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Interview with Katie Thomas of What Katie Did

In August and September 2015, I attended the Oxford Conference of Corsetry and met Katie Thomas (What Katie Did) in person. I’ve been emailing with Katie for close to 5 years so it was amazing to finally have the opportunity to meet someone you admire in the corset industry face-to-face. Directly following the conference, I spent a few days at Katie’s house and we visited Basilton Park, and Katie gave me a tour of her London Boutique and headquarters.

Skip ahead in the video to hear her answers to the following questions:

0:30 How did you become interested in retro fashion?

0:55 How did you start your business and why did you choose the name What Katie Did?

1:50 After starting your business selling stockings, shapewear, etc, how did you become interested in corsets, and how did you start incorporating corsets into your business?

2:35 You’ve been in this industry for 15 years now, so how have you seen the corset and retro lingerie industry change?

3:10 What do you think of the waist training trend, and how do you think your products fit into this trend?

3:55 Would you say that your corsets are suitable for waist training now?

4:30 You’ve found a niche with higher-end, ready-to-wear corsets that are better quality than the budget OTR corsets, but not quite as high as bespoke corsets offered by independent corsetieres. Was it a deliberate decision to settle your business at this niche?

5:20 You had mentioned that you once considered reducing your prices, but when you were looking for areas to cut, you weren’t willing to make those sacrifices to the quality of your products. Tell us a bit more about that.

6:00 You were the first person I saw in this industry who showed full transparency regarding the working conditions of your factory in India. Can you comment on why you decided to be so transparent about this, and why you decided against manufacturing your corsets in England?

8:00 When I first stumbled upon your site, I thought that you mainly catered to the burlesque and pin-up communities. Do you think this is true? Who is your main client base?

Thanks to Katie for sitting down with me for this interview! Click here to see What Katie Did’s website.

Silk WKD Morticia
WKD Morticia corset in Claret silk, in size 22″, modelled by me (Lucy)

See my many reviews of WKD corsets here:

Link to WKD website is an affiliate link (but links to reviews are not). Affiliate links help support Lucy and keep this site online!

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Where to buy Conical Corsets for Training the Ribs

Note that this post is a copy of the same one under the “Research Corset Brands –> Guided Galleries” menu. It is part of a collection of articles to help corset enthusiasts shop more wisely.

Christian Dior’s “New Look” (1947) required a tight wasp waist with a preferably conical ribcage.

Rather than an hourglass silhouette, some people prefer their corsets to give them a more conical, tapered ribcage like what was so popular around the 1950’s New Look era. A human’s floating ribs (the 11th and 12th ribs) often have flexible joints, and they’re designed to swing in and out like a hinge with each breath you take. It is also possible for some individuals to train their ribs to be pushed inward, so they have a slightly tapered ribcage with or without the corset on.  There are arguably over 100 different makers who can cater to the conical ribcage to give that 50’s “wasp waist” look, but I will just show some of my personal favourites, and some particularly impressive corsets that I’ve found to give this shape.

As mentioned before, different ‘schools’ of corsetry have different definitions for silhouettes. I was first introduced to this style as the “wasp waist” silhouette, as rib shaping is often more demanding to wear compared to more rounded hourglass silhouettes. Others may call this the conical silhouette, or the ice-cream cone silhouette – so when purchasing a corset, do clarify what kind of silhouette you’re looking for.

Continue reading Where to buy Conical Corsets for Training the Ribs

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What Katie Did Raw Silk “Morticia” Corset Review

This entry is a summary of the review video “WKD Raw Silk Morticia Corset Review (UPDATED)” which you can watch on YouTube here:

Fit, length Front is about 13 inches long, shortest part (from underbust to lap) is about 10.5 inches. Wasp-waist silhouette. Good for medium to long-waisted people, may be too long for those with a short torso. Has enough room in the ribcage and hip areas; very comfortable. Will cover lower-tummy pooch. This Morticia seems straighter/ flatter in the profile than the last Morticia.
Material 3 layers; fashion layer is 100% raw silk and the lining and interlining are both 100% cotton twill.
Construction 5 panel pattern (may be considered 6 if you take into account the back panel) with an additional 2 hip gores per side. Top-stitching between panels, external boning channels (double boning), and a floating liner. Also has 6 garter tabs.
Binding Matching raw silk bias tape neatly machine stitched on both inside and outside.
Waist tape 1″ wide invisible waist tape between the interlining and lining.
Modesty panel Attached 7.5″ wide fabric lacing protector on the back, finished in same raw silk and twill lining (cannot be removed); stiffened placket under busk.
Busk Standard flexible busk (1/2″ wide on each side) about 12″ long (6 pins), backed with a stiffener on each side, and a reinforcing bone on either side of the busk.
Boning 22 steel bones not including busk. 8 spirals (1/4″ wide) in external channels on each side, plus another 2 flats (1/4″ wide) sandwiching the grommets and the extra reinforcing bone beside the busk.
Grommets 24 grommets total, size #0 two-part grommets with moderate flange; set equidistantly, no splits, no wear/fraying/pulling out of grommets.
Laces Strong nylon braided shoe-lace style laces; they’re thick, they grip well. They were long enough for my purposes. Has some spring to the lace but very difficult to break.
Price Currently $310 USD on the What Katie Did website.

Final Thoughts:

There have been a few changes to the Morticia corset (if you compare this review with my previous Morticia review in the plain black satin) – whether these changes have occurred over time or if it’s what sets apart the smaller sizes from the larger ones, I can’t be totally sure. But I will still say two years later that the Morticia is still my favorite cut of all the WKD underbust corsets, and still seems to be the popular amongst other reviewers – the first Morticia video review I’ve done is still my highest-watched review to date! For those who have a bit of lower-tummy pooch, WKD also makes a spoon-busk version for extra support.

Of all their underbust corsets, the size 22″ Morticia is closest to my “custom” measurements with an underbust measurement of approximately 30″, iliac crest of about 33″ and bottom edge (close to low-hip) around 35″. Therefore from the smallest part of the waist to the bottom edge, I believe that this corset (in any size) is capable of giving no less than 12″ hipspring which makes it suitable for hourglass and pear-shaped corseters. Some clients find that they even need to order a size down from what they usually order (usually 5-6″ waist reduction instead of 3-4″). However be realistic about this – if you are relatively inexperienced with corseting, you may find this corset to be quite challenging for you to close – be patient and go slowly; you may be able to close this corset and have an enviable 50’s silhouette in good time.

To see the Morticia underbust and other cuts/ styles of WKD corsets, visit What Katie Did’s site.