Crimson Collection - in progress
The Crimson Collection was started a little while ago with a view to creating some permanent samples for display which demonstrate different styles, shapes, techniques and so on. It also gives me a way of filling little spots of time, either when I’m waiting on a delivery, client email, measurements, etc. or when I just need to refresh my head and boost my concentration by relaxing on something that isn’t a client order.
Once I’d finished today’s “proper” work, I stitched the lining layers for the above three crimson pieces and pondered some more on the lattice corset. I wished to make a mid-bust as inspired by the antiques here and here, with a view to mimicking their look quite closely. So the ribbon placement is more curved than in other lattice corsets I have made. I am as yet undecided about the casings (black or crimson – the antiques always seem to match the casings to the body rather than the ribbons) and whether it should have lace and a rosette as the antiques do. The colour is already very strong (though not as strong as this flash photograph would suggest!), so I think I’ll ponder it a bit more. I’m veering towards crimson casings at the moment.
The central cincher is pretty standard, so not a lot to tell there. I will be using a combination of spirals and flats I think, and you can see it’s basic shaping here. It’s my standard sized 24” (closing at 22”) pattern, which tends to fit my mannequins very well and is therefore best for display purposes.
The third piece is the real experiment. As it is only for display (not sale) I am trying out synthetic whalebone. Further, I am doing what some larger corsetry companies do and sandwiching the bones directly between the fused fashion layer and the coutil. I am of the thinking that this will create a pretty enough corset that would be good for perhaps one or two wears, but little more, and I don’t think I’ll end up repeating the technique. Still, it’s good fun to explore! I intend to photograph it modeled, and then simply keep it for display on my mannequins, so time will tell!
