This entry is a summary of the review video “Isabella Corsetry Josephine Underbust Review”. If you would like more complete information and side notes about the corset, you can watch the video on YouTube here:
| Fit, length | Dramatic curves, extreme hourglass. This is a longline corset coming over my hips. The center front is 13” high; the shortest part of the corset is 10.5″ hiugh. |
| Material | 3 main layers. The outer fashion fabric is black satin, then there’s a layer of twill as interlining and another layer of black twill as lining. |
| Construction | Made from a 6-panel pattern (so the corset itself is 12 panels total). It looks as though the coutil panels were lock-stitched at the seams, the allowances were pressed open. The layers are joined together by stitching in the ditch between the panels and also by making boning channels. The stitching is perfect on the outside, but the seams are wiggly on the inside. The lining does not float. Bones are sandwiched between the two layers of twill (lining and interlining). |
| Binding | The binding at top and bottom made out of black satin bias tape machine stitched on both sides; it’s small on the outside, then folded under and machine stitched in the ditch, in the seam between the corset and the binding itself, to catch the rest of the binding underneath. |
| Waist tape | 1” wide twill tape between the lining and interlining, invisibly stitched. |
| Modesty panel | There an unboned modesty panel in the back made from two layers of just satin. Slightly over 6” wide. Easily removable if you want to remove it. No modesty placket on the front. |
| Busk | A heavy duty busk, slightly under 1” wide on each side and 11” long, with 5 pins, it’s EXTREMELY stiff. Keeps the front very straight. |
| Boning | 22 steel bones in this corset not including the busk. On each side there are 9 spirals about 3/8” wide, and they’re mostly double boned at the seams except for at the back between panels 5-6. By the grommets they also use about 3/8” wide flat steels; very sturdy. |
| Grommets | There are 30 2-part size #00 grommets (15 on each side). Black finish to match the rest of the corset, they have a medium lip around and are spaced equidistantly. Functionally they’re very sturdy, no popping or pulling away, whatsoever. On the underside there are no splits – much nicer than the grommets used in Isabella’s Bat cincher. |
| Laces | 1/2” wide black double satin ribbon. They’re very nice, strong, pretty, glide through the grommets nicely and also seem to hold the bow well with little slipping out over time. |
| Price | Currently $175 USD for immediate line. For other fabrics (made-to-order) it’s $250, and for custom fit/fabric it’s $360. |
Final Thoughts:
This corset continues to be one of my favourite off-the-rack underbust corsets. It’s comfortable and gives a crazy curvy silhouette – to this day, I think I have gotten more compliments when wearing this corset than with any other off-the-rack corset. It’s relatively affordable compared to other major brands out there. The only con I could say is that Isabella is quickly gaining more and more recognition and thus she’s becoming busier, so wait times have been increasing for her corsets! However, I’m happy that she’s overflowing with commissions; I think her work should be credited. I could definitely see myself commissioning another piece from Isabella in the future.
Hi Lucy,
I have very small hips compared to my waist and a fairly large ribcage. (28″ underbust, 25″ waist, 33″ hips) Do you think this corset might still work for me despite it being an extreme hourglass shape?
Thanks!
Hi Peggy, if you check out Soph’s comment right after yours, it sounds like the Josephine corset may be the perfect fit for you. :) Cheers
Hey Peggy – it depends on your amount of squish and where you measured your “hip” measurement as to whether it will work for you. My measurements are 27.5″ underbust/25″ waist/33″ around my iliac crest, my “full” hip is 35″. Fit wise, I find the Josephine gives space for the top of my ribcage even fully closed, which really surprised me as previously that has been where corsets were tight. It does put a little pressure on my lower ribs though when fully closed, but nothing like some of the other corsets I’ve had and tried – most seem to be 2″ too small in the ribcage for me, even by the sizing charts.
If you find that your waist doesn’t like a lot of reduction you will probably find the corset too big for you, as you will not get any reduction of the hips or the underbust fully closed. I have the 18″ Josephine, although the internal measurement of mine is 19″ and the external measurement 20″ fully closed.
Hi Lucy- I’m not sure if you’ll see this reply here, but do you remember how long it took for Isabella to ship out your corset? I ordered an Immediate Line Josephine and was curious about how long the order should stay in “processing”. I’m more used to ebay and other larger sellers who offer a quick turnaround in shipping, so I’m not sure what to expect with a smaller shop. Thank you! =)
Hi Grimm, I’ve noticed that the turnaround time was pretty long for my Isabella corset. I think it took me several weeks to receive my order (usually it takes about 2 weeks to get items from the US, but I remember this taking a bit longer).
Hello Grimm, I also bought the Immediate line Josephine this September and it was shipped almost a month later. But it is worth waiting! :)
Thank you for taking so much time with your reviews! I was about to buy the Morticia and then I saw you mentioned this corset. Since this corset is significantly cheaper and I’ll only be a casual corset wearer, I’m glad that I saw your mention of this one!
It’s my pleasure! I’m glad you found it useful! :)
Curious as to what size you are wearing in the corset and your measurements
Hi Lisaz, the Josephine I’m wearing in this review is the standard size 20″, I’m wearing it with a couple inches gap in the back so it was probably around 22″ or 22.5″ at the time of the filming. The top edge of this corset measures 31″ and the bottom edge of the corset measures around 35-36″ in circumference (not counting the curves going up and down; I tried to measure straight across). My own body measurements can be found on my “About me” page. Cheers!
I absolutely love this corset shape, but after trying on a longline (orchard corset- had to be exchanged) I have found that I have a very short torso. Can you suggest a similar shape/price that isn’t a longline?
Isabella has a few other options that are shorter. I was able to try on a Victorian underbust of hers not too long ago, and it’s made from an identical pattern, just made with the hips cut shorter. It sounds like something like that would be right up your alley. :)
in June i saw the review you gave for this Josephine corset.
i was really happy because i had saved up with my family to get this corset in the hopes it would help me lose weight and also help a family member of mine.
i live in Toronto and i heard that you do too, reviewer, which made me feel safer that it would really arrive and i wouldn’t lost more money on something that will
but i really regret buying this now because i have never received it since i ordered it in July. i ordered it off the rack so a week or so after i paid for both they were sent. they seemed to have shipped using my right address except they forgot to add what floor i live on. i asked them to ship it with USPS because my family got a $80 duty fee for an item in the past not bought from Isabella.
well we waited and waited . it was priority with tracking…but it never got here. in the end it said address could not be found . without even shipping all the way to Ontario (it got as far as Vancouver’s border crossing i think) so it started to send back to the sender, only it never got there either. i asked Isabella’s customer service to open a claim on it but so far have not heard back from her in about a month. it has been 3 months since i ordered and though i did send many many emails to them about it …i was very panicky because my family have been scammed allot in the past and i didn’t want us to be scammed again
it seems I’ll never receive the corset i ordered, or a refund as Isabella will only give one if the postal service returns it. i don’t know what to do, i used all the family’s money and my own with permission. now i feel like I’ve giving them another bad experience. one top of that my health problems are worse then before and even if i did save again,. how could i trust that the person i buy from will make sure i either get a corset i paid for or give a refund?
to anyone buying any corset from Isabella, know that ven if you don’t receive it there is no refund, or any other way to get another corset sent to you to make up for it. your pretty much on your own, which is sad because you can grow customers by trying to think of them as important . even if you lose some money from it, it is always better to make sure that the person who buys your corset will have something in return for the money they gave you (in my case about $360). in some ways they helped, like giving combined shipping and allowing me to change to usps. but
in the end i still ended up without money or the corsets. so be careful buying from them, or from anyone.
this is probably my last time buying online. i only wish there were places you could buy good corsets in Toronto Canada. if there were i might still buy an Isabella, only i would buy it from a store in Toronto, but not from there website ever again :(
Hi Mahogohney, I’m so sorry that happened to you. I was also living in an apartment building when I purchased my Josephine corset, but was living in Montreal instead of Toronto at the time. I listed my apartment number and it found me fine, although shipping did take a long time. But despite this, the parcel should have been able to cross the border and get to the city at least, instead of being stopped at the border. Canada Post takes care of parcels from USPS once it crosses the border and would have been smart enough to figure out where you lived. I agree that Isabella Corsetry should have opened an insurance claim for the value on the lost parcel. Did you try to call the customer service at USPS as well as Isabella? I believe that for a Priority parcel you would have been able to file a complaint up to a certain amount of time, although at 3 months past, there’s probably not much that can be done. :(
Would this corset be suitable for everyday wear?
Hi Emily, yes I have known people who wear this corset on a daily basis and it’s held up well so far. :)
I can’t seem to access the site, so I was just wondering if you could tell me if you can get this corset in other colors, not just black. (Specifically red).
Yes, it’s offered in red too! You have to order it from the “Made to Order” section though, as the immediate line only offers black, white and pinstripe at that price. If you want other colours etc, the cost of the corset is $250 plus any possible markup for the quality of fabric used (if you want just red satin it’s no markup, but if you want a fun print it may be $10, silk might be $20 etc).
Thank you! You really helped me out in my book!
Which corset do you think is better if you have tummy pouch. the Isabella Josephine or the WKD Morticia? and is the Morticia alot longer. it looks like the Josephine curves up at the bottom right where I might need coverage. or does it even make that much difference.
I think the Josephine is better for lower pooch. The busk of the Josephine is very stiff and will keep your abdomen flat, whereas the busk on Morticia is flexible and tends to bow outwards which can actually accentuate pooch if you have any.
Thank you, that will help, also wanted to know is the Morticia alot longer than the Josephine in the front. and I spelled pooch wrong in my first email, I should of proof read my email.
They are both the same length in the front, 13 inches high. My version of Morticia is “pointier” on the top and bottom compared to the Josephine but I’m not sure how the newer Morticia styles compare as they changed the busks after I got mine.
Heya :) wow, another gorgeous corset. which one would you recommend though? WKD morticia or this one?
The two have subtle differences… The WKD Morticia has a profile that shows gentle reduction even in the front of the body, and it’s slightly longer through the torso. The waist is also a little more “angular” in the Morticia, its ribcage is smaller and the bones are external.
In the Josephine corset, the front is very straight, it’s slightly shorter, the waist is smoother (more of an “extreme hourglass” than “wasp”), the ribcage is bigger (which I find more comfortable) and the bones are sandwiched so you may feel the outline of the bones more in Josephine than you do in Morticia. I have no problem recommending either one, but on a personal level I wear my Josephine far more often than my Morticia. I don’t know if I answered your question at all, lol.
Indeed it did :) i prefer an hourglass shape to a wasp shape, will definitely look into getting a josephine at some stage, lol. i have quite a large rib cage, small waist and large hips. the reason i love corsets that have lacing in front (as well as the back) is that it makes it very versatile. i have a corset from Arwen Garmentry with front lacing instead of a busk. if you lace it up evenly up front and close it completely, it has a conical torso (more wasp shaped) and if you lace it up in a V it is hour-glass shaped. very versatile piece. plus the V-front looks great since it has a modesty placket up front :) here it is: http://www.arwen.co.za/2009/shop/index.cfm?x=products_2&rowid=206
I have this one and I love it, but weirdly mine did not come with a back protector. Not a huge deal, since I wear a liner, but still probably worth mentioning. The shape is to die for, it’s almost put me off other off the rack corsets completely!