This entry is a summary of the review video “Review: CS-426 SHORT with hip ties (Orchard Corset)”. 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 10.25 inches long, princess seam is 8.25 inches long. Rib spring is 6″, and lower hip spring is 12″, but the hip ties allow the hips to expand to 20+” if needed. |
| Material | 3 main layers – I have the black satin version, so the outer (fashion fabric) layer is satin, flatlined to a light cotton canvas interlining, and lined in cotton twill. |
| Construction | 6-panel pattern (12 panels total). Hip curve is patterned into panels 3-4. Constructed with the sandwich method. |
| Waist tape | One-inch-wide full waist tape running through the corset (center front to center back), “invisibly” secured between the layers. |
| Binding | Binding at top and bottom are made from matching black satin. Machine stitched on both sides, stitched in the ditch (between the corset and the binding) in front, and a necessary top stitch on the underside. 4 garter tabs (2 on each side). |
| Modesty panel | There is a modesty panel on the back, made of two layers of black twill. 5” wide and unstiffened, attached to one side with a line of stitching, and reinforced with “hemming tape” (a type of temporary fabric glue). There’s also an unstiffened black twill modesty placket extending from the knob side of the busk (1/2″ wide). |
| Busk | Standard width busk, half an inch wide and 9” long, and 4 pins (last two are a bit closer together). However it’s more rigid (less bendy) than other busks of the same width. |
| Boning | 22 bones total in this corset, (mostly) double boned on the seams. On each side, 9 of them are spirals (~3/8 inch wide) and then there are two flat steel bones, both ¼” wide sandwiching the grommets. |
| Grommets | There are 24, two-part size #00 grommets (12 on each side). They have a medium flange and are finished in silver. They’re spaced equidistantly about 1” apart. They have splits on the back, but the laces do not catch. |
| Laces | The laces are ¼” wide flat nylon shoe-lace style. I find them to be long enough, a little springy but it “stretches out” and the springiness dissipates over time. Orchard also sells double-face satin ribbon if you prefer. |
| Price | Available in waist sizes 16″ to 46″, in black cotton and black satin. Sizes 16-32 are $71 USD, and sizes 34-46 are $75 USD, but you can save 10% by using the coupon code CORSETLUCY |
Final Thoughts:
Full disclosure, this corset contains my “Lucia Corsetti” label – back in August of 2013, I released a tutorial where I took one of Orchard’s original 426 longline corsets and simply added hip ties to them, so people with a naturally fuller hip spring could cinch down in their corset without compressing their hips. Orchard liked the idea so much that they put it into production, and they gave me credit for the idea by adding my label to the new design. (I have no patent on the hip ties design, but it was courteous of them to give me a nod!)
With the introduction of the new “CS-411 Longline” corset in 2017, Orchard sought to standardize their corset names, so now all “short” corsets are called “Standard” (including the CS-426 Short now being called CS-426 Standard, and their original CS-426 corsets now being called their CS-426 Longline).
The CS-426 Short (now “Standard Length”) is said to be taken from the same pattern as the 426 Longline, but has about 1.5 inches cut off from the top, and another inch or so cut off from the bottom. So although it may look slightly less curvaceous than their longline corset (and on paper, the rib and hip springs are reported to be smaller), the standard and longline corsets should fit the same person in the same size.
However (and this might be due to construction), I feel that this corset has a slightly more conical ribcage, and slightly more flared hips than the longline pattern. I think the longline CS-426 corset flatters my figure better (and I have a longer torso anyway) so I personally prefer the longline version.
Find the CS-426 Standard corset with hip-ties on Orchard Corset’s website here.
