I canna' change the laws of corsets!! (massively long)

[Daskinor]

As a fellow giant I can relate. Nothing fits right, clothes, objects, places etc. Your constantly trying not to damage things or yourself because you don't fit. And it makes you look clumsy, your not really but that is what everyone else thinks.

Then you need to deal with the fact you are allot stronger then others would be with the same exact lifestyle as you. You weigh more because your heaver with bone and supporting muscle. And on top of that because of your size you have leverage you can apply. This forces you to constantly be aware how you handle things. Reason why people I know that are my size, in the 6'8" range are always excitingly gentle in all things they do.

[Seshat]

Thank you, wordgirl.

I'm an .. interesting shape. And I sew. So I have seriously considered making my own corsetry.

My shoulders are square (for a woman - they're man-shoulders).
My underbust is the same size as my shoulders would be if they weren't square - but my bust is a G/H cup. (And since most clothing is designed for B/C cup....)
My waist is one or two sizes smaller than my shoulders and underbust.
My waist is low on the torso, and slanted.
My high hip is about one size larger than the underbust/shoulder size.
My low hip is about the same size as underbust/shoulders.
My limbs are back to the same size as the high hip.

So .. off the shelf fitted garments are hilariously wrong for me. I go for semi-fitted or loose designs, sized for my bust (upper body) or high hip (lower body), and make alterations as necessary.

You can see why I thought about making my own corsetry.

Going to the 'strong people' side of this thread: I'm another one. That's why my limbs are larger than the waist/low hip/underbust size would indicate - they're loaded with muscle.
Unfortunately, part of my disability is an inherent clumsiness.
Combine 'clumsy' with 'strong' ... and I have a tendancy to make sure I don't handle anything valuable.

[Seshat]

They ignore me because clearly they know better, and then lament the side boob spillage, misplaced princess seams and bongo bosoms that would have been fixed by proper support.

Princess line is extremely flattering to curvy women - but only if it's actually fitted to the woman's curves.

For those who don't know what we mean when we say 'princess line' or 'princess seams'; it's a bodice design for female clothing.

The centre front panel(s) are the least shaped, and if there's no centre front closure it's one piece, otherwise two. The width is determined by the width between the peak points of the bust; and then if you drop imaginary plumb bobs from there, the waist width is where the plumb bob lines would intersect the waist.
If necessary, you draw a smooth curve from the bust to the waist to get the widths correct.
Usually this panel extends upwards and becomes the neckline of the garment as well. As for the top of this panel, that varies: sometimes the panel curves and meets the side panels in the armhole. Sometimes the panel is straight up along the imaginary plumb bob line and meets the side panels at the shoulder seam.
Either variant is still considered to be princess line.

Then the side panels, which are very, very shaped pieces. Their inside seam literally follows the curve of the breast, then makes a smooth curve from the widest part of the breast to the waist. Their outside seam starts at the underarm and is shaped so that when the garment is worn, it follows the line of an imaginary plumbob from the point of the shoulder. Side panels will also have most of the armhole, which is itself a careful piece of garment design.

(Corsets use the same general sort of shaping as described here, but may be cut into four or six or eight panels around the front of the garment!)

The back of a princess line garment is cut similarly to the front, however because you don't have a bust to design around, the pieces are much easier to shape!

[taxguykarl]

As for the OP: assuming they were (for the sake of argument): what were they thinking to knowingly order a garment several sizes small?

[dawnfire]

As for the OP: assuming they were (for the sake of argument): what were they thinking to knowingly order a garment several sizes small?

could it be wishful thinking?

[MoonCat]

bongo bosoms

is a phrase that will forever remain in my mind

[Seshat]

As for the OP: assuming they were (for the sake of argument): what were they thinking to knowingly order a garment several sizes small?

There are some people who believe corsetry is magic. That it somehow makes the whole body smaller.

Corsetry can make your body a reshaped version of itself: like makeup or hairstyles can affect how your face or hair look.

Different cuts of corsetry can give you a smaller waist, a more prominent bust, a flatter body (ideal for 1920's 'flapper' dresses), or almost anything you can imagine and the corset designer can make.
BUT it has to be within the limitations of the possible, and some bodies just look wrong with some shapes. Me being the curvy type, I'd just look weird in a flapper dress, even with a flattening corset. But put me in 1940s or 1950s outfits with the curves and the cinched in waist, and I look great.
My niece the ballet dancer, however, would look fantastic in flapper-inspired garb.

[Catwoman2965]

Oh, boy can I sympathize with that.

My mother's family are all tiny, barely 100 pound women (my mother's gained a bit of weight, but she was 5'4" and 89 pounds before she got pregnant with me). My father's family are all linebacker types. My sisters took after my mother's side. I took after my father's. I grew up thinking I was this huge, gigantic, fat beast. I look back on pictures and realize I was really quite lean. These days, I'm just fat, but I can change that. What I can't change is the fact that even at my leanest, I'm still quite big.

It took me until i was in my 20's to realize that no matter how much weight I lost I could never be a single digit size. I'm simply not built that way. I take after my dad's side of the family; he was overweight most of his life, aside from when in the navy, but even then, he was not a beanpole. He ws stocky, as am I.

what's funny is at 5' 5.5", at my "ideal" weight, which was somewhere between 132ish-145, I wore a size 12. Granted that was 30 or so years ago, but even so.

Now? At age 50, i;ve lost close to 30 lbs, so weigh a smidge under 190, and i can wear 12's in many things. So I suspect that 12 i used to wear is really now an 8 or even maybe a 6! crazy.

And let's not forget wearing what flatters you, and avoiding things that don't, no matter how much you love them. I have a family member who is built like me, and while she lost a ton of weight, she gained a lot back, so I suspect she weighs close to what I do, or more. She's a few years older, but insists on wearing things that are too small, too tight, too young, and generally not flattering on her. But she loves them. Sigh.

[Nunavut Pants]

... So I suspect that 12 i used to wear is really now an 8 or even maybe a 6! crazy.

"Size inflation" is a real thing. My wife has gone through vintage/retro clothing phases, and she had to find sizes that were considerably smaller than what her then-current size was.

In men's clothing, I noticed a few years ago (OK, ten or so!) that a size XL shirt I bought in California fit me, but when I bought basically the same shirt in Oregon the L was the size that fit!

[workerbee222]

We once had two voluptuous brides being fitted at the same time. As we worked, the two of them made small talk. They commented on the fact that their attendants were fairly easy to fit, but that they were all kind of petite in comparison to the brides. One said to the other that one of her maids measured less than size zero and asked rhetorically, "what do you call less than zero?"

"Bitch," was the reply.

One bride came for a pick-up appointment and her dress didn't zip up. People do make mistakes in alterations, but we also measured brides and recorded those measurements at the fitting. As I started to re-measure the bride, her friend was calling the brides mother. Before I had finished, MOB was yelling at me, telling me that in spite of all evidence to the contrary, her daughter *did not* gain an inch and a half around her waist in the last four weeks. At this point Bride said she felt claustrophobic, and then strode out onto the sales floor to announce to the customers we were ripping her off. Pregnant, much?

One day a mother of the bride appeared with a wedding dress, and told us she wanted her daughter's dress shortened four inches. We refused, since there was no bride to try it on for us. We would have been responsible for replacing the dress if it was wrong, we explained. She was insistent, and so was our manager. She stormed out, after asking for the number to the company home office. She actually sat in the parking lot all day, on her cell phone, clearly furious that we weren't going to do this. It was kind of creepy.

[Reyneth]

Glad I found this thread, not only is it entertaining, but you experts might be a godsend. WHERE do I find lingerie/structural under-wedding dress garments? Specifically, a corset like what was being discussed or a long-form bra (I think that's what they are called)? My dress is in, need to pick it up and take for alterations but I have no idea what I'm wearing underneath! It's a corset back but I'm not sure I am comfortable with just having them sew cups in.......Help!

[Seshat]

You haven't filled in any location-specific information in your profile, so we can't give you location-specific answers.

Your best bet is specialist underwear stores, but not the big 'mall' stores like Victoria's secret, nor the 'sex sells' sort like Frederick's of Hollywood.

In any city of half a million people or more, there will be a whole bunch of them - in the little shopping zones, where they're paying less rent and have less walk-by traffic, but where they can get the people who need them.

Your bridal shop that's making your dress knows where they are. Most bridal services know where each other is: your florist probably can recommend a few, as well. Or the shoe store, or any other specialist bridal place. There are also ads in bridal periodicals or newsletters specific to your city, or in your local telephone directory.

If you have a ... very uniquely bra-sized friend, she knows some of these places as well! Anyone whose cup size and band size are sufficiently mismatched that mall stores don't carry it (10D, 18A...) uses these specialist stores. So do brides, as well as people who just enjoy having good corsetry or unusual and lovely lingerie. They also often cater to people who are particularly petite or plus sized.

The one I use has a couple of plus sized staff, and those two ladies are THE most knowledgeable bra fitters I've ever had the pleasure of being helped by.

If you have a 'bridal mall' zone somewhere in your city, there are likely to be two or more there, as well. The upstairs of one of the malls in the city centre of my hometown had almost exclusively bridal shops, when I was getting married. If there's anywhere like that where you live, you can check there.

Another place to check is petite-specialised or plus-size clothing stores: find out where they send people for lingerie. This is because these specialised lingerie places often help the ... bah. The people who don't fit in the centre of the bell curve, body-shape wise.

Also, PM the OP, and tell her the city you're in (or most often shop in). If she's part of a chain which has branches in that city, she can probably tell you. Or maybe she has a colleague there from some other shop or chain.


Edit to add: Ask the bridal shop to give you a note or sketch for the lingerie people, so they know what sort of bodice your dress has and can provide the right sort of support.
Once you have the lingerie, DO NOT wash it or take tags off. Go to the bridal dress shop, and test the lingerie against the dress with the help of your dress shop staff. If it does turn out to be the wrong sort, the lingerie being still in perfectly saleable condition should mean the lingerie shop people will let you exchange it for something that's more appropriate.
(If, like me, you're prone to hives when wearing/touching never-washed garments, wear a slip or some other thin fabric to protect your skin.)

You're doing EXACTLY right by wanting to have the lingerie before the late fittings. Lingerie can - as this thread has shown - make a significant difference to the shape of a garment.

Note 2: if you're small-busted, structural corsetry built into the bodice with sewn in cups is likely to be plenty of support. If you're large enough to be uncomfortable with that, though, then the bodice would need to be an actual corset rather than simply a structured bodice. The difference between the two is subtle, but critical when it comes to comfort on the day.

[sirwired]

Glad I found this thread, not only is it entertaining, but you experts might be a godsend. WHERE do I find lingerie/structural under-wedding dress garments? Specifically, a corset like what was being discussed or a long-form bra (I think that's what they are called)? My dress is in, need to pick it up and take for alterations but I have no idea what I'm wearing underneath! It's a corset back but I'm not sure I am comfortable with just having them sew cups in.......Help!

I agree with seshat. In my area (RDU, NC), there are a couple lingerie specialty-stores with a ridiculously huge selection and specialized sales staff (as in, seasoned boob-wrangling matrons, not the teenage mallrats at the local Macy's) These stores exist precisely for hard-to-find/fit undergarments. My wife's been going to the same store for 10 years; it's in an out-of-the way random suburban strip mall.

[Seshat]

Heck with it. While this thread is running, may as well provide boob-wrangling advice.

First of all, we're all different shapes. This is obvious, but it means that the particular bra or corset model that fits your best friend with the same overall measurements as you, may not fit you.

You may have the same band size, but she might be wide left-to-right, but narrow front-to-back, while you're the other way around. Or her breast tissue may be all forward, while yours is more around the side and under the arms.

So. While a lot of people focus on fitting the cups correctly, the band is actually the real key to a perfectly fitting bra. The engineering of a bra is a lot like the engineering of a corset: the mass of the breast is supported by the band, and the band/cup seams (and whatever supporting wire, plastic, or other material is in the seams).

First of all, the band needs to fit comfortably. Breathing should not be impaired at all, but the band should be snug. If you have a significant amount of boobage to support, a wider band can make a difference in how much support you get.

Position the centre front along the centre of your sternum. Holding the band by an underbust seam or wire, ease all the breast tissue (on that side) forward of the side seam. It should comfortably ease so that the breast tissue is entirely surrounded by the cup seams, and the side seam is comfortably in front of - or under - the underarm. Move the arm in all possible directions, feeling for places the side seam catches or becomes uncomfortable.
Note that if the side seam is pressing inwards or outwards, that's a cup side issue, not a band size issue.

If the cup seams are correctly positioned, the front of the band is the right size for you. Now you need to check whether or not the back of the band is the right size: find out if it clasps, and if so, whether or not it's properly snug-but-not-tight.
Bra extenders can help if the back size is too small, but if you have straps, the back of the straps would be in a different place from where the designer intended. If it's okay for you, great, but make it a conscious decision.


Now for the cups.
The part of the cup between the side seams and the centre front seams is the part that's supposed to carry the breast. The top of the cup, and the straps, are purely for shaping the upper part and (especially in sports bras) to help reduce bounce.
Ease the breast into the cup, holding the bra by the wire or underbust seam, and moving the breast tissue rather than the bra. It can help to bend forward and jiggle, especially if you're generously sized. If necessary, make a special effort to move the looser underarm breast tissue forward of the side seam, and to adjust sideboob into the cup as well.

Now examine yourself in the mirror. Loose folds of fabric mean the cup is too large, as do spaces between the breast and a seam. The bra can't support you if it's not snug against the breast. However, if you're intending to put a 'chicken fillet' in, and that makes it fit snugly, you're fine.
On the other side of the coin, if you have quadraboob (overflowing the top) or sideboob overflow, the cup is too small. If your centre front seam doesn't sit flat against your sternum, the cup is too small. If your sideboob pushes the side seam so it jabs your arm, the cup is too small.

If the side seam jabs your underarm, it might be too small or too large a cup; look at the line of the underarm seam, and look for other signs.

The top of the bra, and the straps, are mostly for aesthetics. That said, I prefer bras with wide, padded straps. Wrangling the mass of my upper boobage takes enough strain that it's more comfortable that way.
If the rest of the bra fits; the top and straps are just personal choice.


So now you know how to get a well-fitting bra, have fun with them.

[notalwaysright]

That's awesome! One question though.

You may have the same band size, but she might be wide left-to-right, but narrow front-to-back, while you're the other way around. Or her breast tissue may be all forward, while yours is more around the side and under the arms.

What... yeah, what? Wide left-to-right, like more space between the breasts? I do understand the side-boob thing. And using those measurement charts have never worked for me. They all come up super tiny, like in the AA range, which is so wrong it's funny. Once I was sized in a store and told I was a 32 A. After trial and error I settled on 32 C. It passed your test!

The annoying thing is that stores carry such a small size range. I have to order mine online from a place that caters to a much younger crowd. This is a real title from an email I received "OMG! SRSLY! YAAS!" But they're much cheaper than the other place I like, and still fit.