Last updated on April 4th, 2021 at 04:38 pm
This entry is a summary of the review video “Timeless Trends white/emerald silk underbust corsets” which you can watch on YouTube here:
Fit, length | Front is about 11.5″ long. Gives a traditional Victorian hourglass silhouette, not wasp-waisted; I’m able to achieve 3-4 inch waist reduction. Comes over the hips a little on me. All of their corsets are the same pattern/shape. |
Material | Outer silk brocade in green (or white; I reviewed 2 different corsets here) which is fused to twill. Comes in many different colours and fabrics. Inner twill. |
Construction | Appears to have been lock-stitched, with the boning sandwiched between the two layers of twill. |
Binding | Satin bias binding in matching colour; machine stitched on both inside and outside. |
Waist tape | A 1″ wide “invisible) waist tape – sandwiched between the two layers of twill. |
Modesty panel | No back lacing protector, no front placket. |
Busk | Standard flexible busk, about 10 inches long. |
Boning | 26 bones (not including busk), 20 are 1/4″ wide spiral steel; 6 flat steels, 3/8″ wide, beside the busk and grommets. |
Grommets | 28 grommets total, size #0 two-part grommets with moderate flange; absolutely no wear/fraying/pulling out of grommets even after 2 years of use. |
Laces | 1/2″ wide satin ribbon (not double-face). Experienced snapping of laces after 1.5 years; however extra laces are available for $3.50 US |
Price | Most underbusts are $99 USD when not on sale. |
Final Thoughts:
This was my first (real!) purchased corset, and so it holds great sentimental value to me. Not only that, but even when I could cinch down to smaller sizes and styles (like my wasp-waist training corset from Bezerk), I still came back to this one because it gave such a flattering silhouette that was slim yet relatively natural-looking both over and under clothing (you can see the silhouette in my video; note that I can’t have possibly manipulated the silhouette by lacing it in a )( shape, especially because the green one is completely closed in the back). In the several years I’ve owned their corsets, I have never once had an issue with a bone poking through, a seam ripping, a grommet coming loose etc. These guys take their lifetime guarantee seriously.
For about two years I had been recommending this brand to people freely, expecting nothing in return. Nowadays I still recommend it – so much that I’ve become a distributor. How’s that for a positive review?
How far over the hips does this corset come to on you, Lucy? I know you’ve mentioned that you have a longer torso (I think…?), at the least it’s longer than mine is so if it is near the pinch point on you then I can count on it being that long on me.
Thank you so much Lucy. That article was very helpful. I chose the iridescent aqua silk underbust and absolutely love it!! I’m watching your lacing and seasoning series this week so I don’t damage it. I’m totally with you on not wearing a corset to exercise ever. I’m a specialist in fitness therapy with continuing education in scientific core and back conditioning so would never do that since exercising in any type of corset or workout shapewear weakens your transversus abdominis plus limits range of motion. I recently received two power latex waist cinchers with flexi-boning for review on my fitness site and they were ridiculously uncomfortable. The plastic bones were digging into my ribcage and caused severe rib pain and migraine headache for hours after just 1 hour of wear for 1 week. I’ve actually wanted a steel bone corset for years but I think reviewing those two latex cinchers is what finally motivated me to get one. Thanks again for all your helpful articles and videos.
Hi Lucy
Thanks so much for all this wonderful information. I’ve learned so much and think I’ve narrowed down my first corset purchase to a timeless trends silk corset but was wondering if type of material makes a big difference with waist training when starting out with flat abs and a 25.5″ waist? I would like to corset down to 20″ for burlesque costumes and if possible achieve a semi-permanent waist reduction of 2 inches. I am a ruler body type (very few curves) and have been dancing since I was 3 and exercising daily since I was 14 (I’m nearly 44 now) but even though I am very fit I am not a hard body and my middle is fairly soft (not flabby just not all rock hard like most fitness chics). So I guess my question is whether silk is o.k. to start waist training and will it mold to my ribcage? Not sure what material will be best for maintaining my current thoracic mobility and lung capacity for the activities I do but still be effective for waist training. Thanks so much in advance for your help.
Hi Monica, thank you for your comment. I recently wrote a bit on the Timeless Trends blog about how different fashion fabrics affect your corseting experience; you can read it here. The silk corset will be similar in strength to their other corsets, but it might not be quite as breathable or hardy; it might start to look a bit more worn-in, and you have to be careful not to get it dirty or abraded. If you’re interested in purchasing a TT piece, I would recommend submitting your measurements in the secure inquiry form at the bottom of this page; I will be able to tell you whether the corset’s silhouette will be compatible with your body or whether another brand of a similar price would fit you better. Typically this brand doesn’t train your ribcage very much; it’s a rather gentle silhouette. I’d recommend not exercising in any corset though, as it can severely warp and damage the garment. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at this address. Cheers!
Having spent the last nearly-three hours stalking your blog in the hopes of finding some tips on cannibalising a crap corset I have, I just have to mention – I bought one of these, it looked beautiful on the website, and i HATED it. Rather than giving any kind of hourglass, it just sort of smooshed me into a cylinder shape. It wasn’t close to “Victorian” as they had claimed, it was just bad.
Really? :( They’ve always given me a beautiful shape, much more of an hourglass compared to the Corsets-UK style underbusts. Well, I guess it’s understandable that one style of corset won’t do miracles on every sort of body.
My recent purchase from them did the same thing. I think they must have changed their pattern or something because even my ruler shaped body wasn’t made much better by their corset.