Month: August 2015

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Timeless Trends Hourglass Cincher Overview/ Comparison

iridescent-purple-cincher

Full disclosure: The hourglass cincher featured in this review is one of the four new designs I helped create for Timeless Trends in 2015, along with the hourglass standard corsets, hourglass longline corsets, and the newest Gemini corset.

If you are interested in purchasing a TT cincher and you would like to support Lucy’s Corsetry, please consider buying through my Corset Shop here!

This entry is a summary of the video “Timeless Trends Hourglass Cincher (Comparison/ Overview)” which you can watch on YouTube here:

Fit, length This style is standard sized 24″: Center front is about 8.25 inches high, the ‘princess seam’ is 7 inches, side seam is 6.25 inches, and the center back is 9.5 inches.
Waist in this corset is 24″, ribcage is 28″ (4 inch rib spring), upper hip is 31″ (7 inch high hip spring). This corset is designed to stop well above the iliac crest, and fit someone with a very short torso.
Material Three layers of fabric. The fashion fabric is red dragon brocade laminated to cotton twill (alternating with plain black satin panels, also fused to twill interlining) and it’s lined in black cotton twill as well.
Construction 6 panel pattern, constructed using the sandwich method. The curve over the hips and bum are in panels 3, 4, whereas much of the room for the front ribs come from the ‘champagne glass’ shaped 2nd panel.
Binding Matching black satin bias binding, machine-stitched on both sides. Also has 6 garter tabs (the slim silhouette corsets only have 4 garter tabs).
Waist tape 1 inch wide invisible waist tape, sandwiched between the panels. Full waist tape, from center front to center back.
Modesty panel Modesty panels are not included in with the corsets, because unstiffened panels are somewhat unpopular amongst many customers. However, stiffened, boned modesty panels are now available for separate purchase, and can be suspended on the laces with velcro or grommets.
All hourglass corsets have front modesty plackets in matching fashion fabric.
Busk 7 inches long. 4 loops + pins, equidistantly spaced. It is a standard flexible busk, and it is reinforced with flat steels on either side of the busk.
Boning 26 bones total, not including busk. On each side, there are ten 1/4″ wide spirals, two flat steels by the grommets, and one flat steel by the busk.
Grommets 20 two-part grommets, size #0, with a small to medium flange. Finished in dark silver and equidistantly spaced. Big washers, most grommets rolled nicely. There are some splits, but they don’t catch on the laces.
Laces Single face satin ribbon in black, 1/2″ wide. It’s relatively long and has no stretch, but single face satin is not quite as strong as double-face satin. Some different styles of cincher are laced with more sturdy shoelace instead of ribbon.
Price This particular style is $79 USD, and the most popular styles are now $74 uSD – you can see more styles here.

 

waist-cincher-creme
Hourglass Creme Cotton cincher by Timeless Trends

The cincher has less of a cupped rib compared to the standard length and longline hourglass corsets – while the standard length and longline TT corsets were based off similar patterns, we started anew with the cincher pattern to be able to cater to people with different body types and different aesthetic. However, you will find that the hourglass cinchers have far more room in the ribs and hips and gives a much more shapely silhouette compared to the gentle silhouette cinchers.

 

If you’d like to learn more about the hourglass cincher, I’m incredibly proud to say that they are available here in my shop!

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Timeless Trends Hourglass Longline Corset Review

Lucy Green Hourglass Longline

Full disclosure: The hourglass longline corset featured in this review is one of the four new designs I helped create for Timeless Trends in 2015, along with the hourglass standard corsets, hourglass cinchers, and the newest Gemini corset.

This entry is a summary of the video “Timeless Trends Hourglass Longline (Comparison/ Overview)” which you can watch on YouTube here:

Fit, length This style is standard sized 24″: Center front is about 13 inches high, from underbust to lap is 11 inches, and the center back is 13.5 inches. Waist in this corset is 24″, ribcage is 30.5″ (6.5 inch rib spring), upper hip is 31″ (7 inch high hip spring), and lower hip is 36″ (12 inch low hip spring), with the hip ties closed. (You can expand the hips for more room.)
Material Three layers of fabric. The fashion fabric is emerald brocade laminated to cotton twill, and it’s lined in black cotton twill as well.
Construction 6 panel pattern, constructed using the sandwich method. The roundness of the ribs can be found primarily in pattern pieces 2, 3 and 4, while the curve over the hips and bum are in panels 3, 4 and 5.
Binding Matching green satin bias binding, machine-stitched on both sides. Also has 6 garter tabs (the slim silhouette corsets only have 4 garter tabs).
Waist tape 1 inch wide invisible waist tap, sandwiched between the panels. Full waist tape, from center front to center back.
Modesty panel Modesty panels are not included in with the corsets, because unstiffened panels are somewhat unpopular amongst many customers. However, stiffened, boned modesty panels are now available for separate purchase, and can be suspended on the laces.
All hourglass corsets have front modesty plackets in matching fashion fabric.
Busk 21 inches long. 6 loops + pins, equidistantly spaced. It is a standard flexible busk, but it is reinforced with flat steels on either side of the busk.
Boning 26 bones total, not including busk. On each side, there are ten 1/4″ wide spirals, two flat steels by the grommets, and one flat steel by the busk.
Grommets 28 two-part grommets, size #0, with a small to medium flange. Finished in dark silver and equidistantly spaced. Big washers, most grommets rolled nicely. There are some splits, but they don’t catch much on the laces.
Laces Single face satin ribbon in matching green, 1/2″ wide. It’s relatively long and has no stretch, but single face satin is not quite as strong as double-face satin. I often add free shoelace for those who purchase longline corsets ($6 value) for customers who prefer it.
Price This particular style is $119 USD; other fabrics like leather or styles with swinghooks may be slightly more.
emerald-long-hourglass-corset
The emerald hourglass longline corset as it appears in the product image.

The ribcage is more rounded compared to the more conical “slim” longline corset. The hips are also more cupped as well, and provide for ample adjustment. We specifically chose to draft this corset with the upper hips nearly the same size as the rounded ribcage, so it can fit both men and women. Even if you have square-shaped hips where your upper hip is the same size (or larger) than your lower hips, you can open up the top part of the hip ties and tighten the lower part of the hip ties to have it fit just to your body.

The corset was also designed to curve around a broader ribcage, and accommodate some lumbar curve for a more comfortable fit.

Comparing the length of other longline corset brands to this one: the Timeless Trends longline has the most distribution from the waist up (suitable for those with a low waist); Orchard Corset’s CS-426 is more equally balanced in the length distribution from the waist up vs waist down, and Mystic City’s corsets tend to be drafted more for those with a high waist, as much of the length is distributed from the waist down.

If you’d like to learn more about the hourglass longline corset, I’m incredibly proud to say that they are available here in my shop.

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Interview and Chat with Sidney Eileen

Some may remember back in early 2013, I launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for Sidney Eileen to be properly diagnosed and treated for a 6-year-long anaplasma phagocytophilum infection (what we originally thought was Lyme disease) which left Sidney disabled, unable to walk long distances, unable to continue her artwork due to weakness and tremors in her hands, and suffering from seizures due to inflammation of the brain.

2 years later, in August of 2015, I finally had the opportunity to meet Sidney for the first time and we caught up on how she’s feeling after the treatment and the daily realities of chronic illness – we also talked about her contribution to the corset making community and her hopes for the future.

1:05 How are you feeling now that you’ve completed the antibiotic treatment for your anaplasma infection?

1:40 Are your symptoms expected to completely disappear, or are you looking at some permanent damage from your chronic infection?

2:15 How did you become interested in making corsets in the first place?

4:10 What is the value in being self-taught and having a community of other corsetieres to share different techniques with?

5:10 What about corset making do you specifically enjoy?

5:55 What is your favorite step of the corset making process?

6:10 What is your least favorite step about corset making?

7:30 What drew you towards teaching art and corset making, as opposed to only making corsets or taking commissions?

9:15 What are your future aspirations, now that you have a fresh start?

11:15 For other people who are just getting started with making corsets (or any other type of art), what words of encouragement would you offer to them?

You can find Sidney Eileen’s artwork and free corset tutorials on her website, sidneyeileen.com

Photo from the North American Lingerie and Corsetry Symposium in California, 2015. From left to right: Me (Lucy), Zessinna, Amber (Lovely Rats Corsetry), and Sidney Eileen.
Photo from the North American Lingerie and Corsetry Symposium in California, 2015. From left to right: Me (Lucy), Zessinna, Amber (Lovely Rats Corsetry), and Sidney Eileen.
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Hourglass Corsets have Arrived!

black-leather-hourglass-corset

Screen Shot 2015-08-07 at 9.12.25 PM

I’m proud to announce that the hourglass silhouette corsets are now up in the shop!

Back in June, myself and Sarah (Administrator for Timeless Trends, beside me in the first picture) travelled to Bangkok, Thailand to redesign the Timeless Trends and Black Iris corset patterns.

The corsets still have their “essence” (they are still immediately recognizable as Timeless Trends) but they all now feature a larger rib spring and hip spring (so the waist can be cinched further), comfortable cupped ribs, and a neutral lumbar curve – these corset patterns were draped on a human body, so they are surprisingly comfortable.

We’ve also added extra features such as an extra pair of garter tabs (now 6 instead of 4) and front modesty placket under the busk. Stiffened and suspendable back modesty panels are available for separate purchase in white and black, with other colors possible in future.

Lucy in hourglass longline underbust, in emerald brocade
Lucy in hourglass longline underbust, in emerald brocade

Timeless Trends and I worked hard over the past several months to consider every element of the construction process of these corsets so we can preserve their lifetime warranty, and I’m extremely proud of the results.

Next week, I’ll be uploading an overview of the new hourglass longline underbust, as well as a highlights video of my experience working in the factory in Thailand to my Youtube channel.

In the meantime, you are welcome to ask any questions about details of the corsets, the redesign process, the factory conditions, or my Thailand adventures in general.

You’ll find the new hourglass silhouette corsets for sale here in my corset shop.