Background: I am a guy playing a part in a play where I am a guy who also plays the part of a girl (Shakespeare in Love type thing). In my girl role this is like what one of my costumes will look like based on what I have been told.
http://www.pearsonsrenaissanceshoppe.com/images/Celtic3.jpg
I've already been fitted with a corset but the costumer wants me to try and get down another 2-4 inches in 10 weeks. She said that I should wear it for some time each day to get used to the feeling since I need to move around etc on stage of course and wear it under lots of other layers of clothes. So I am wearing it on and off for a few hours a day now (1 hour on and 2 hours off type thing).
2 questions:
1. Right now I need someone to help me into it. Is there a technique or easier way to fitting it yourself? It's hard being dependent on someone else all the time.
2. Will this have any change in my body shape even temporary - I mean should I expect tosee any changes? Or just go by comfort
2006-10-14 05:36:11 · 7 answers · asked by Riverhound 1 in Beauty & Style ➔ Fashion & Accessories
3. One final question. How soon should it start to feel more comfortable and how frequent should I tighten it down more?
2006-10-14 05:37:07 · update #1
Tips for putting on a back-lacing corset (this is why my Elizabethan corset is side-front lacing....)
http://www.corsetsandcrinolines.com/tidbits.php?index=6
Looking at the dress you linked to (often called an "Irish dress", where the bodice does not close completely in the front, and is frequently sewn to the skirt); I'm not sure why the costumer wants you to reduce that much. Irish dresses frequently make even a curvaceous girl look fairly blocky (about the best they do is a little cleavage enhancement- but for you, that would mean the costumer padding the chemise (undergown). To give the illusion of a smaller waist, Elizabethan women wore a "bumroll"- worn below the waist, to make the skirts spring out from the hips. They also often had a pointed waistline to their bodice, which furthers the illusion.
For wearing a corset- when you first put it on in the morning, don't lace it all the way to where you want it. Lace it snugly, with a bit of compression, then wait at least 15 minutes- breathing should start feeling easier, then you can tighten again. I doubt you'd see real changes in your body shape after just 10 weeks; the wasp-waist look was achieved by putting girls in stays from a very young age.
Anyway, the wasp-waist effect is not what you want for that time period, the classic late-Tudor/Elizabethan silhouette was primarily formed by the clothing structure, not by manipulating the body:
http://www.elizabethancostume.net/gallery/skinnygirl.html
Notice how her neckline and sleeves appear to broaden her shoulders, while the bumroll and bodice point make an apparently miniscule waist by comparison to the spreading farthingale (hoops). This is a noble lady; for a lower-class character it wouldn't be this exaggerated, as this type of outfit would be difficult to do any work in.
Good luck!
2006-10-16 03:48:51 · answer #1 · answered by Megan S 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For best results, you have to go slowly, and not tighten it so much so quickly. You'll be able to tighten it a little more during the day and as the weeks go by. Corsets, when properly fitted, really help with posture and make you eat less, provide a great figure, and just look plain sexy too. There are tricks to lacing it up yourself, but you'll have to google for those suggestions. As you wear it more, you'll notice your waist will get smaller although I think when you stop wearing your corset, your natural shape will return.
If you've indeed been properly fitted for a corset, it should be tight, but comfortable.
2006-10-15 16:42:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on how long you have to wear it for... I wear them to Ren Fest all the time, they never get comfortable. I have tried to break mine in, but found no difference. If there not hurting there not doing there job. It should not change you body unless you are wearing it like every day for a year. As for lacing it, there is no way to do it byyourself properly. Just suck it up, wear it, Not breath and then when it comes off have a "bodicegasam"........lol best of luck!
2006-10-14 05:52:43 · answer #3 · answered by Brooke 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ask kiera knightley somehow. in her movie: POTC she has to wear a corset and remember how she couldn't breathe and fell off of the thing that she was standing on and fell in the water, then jack saved her and tor off her corset and then she started choking and was "alive" again? yeah, so someway somehow try to ask kiera. !!
2006-10-14 05:42:23 · answer #4 · answered by ☆ Sarah ☆ 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Geez, what does your father think of all this corset weirdness?
2006-10-14 05:45:43 · answer #5 · answered by Soda Popinski 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
LEARN HOW TO BREATH, THOSE THINGS ARE A DEATH TRAP.
2016-03-28 08:49:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ow!!
looks like it would hurt.
2006-10-14 05:38:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋