Seasoning Your Corset
We often get asked about seasoning corsets at What Katie Did and it really is a term we hate! Here I discuss the seasoning myth, and explains that the cut of the corset, and how close it is to your measurements, is what ensures a great fit - not seasoning.
If you're new to retro style hosiery, or hosiery of any kind, then the terminology can be confusing - but help is at hand!
Check out our guide to hosiery and all will be revealed.
Should You Season Your Corset?
Today I'm going to be talking about seasoning your corset, or not seasoning your corset, as the case may be. I've been in the corset industry for nearly 25 years now, and I only found out about seasoning in the last 10 years. There is a bit of a running joke between corsetieres who'd been around for a long time who are like, "Well seasoning, that's for your food, isn't it? You don't season your corset, you season your food." If you go to a great restaurant then you shouldn't have to season your food because the chef will have already seasoned it: and that's where we're trying to get with our corsets. If you have a good fitting corset from the start, which it should be, you shouldn't need to 'season' it. It should be a good fit from the start.
The reason I'm not a member of any corset groups on Facebook is because there are so many people posting images of themselves in a new corset that they've purchased, and there's either a huge gap at the back, or it's gaping at the hip and the rib and they're asking does it fit? And everyone's like, "Yeah, when it's seasoned it will be fine'. No it won't be fine! I remember a few years ago the corsetiere and body modifying expert, Fakir Musafar, was a member of a group for a while and he was great fun dropping in the odd caustic comment of "It's too small," or, "It's too big." Whereas everyone else was saying, "You look great, it will be fine when it's seasoned."
Your Corset Should Fit From Day One
At What Katie Did, we have designed a variety of different corset shapes and we expect your corset to fit well from day one. For example, we have our Zita, which is designed for a more androgynous figure, and is cut very close to the rib and is cut very close to the hip. Although the hip size might be similar to that of our Morticia, if you look at the photographs, you'll see that for the Zita the hip actually goes straight down. It's ideal for people who don't have a big hip flare, but who's hips go straight down.
Then we have the Luna which is a shorter waspie style, so you don't have to worry so much about the rib and the hip with that one because it's shorter and it fits all kinds of body types. We have our Morticia, which is one of our most famous styles and this has more room on the rib and it flares out more on the hip. Of course we have our Vamp, which is a super curvy style so it's slightly bigger hips and it fits closer to the rib than our Morticia.
Check Your Measurements
We show mid hip, waist, and also the length of the corset under each product description. So you can compare it with your own measurements and work out which one is best for you. If you have any questions after taking your measurements, please get in touch and we'll be able to give you a second opinion.
The Corsets You See on our Website Aren't Seasoned
The corset on your left is our standard Vamp Corset. On the right it is our Extreme Vamp Corset.
We shot model Sugar Rush in our Vamp corset and it looks absolutely amazing and it fits like a glove straight out of the box. It's the standard size 20, it wasn't made for her, she hadn't tried it before the shoot. We have worked with her before and know her figure type and know she looks amazing in corsets. But until you put it on you really don't know if it's going to be 100% right, and with her the standard Vamp corset just looked absolutely amazing on her.
If we take a look at her in our Extreme Vamp Corset, if you look very closely you'll be able to see that it's gaping very, very slightly on the rib. This is because we haven't been able to get the waist small enough. Her waist is resisting! So, this is where waist training comes into play. If she was looking at waist training and wearing her corset every day, then this corset would be an option, because after a few weeks, after her body has adapted, she'd be able to pull it in more, and the corset would soften, and the slight gap on the rib cage would pull in.
This is why we don't believe in seasoning your corset because the 'seasoning' really is the icing on a cake when it comes to corsets. The cake is the actual corset and the cake has to be as good as you can get it before you even worry about the icing. When you look at Sugar Rush in our Extreme Vamp Corset, then you'll be thinking, "Well, that looks fine already." It's literally that little 5%, which is where the seasoning or breaking-in comes into play is where the corset softens a little, it molds slightly to your body, and you get used to it and your body gets used to it and you can just make those tiny amendments.
Should Your Corset Be Tight When
You Try It On?
Other corsetieres often say that you need to try on your corset loosely. Now with us, the opposite is true. We want you to try it on tightly. So with Sugar Rush with our Vamp Corset, we put it on straight, we put it on tight, and for shooting it, she's in it for 20 minutes and if you came to our boutique, you try it on, we'd let you sit down and make sure we can bend and move around in it and it was comfortable but we wouldn't expect you to be wearing it eight hours a day like that. When you purchase a corset, you need to try it on at home and look at it closely, try it on tightly and see if you are happy with the fit. While when you try it on at home or in a changing room or for shoots, you will lace it tightly, but we wouldn't expect you to wear it that tightly all day from day one.
Breaking in your corset or seasoning for us, it's not really about the corset, it's about you. So once you've tried it on and you're happy with the fit, and you tried it on tightly and you're happy that it's not got any major gaping or the gap's fine at the back, then when you actually start wearing it, you'll wear it a little looser. Corsets should be comfortable, and when you wear a new corset they do take a bit of breaking in and they do need a bit of softening up. And if your body's not used to it, you will have to build up gradually. This is what we call breaking in. It's not about seasoning the corset really, it's about seasoning you, because you're the important part.
