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Sparklewren Golden Bird’s Wing Review

Last updated on October 11th, 2016 at 01:33 pm

This post is a summary of the “Sparklewren Bird’s Wing Underbust Corset Review” video, which you can watch on Youtube if you prefer:

Sparklewren Bird’s Wing Quick Stats

Fit, length Even though this corset is a sample, I’ve added the measurements below for the sake of completion.) The center front is 11.5 inches long. Princess seam is 11 inches. The center back is 9 inches (it has a beautiful sweetheart shape in the back). Circumferential measurements: waist is 20 inches (see discussion below for notes), the underbust is 28 inches, and the low hip is about 37 inches.
Material Two main layers: fashion fabric is a gold moiré silk, and the lining is a fine-weave black herringbone coutil.
Construction 14 panel pattern (28 panels total). Each panel is very long and very narrow (each one is less than an inch wide at the waistline!)
The panels were assembled using a lap-seam, and the topstitch on each seam doubles as a narrow boning channel.
Binding Bias strips of gold moiré fabric. Neatly machine stitched on front, hand-finished on the underside.
Waist tape None detected. (See discussion below)
Modesty panel None came with this sample (but for bespoke commissions, a modesty panel is available for a possible markup).
Busk Standard flexible busk (1/2″ on each side), 11 inches long with 5 loops and pins (bottom two are closer together). There are so many bones adjacent to the busk that it helps keep the center front flat.
Boning 34 total bones (17 on each side). The bones in the front and back feel like 6mm wide flat steels, while the bones wrapping around the sides are likely 4mm or 5mm spirals. It is single boned on the seams, but because it has so many panels, the corset feels like it is continuously boned!
Grommets 24 grommets total, size #00 with a medium flange and finished in silver (it would have been beautiful if they were finished in gold to match the fabric!). Grommets are set a bit closer together at the waistline, and they’re in excellent condition (not falling out).
Laces Black flat shoelace style lacing.
Price £400 GBP for the Phoenix Bird’s Wing style.

 

Gorgeous high-contrast shot of the gold bird's wing sample. Photo by Sparklewren.
Gorgeous high-contrast shot of the gold bird’s wing sample. Photo by Sparklewren.

Although this was a test sample, this lovely bird’s wing underbust resembles Sparklewren’s limited edition “Phoenix” line. The precision and care required to make such a corset is remarkable – if Jenni’s seams were off by even 0.5 mm in each panel in this corset, the entire corset would end up being 1.4 cm (more than half an inch) bigger or smaller in the waist!

This corset was made to fit someone with a smaller ribcage, larger hips, and higher waistline than myself (I am long waist from the waist up, and short from the waist down) so it was eventually re-homed to another corset collector who happened to fit the corset perfectly.

This is a remarkably comfortable little corset despite not being made for my measurements. It was deliberately made slightly small (19 0r 19.5 inches) to accommodate for a small amount of stretch and end up as a 20-inch waist, as its construction (traditional lapped seams) did not allow for the addition of a concealed waist tape.

Because there are so many panels to the bird’s wing corset, it’s said to mold extremely well to the wearer – even molding to a person’s asymmetries, say if they have scoliosis – and still be very smooth and comfortable.

See more of Sparklewren’s work here on her website.