Here you find an adviser and guide about corset wearing, figure training and tightlacing on the topic “How do I lace my corset correctly?”

Which associations do you have when you hear the word ‘corset’? Maybe fainting, discomfort, agony, etc.? Unfortunately this is the case with many people. The following compilation of questions and answers, based on my own experiences, is to do away with the corset’s negative reputation, to list its positive effects and to inform you about the practical use of corsets today, in our time. After having read this information you should associate corsets with elegance, grace and attractivity.

How do I lace my corset correctly?

You say perhaps: “Just pull!”, but there are quite a few - let’s call them rules that you should take note of in order to be successful. Some people make mistakes when lacing up their corsets; this is the reason for many “corset failures”. And it’s often the case that women don’t wear their corset because they don’t know how to lace it correctly.

You should never wear the corset next to the skin; there should be a cotton vest (or something similar) between the corset and the skin. This has the following advantages:

• The laces can slip better.
• The skin isn’t hurt by the rubbing.
• The corset doesn’t become dirty so quickly. This point is of importance, because you often wear the corset all day long, and it’s not good for it to wash it too often.
• Wrinkles that may have been caused by lacing up the corset can be removed by pulling at the vest.

In the following I’ll give you a detailed description of how to lace a corset correctly. The laces are threaded just as the laces of a boot are. Start at the upper edge; at the waist, that is the smallest part of the corset, don’t cross the laces but make two loops and then proceed as before until you reach the lower edge of the corset. Knot the two lace ends.

It is necessary to cream the skin that will be covered by the corset. It’ll be best if you do that half an hour before you put on the garment. It’s especially important to take care of the skin round the waist, because it is likely to get dry because of the permanent pressure that is exerted to it by the corset.

You should wait until your skin has totally absorbed the cream before putting on the corset. Stand in the bathroom (or another room that can be easily cleaned) and treat your stomach, back and sides generously with talcum powder. This is an important measure to protect your skin.

Then put on a cotton vest. It makes sense to put talcum powder on the vest as well, for then the vest is easily movable under the corset.

The corset should be opened wide enough that you can easily put it on and close the front clasp without problems. Next you can move it until it seems comfortable to you (you’ll gradually find that out).

After that you should knee in front of a bed or sofa and lie your torso flat on it in a relaxed way, with your arms stretched above the head (that brings the ribcage into a good position).

Now the actual lacing can begin. It is best carried out by someone else. But you can also do it yourself (I do that in at least half of the cases). You should do it in several stages, in the first pass it’s especially important that you don’t use force. The verb “to lace” is actually too strong for this procedure. It is rather meant to tauten the laces slightly. Proceed from the lower corset edge to the waist and from the upper corset edge to the waist. You should not make the waist smaller at this point of time. Hereafter you should adjust the position of the corset once again; that’s very important for the comfort while wearing it.

Next you should proceed in small steps and lace the corset only a bit tighter with every lacing pass. As before you should proceed from the lower corset edge to the waist and from the upper corset edge to the waist. Finally it is advisable that you pull the waist area a bit tighter than the rest because the laces usually loosen a bit when they are being knotted together or shortly after that. Then you can knot the laces together. For beginners it is sufficient to reduce the waist by 1cm in one pass. Do adjust the corset (this procedure can also include slight flexing of the torso to the front and sides) after every pass. In case you feel slightly uncomfortable, take a break and rest for a short time. After having reached a certain reduction, i.e. a waist reduction of about 5cm, you should take a longer break before lacing yourself tighter. Wait until you don’t feel uncomfortable any more. Some women take a rest of five minutes, others need half an hour or more. During this time you can do whatever you want to, i.e. your normal daily activities. If you feel ready you can continue with lacing as described above. After some lacing passes the corset should be completely closed. If you don’t close it then the laces rub on the skin which can cause red spots; furthermore the corset then doesn’t have the necessary stability in the back part and the back bones can easily bend and thus cause damage both to the skin and to the fabric of the corset. Finally you should knot the laces firmly so that they cannot loosen. You can now wind the remaining laces round your waist or, in order not to make your waist wider again through the laces, you can put them under the upper front edge of the corset.

Now that the corset is closed you should by any means eliminate the wrinkles of both your skin and the vest. In order to do this, pull the vest up and down and back and forth with both hands and with smooth movements until you feel that the wrinkles have gone. By pulling at the vest you eliminate the wrinkles in the fabric and by smoothly moving the vest you eliminate skin wrinkles. This procedure should be carried out at the front, back and sides, but the lace area and the sides are especially important.

Sticking to these rules while putting on corsets is a very good basis for a long-term corset wearing. If you wear your corset for longer periods, i.e. day and night, you should frequently pull at the vest, at least once a day. If you wear it constantly it is advisable to take it off once each day and to clean, cream and powder your back, stomach and sides in order to prevent skin problems.