Tag: Restyle

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Restyle CU8 Burgundy Underbust Corset Review

This entry is a summary of the review for the “CU8 Burgundy Underbust” hourglass corset, made by Restyle.pl. If you would like more complete information and side notes about the corset, you can watch the video on YouTube here:

 

Fit, length Center front is 10.5 inches long, the princess seam is 9.5 inches (4.5 inches above the waist, 5 inches below the waist), the side seam is 9.5 inches and the center back is 10.5 inches long.
When I measured this before wearing, the ribcage was 30.5″, the waist was 22″ and the hip was 36″.
The waist and hips matched their measurements on the size chart, but the ribcage was a bit smaller (ribs are stated to be 31.5″ on the site).
Material The fashion fabric is polyester-based burgundy satin, with black mesh overlay on the side panels and a couple of contrasting black satin boning channels. The lining is black cotton twill.
Construction 6-panel pattern (12 panels total). Panel 1 is wide and panel 2 is skinny, probably for aesthetic effect. Panels 3-4-5 make the curve over the hip.
Constructed with the welt-seam method.
Waist tape One-inch-wide waist tape, secured “invisibly” between the layers of fabric. Full width (extends from center front panel to center back).
Binding Black satin bias tape, machine stitched with a slight top-stitch on both outside and inside (may have been done on a single pass with a special attachment). 4 tiny garter tabs, 2 on each side.
Modesty panel Just short of 7 inches wide, finished in burgundy satin and black twill. Unstiffened, attached to one side of the corset with stitching (easily removed if desired). In the front, there is a 3/4 inch wide modesty placket, finished in matching burgundy satin, slightly stiffened.
Busk 9.5” long, with 5 loops and pins, equidistantly spaced. Very slightly wider than a standard flexible busk, and slightly stiffer too. It’s also black powder coated for a matte black finish.
Boning 22 bones total in this corset, 11 on each side. Single boned on the seams and also single boned in the middle of the panels with ¼ inch wide spirals. The bones sandwiching the grommets are flat steels, ¼ wide as well.
Grommets There are 24, two-part size #00 grommets (12 on each side). They have a small-to-medium flange and are spaced equidistantly, and finished in black powder coating as well. Rolled nicely in the back, and small washers present.
Laces ¼ inch wide, black, flat, nylon, shoelace style lacing (standard workhorse laces).
Price Available in black cotton, mesh, this burgundy satin, and several colors of brocade.
Sizes range from 18″ to 34″.
This style (burgundy CU8) is $50.49 USD

 

Final Thoughts:

Me (Lucy) wearing the CU8 corset

 

I have to admit, Restyle has been killing it lately with cute, curvaceous and shockingly inexpensive corsets that start around $50. It is not a perfect fit (the hips are several inches too large for me, which is more noticeable in the back than it is in the front). However, construction-wise, this corset somehow hits my bar of standards for most OTR corsets today, and even includes some of my more favorite features: equidistantly-placed bones (one in the middle of the panel and one on the seams – instead of being just double boned on the seams), and black hardware (powder-coated busk and grommets).

Poland’s OTR corsetry trifecta (Restyle, Rebel Madness, and PaperCats) are breaking all the rules regarding “you get what you pay for”, as I’ve tried corsets over $200 which was not nearly as comfortable or well-made as these corsets. Part of me is wondering if the other shoe is eventually going to drop (I do hope manufacturing methods are ethical), while the other part says to not mess with a good thing.

Restyle’s corsets are designed more for slightly pear-shaped people, with both their ‘WH’ and their ‘CU’ style corsets able to accommodate around a 14-inch hip spring. Much of their hip spring is distributed a bit more towards the back of the body as opposed to directly on the sides; this might be an indication that the corsets were drafted to be worn with a lacing gap in the back, so the hip spring is angled forward slightly – but it might also be good for some people who have a bigger booty and need more space along the back.

Check out Restyle’s corset selection on their website here.

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Restyle Wide Hip Corset Review

Black Brocade longline underbust by Restyle, $52

This post is a summary of the “Restyle Wide Hip Corset Review” video, which you can watch on Youtube (below the table of quick stats) if you prefer:

Restyle Quick Stats

Fit, length Center front is 12 inches long, the princess seam (under the breast to top of the lap) is 9 inches long, with about 4 of those inches from the waist up. The side seam is 12 inches, and the enter back is shorter at 11.5 inches because it sweeps up at the bottom edge slightly.  Circumferential measurements: waist is size 23″ (label is size 22), underbust is 28 inches, high hip (iliac) is 35 inches, and the low hip at the lap is about 36 inches.
Material Fashion fabric is polyester black brocade (but it’s also available in matte black cotton), the strength layer is black cotton bull denim.
Construction 6 panel pattern (12 panels total). Panels 1-2 taper in the lower front, and most of the curve of the hip is in panels 3-4.
For the construction, the fashion fabric and strength fabric have been tightly fused and the corset was constructed like a single layer corset. Panels were lock-stitched, and double boning channels were made with internal strips of black cotton twill over the seam allowances.
Binding Bias strips of black cotton twill, machine stitched on outside and inside. There are also 4 garter tabs (2 on each side).
Waist tape Waist tape has been added to all Wide Hip corsets as of May 2015.
Modesty panel Modesty panel is 6.5″ wide (will cover a back gap up to 4.5 inches wide) and finished in the same black brocade as the fashion fabric. It is unstiffened, and stitched to one side of the back of the corset (can be removed if desired). 1″ front modesty placket under the busk, finished in black brocade and stiffened slightly with buckram.
Busk 10.5 inches long with 6 loops and pins, equidistantly spaced. Wide heavy busk (1 inch on each side). It sounds like there’s a buckram reinforcement around the busk.
Boning 24 total bones not including busk (12 on each side). 1/4″ wide spirals, double boned on the seams. Two further 1/4″ wide flats sandwich the grommets on each side.
Grommets 24 grommets total, size #00 with a small/medium flange and finished in silver. Set equidistantly, about an inch apart.
Laces Black flat shoelace-style laces, slightly springy, but not annoyingly so. They slide through the grommets, but I find that they snag more than flat laces.
Price About €42 on the Restyle site, which converts to around $50 USD.

This corset has added a new price bracket to the market of fairly decent OTR corsets, offering a curvy longline corset for close to $50 USD. It’s what I call a “longline corset for a short-waisted person“, offering some hip coverage and lower tummy control while not being so long that it causes more petite wearers problems with underwire entrapment or problems sitting down. For someone with a longer torso like myself, you may find that the “underbust” line of the corset stops a few inches short of your true underwire point.

The silhouette is quite curvy, and has a slightly conical ribcage. I am not able to completely fill all the space at the high hip due to my natural body shape, so there is a “pocket of air” between myself and the corset. For this reason, I say that this style corset is excellent for people who have naturally prominent hip bones or a high square hip shelf – I can’t imagine how this corset would ever press into the high hip!

When I got this corset in 2014, the corsets didn’t have a waist tape included and they also had a tendency to run slightly large (at least 1 inch bigger at the waist than the label) however this has since been rectified, and the owner Ewelina now says that all wide hip Restyle corsets come with an internal waist tape and they are checked for accurate sizing these days.

Ewelina also says that the corset is suitable for waist training or daily wear, with a two-year guarantee. As of 2016, Restyle has since added some new styles, both in the popular Wide Hip (denoted by WH) style and also in a new “CU” corset style, which I have yet to review. Find the Restyle corsets here.