The corset, a timeless and iconic garment in the world of fashion, has long been celebrated for its versatility and transformative power. While traditionally associated with a particular era or style, the corset's adaptability knows no bounds, allowing it to be worn in various ways that cater to individual tastes and preferences even in our modern aesthetics. Let the magic of a single corset worn in four distinct and captivating styles inspire you.

1. A Touch of History.

Throw your corset over your favorite dress. This outfit emphasizes the corset as a separate centerpiece for the outfit, giving a lot of versatility. The corset can give you a soft, flirty ren-fair vibe without looking like you’re wearing a costume. Bright color that complements each other, and different necklines make this an easy combo for styling beginners while remaining comfortable in your modern clothing.

1. No really, it’s the bodice.

Let’s be honest. Most prom or wedding dresses are corset tops with a skirt attached to them. Take a moment to pair your own corset with a skirt to achieve a more formal look with a little additional clothing. Does the corset feel a bit exposed for that charity ball? No worries, add a lace shirt or tank underneath for a chic look that’s all your own.

1. History, meet modern chic.

Swap out your skirt for pants and add a long-sleeve blouse or shirt for a refreshing take on a chic look. Draw attention to your beautiful corset with contrasting colors and a bit of bling and your modern style is complete.

1. Business casual doesn’t mean business boring.

Swap out your shirt to the same color to tone down the corset look, then turn up your style with some patterned pants. This style emphasizes the detailing on your corset, while not being super obvious, leaving a business casual look that is easy to swing, and comfortable for all levels of modesty. You can also pop open a collared shirt and add a center-piece necklace for a fun touch. What ways do you like to wear your corset? Tag us on Pinterest and Instagram and show us your creative ideas! #1corset4ways #historybounding #custompatternmaker #modernmeetshistory

Over a matching dress

This light blue corset has been paired with a floral dress with a full petticoat and flowers at the hem.

With a contrasting full skirt

In this look, we added a full-length wool skirt to a brown corset. Worn with thermal leggings this would be an ideal way to style a corset for winter.

With a Lacy Bra

In this look, the corset was of an experimental design that did not provide quite the look we were going for. The model here is wearing a lacy black bra and matching lace bolero and skirt

With a matching Pencil Skirt

In this look our model has a matching corset and pencil skirt. In this case, the corset and skirt were both made from the same cloth. We paired this corset with a white blouse and brown tights to make a more modern look.

With a Mini Skirt

This look features a maroon and blue corset with flower appliques on it. To not overshadow the corset which has a lot going on it is paired with a simple black miniskirt. We also added a few necklaces to break up the look of her upper chest area.

First, take the end of the bone and try to bend the back the pointy bits and if possible file them back so they are not pointy. Then find the smallest tube you can that will fit over the bone. and leave about ¼ of its length over the end. Then take a heat gun and point it at the tubing and blast it until the tube finishes shrinking. When it is done it should be tight on the bone tip and the ridges.

You can file down the bumpy ends of the tubing before putting it in the garment. I am going to try these in a corset in the next few days and will post an update on how it works in an actual corset.

This corset was made with scraps from other projects!

My Victorian & Steampunk corset pattern is made from a number of narrow panels. In many cases, the individual panels may be under 5 inches wide. Now if your fabric stash looks like mine there are lots of small pieces of fabric floating around.

Normally when I am making a corset I will lay the fabric out on my table, turn on the projector and chalk out all the pieces in one go and start cutting. In the case of the blue corset that was not going to work as it was cabbage left over from some prior project (Don't ask me what that project was, I don't remember). I had to spend some extra time laying out each piece on the table and cutting it.

Now in this case I had enough of the blue around to make the entire outer layer of the corset from it. That being said it is 5.3oz linen from fabrics-store.com. That being said if I did not have enough of that fabric I would not have hesitated to mix several different fabrics for the various panels. If you use pieces to make a corset like this tag me on Instagram @corsetpatternmaker

Take a look at this pattern and you will see how narrow the various pieces are.

The corset provides a well-defined figure which contrasts well with the flare of the skirt which is provided by petticoats.

The combination of the corset and dress looks great. The narrow waist on the corset and the flair from the hip of the skirt really works with her figure to make a great look. In this case the jewelry is pretty minimal with a broach on the top of the corset.

You can get any number of embroidered patches on Amazon for not very much money. The flowers on this corset were about $9 for 6 of them, and they come in a number of colors. If you look on Etsy you can find a wide range of choices.

To add an applique place it on the garment where you want it then press it with a hot iron with steam (wool setting) for 10 seconds. While doing this you want to hold the iron in place and not move it around (which will shift the appliques before they set)

In terms of placement, I would suggest not placing bold applique on the breasts but rather on the hips or stomach area. In this picture, you can see the model has a corset with flowers in a “V” shape on her lower stomach. There are also 2 more chains of flowers on her back (you can see one of them poking out under her arm.

The V-shaped flowers and the blue panel in the front are designed to minimize the wearer’s waist.

Another option would be to put the flowers along the hip line of the corset. If you add a bit of extra hip flare and some padding it will make the model’s hips larger, which will make her waist look smaller.

The model is steampunk author and horticulturist Renée Fleury.

This skirt features heavy pleating into the waist and quite a bit of volume. It would work well in winter with a few layers of petticoats and tights.

As with the other look on this model, she is dressed with a high neckline. In this case a white peasant blouse.

This corset is made from brown suit-weight wool (lined in cotton and linen) and trimmed with hand-woven ribbon. It is boned with cable ties under the trim.

In this look we have Renée wearing a corset with a black mini-skirt. The corset was made with a 2 tone effect to narrow at the waist and further enhanced with some iron-on flower appliques. She styled the look with some red flat shoes and a few necklaces. The neckwear is essential to this look as it breaks up the upper chest region and pairs with the red in the corset.

The crimson/red theme is reflected carries from the corset to her shoes and necklace.

Some random thoughts…

I want to write all this down in the hope that it will help others and I can refer back to it for next time.

Setting up the space

Having an indoor space is key. We were able to turn my garage into a working studio. I had thought to do some outdoor shooting but the weather was not cooperating! For a chunk of the time we were shooting, it was bucketing rain. At least here in Connecticut, the weather can do almost anything and from time to time will. We set up a backdrop in the garage and our photographer put up various lights.

We also had a table for props and such. I also had an extension cord or two around just in case (they were not used) a step ladder would have been useful at one point (we lived without one). We also found a stand fan helpful for at least one shot.

Get creative people as models and let them have fun.

In my case, the models were all women who I knew from the local steampunk & fandom community and who were not professional models. However, all of them brought various things with them that would work well for some very amazing looks with the corsets I had made.

It helped that I had sent them pictures of the outfits in advance so they could apply their own creative talents to the problem. I threw out some broad guidelines such as “I want this kind of looks” and let the models and photographer figure it out.

One of the models, Carley, is an amazing cosplayer and I was able to send her a picture of the corset in advance and just told her “go crazy” she did. I have no idea how many looks she did, but the ones I saw were amazing. Besides the corset she was wearing everything else was out of her stash of costumes. and props. And it was a time I was able to be in other parts of the shoot dealing with other issues.

Be willing to roll with any issues

No matter how well you plan, Stuff will go wrong! Assume that an outfit will need to be repaired or substituted at the last minute. Be willing to roll with it. Have a sewing machine, needle & thread, an iron, safety pins, and a broach (which can cover something) handy. I also was able to cover a few flaws by quickly ironing on a flower applique at some point.

Several of our models were delayed due to accidents on the local interstate from the rain.

Know your limits

We had 4 models and it might have been a bit too much. In the future, I may limit it to 3 models. Understand that you only have so many hours of people's time, so much battery in various devices, and so much space on the SD card.

Have a green room

I set up the room next to my garage as a changing room with a station for our hair/makeup person. It had some seating including an armchair that I am pretty sure no one actually used. We had a few robes and a clean towel handy. The towel went unused, but with the rain, it seemed prudent to have it.

We also set the rule that when people were changing if the door to the room was closed it was to be considered a female-only space. Some of the models seemed to care more about this than others.

Other things to have in the green room

• Bottles of Water
• Paper towels
• Clothes rack and hangers
• Power outlets
• Mirror
• Table for the makeup artist

Respect people's body space & autonomy

Different people have different levels of modesty and personal space. When you are having models in a shoot who are not professional models, but are your friends who are there doing you a favor it is important to keep this in mind. Furthermore, as a man designing corsets for women and putting them on women it is even more important.

At various points, I was adjusting the necklines of corsets, pining jewelry on corsets, etc. I did my best to say what I was planning to do each time and say “Is this OK”? In almost every case the response was “Yes, go ahead” but the act of asking and the willingness to change if needed is important.

In addition, when designing corsets for various people I made a point of asking them “Are you OK with this” in advance. “Would you want to wear a plunge-front corset that shows a lot of cleavage?” Of the people I asked several said yes, and several said no.

Keep people's measurements private. Most people don't want their measurements spread around the internet!

Staff

Book the Photographer first!

The first thing to organize is the photographer. Without them, nothing happens.

Get a hair and makeup person in advance

Our hair & makeup person was found the night before as the friend of one of our models. In the future, I would want to book them in advance. Possibly I would book them right after the photographer when setting up the shoot.

Also, it might be good to have the hair and makeup person and first model show up 30 minutes before the photographer, to not keep people waiting.

Have someone around to help out

Have a facilitator, someone to help people get dressed, and make sure that people are hydrated. We found that having someone to help lace up corsets, ensure that there was enough lacing handy, etc was a massive help.

Signs

Have some signs around to inform people of things * Green Room * WIFI Password

Order Pizza

Put money in the budget to feed the staff and crew. In addition, we had water, coffee, tea, and some bagels and such for folks to eat if they wanted. Asking in advance for any dietary restrictions is also a good idea.

Have seating

Setting out some folding chairs for people to sit on (models and their partners).

Plan to crash after

After the shoot don't plan anything else. I found that after everyone left all I wanted was to curl up with a bagel and a book.

Also, drink lots of water, dehydration is not fun and can cause some pretty major health issues. For many of us who go to events like these and work in an indoor setting we may not be used to being out in the sun all day so take care of yourself so you can keep having fun at the events you enjoy!