction price on these corsets. Please note that I can only make this style of corsets as long as the fabric is available. As soon as it goes out of print, there will be no more corsets in this fabric.

This corset is available in the following styles: You can order by using the contactform.

9 November 201721 January 2018

All the Underbust Corsets all the time

Here are some underbust corset I finished recently. They are all underbust corsets and yet they are all different. In both construction, materials and fit. I shall try to explain a bit about each corset and its construction method.

First a gold silk underbust corset. This corset has a coutil strength layer, as gold silk outer layer and a cotton lining with a print of Rembrands Nachtwacht. (the nightswatch by Rembrand is a painting that you can see at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It has internal boning casings and a blue lace applique on the front panel. The binding is hand finished. I made this corset because I had the silk left over from another project and it looked amazing with the lace. I did not have a lot of silk left so an underbust was all that was possible with this fabric. There are bones on both the seams and at the center of the panels. This keeps the corset nice a smooth.

Gold Corset with Blue Lace by Skeletons in the Closet Couture and Corsetry

I made a blue shift dress to go with this corset as you can see in this photo from a photoshoot with Richard Terborg and Theresa, (this corset is available at the webshop)

Next is a custom order from a beautiful lady who wanted a very short underbust corset. The corset is made with 2 layers of coutil. Embroidered external boning channels, and a black ribbon tape at the outside. This corset is hand finished. The external channels make sure that the inside is nice and smooth. I loved doing the embroidered channels, there are a lot more options on the sewing machine to make embroidered channels so if you want something like this let me know!

pink waspie with embroidered boning channels by Skeletons in the Closet Couture and Corsetry

The extra layer of coutil makes sure that the corset is really strong. It is not necessary to have an extra layer of coutil, but if you like extra sturdy corsets it is always an option. The black ribbon at the waist is a nice little detail.

This mesh corset was a bit of a try out. A supplier of mine had a new narrow cotton bone casing and I wanted to see how it would look. So I made a very short, almost belt like, waspie corset. It has a red lace front panel and a satin coutil back panel. All flat steel boning. I did bend the side bones to make sure it would stay in the right shape.

The edges of the mesh on the top and the bottom I first edge with cotton bias tape and over this goes the black satin bias. To make sure the mesh threads will not poke through.

(This corset is available in the webshop)

The hearts corset is the oldest of this set of corsets. I made if before Elfia in april. It is made out of Italian silk taffeta, a black hand cut heart applique at the front and a floral cotton lining. It has internal boning casings. This corset has 5 panels per side and is quite curvy. All the boning casings are at the seam lines and at the center front. Corset is available here.

This purple brocade waspie is a larger size. I rarely make larger size samples because they always end up in my closet. This corset is made with a purple satin brocade fabric fused to coutil. It has satin coutil external boning casings and cotton internal boning casings. I chose to do both external and internal boning casings because I love the purple fabric. However if I put a lot of satin coutil external boning casings on the outside you would not see much of the fabric anymore. So the center front and side panels have a bone on the inside.

This corset has 25 bones for support of the corset to keep it smooth. The binding is machine finished. (This corset is available here)

And last, another 4 panel per side corset. This corset is super lightweight. It is made out of satin coutil with external boning casings. It has a cameo on the front with a bird skull. It has steel boning and a waist tape. Satin coutil is a lovely fabric to make lightweight corsets with. It is smooth, shiny and strong. It also makes for great boning channels. Keeping such a lightweight corset with external boning channels makes sure that the inside is smooth.

The corset has a cameo at the front. I just wanted to make something with a raven skull for a long time. The binding is machine finished. (this corset is also available in the webshop)

There you have it 6 different corsets, 6 different construction methods. All pretty. There are so many ways to make a corset and non of it is the only way. It just depends on how you want the corset to look, how sturdy you like your corset and of course what your budget is.

If you are inspired to have your own corset made, please contact me by email or using the order form.

6 October 20176 October 2017

Hithfaereth gown

Hithfaereth is Sindarin for Myst Spirit.

This gown is mostly inspired by Elfish style garments. I wanted to make a gown that was flowy and had wide sleeves. Also I wanted to use the beautiful leather I bought at the Utrecht fabric market years ago.

The corset is our favourite Morgana style corset, but this time in a large size. The best thing about this style of corsetry, is that the straps allow you to have quite a deep neckline while making sure that the strap might cover any boob fold. After all if you lift your boobage, it has to go somewhere, and not all styles of corsetry allow you to cover the fold between the boob towards your arm. This corset takes care of that wonderfully. (as do the Vixen style and Vampire Corsets btw)

The back runs quite low, again making sure that the side and the strap cover any overspill.

The skirt and detachable sleeves are made from a lovely flowy fabric, in an amazing colour that works so well with this corset. It creates a soft and flowing gown that has a light feel to it. Combined with the tough leather corset it makes a gown fit for a highborn elf.

Someday I would love to do a little shoot in this outfit. For now here are some pictures of the corset on a dummy.

If you would like to order your own custom creation, please contact me. You can use the contact form under about, or send me an email.

18 August 2017

The Corset Body

The corset body

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

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.