About the service
I start with the body, not with the fabric. The first session is measuring: a little over twenty numbers, taken standing, in the underwear and the heel height you actually intend to wear, because the waistline of a finished gown sits differently the moment the shoes change. Alongside the numbers I write down posture — a rounded back, shoulder blades at different heights, a ribcage turned slightly to one side. Almost everyone has some of this, and those notes matter more than the centimetres: a corset cut to an averaged figure pushes its bones sideways on a living person and wrinkles along the bust line.
Then comes the calico toile. I cut a full mock-up in cheap cotton, pin it on you and correct it in pencil right on the body: where the waist wants to sit, how far the neckline can drop before it gapes when you lean forward, how wide a lacing gap still feels easy on a deep breath. Two or three fittings are normal, not a sign that something went wrong. The corset base is built as a structure of its own — layers of coutil, boning channels stitched along the seams, flat steel on the straight lines and spiral steel over the curves, which bends in two planes. The number of bones and the spacing between them are calculated for your figure so the cloth cannot buckle between the channels. Eyelets are set by hand into a reinforced panel. The lacing is there to support and hold the shape; it is clothing, so you must be able to breathe fully, speak and dance all evening, and we settle the tightness together at a fitting.
The outer fabric is chosen once the base fits. Heavy satin falls quite differently from a light silk, brocade holds a sharp edge, lace needs its pattern matched across the seams. Seam allowances are finished inside, the lining is bagged out so that nothing scratches, and the hem is levelled on you in those very shoes. A final adjustment happens three to five days before the celebration, because a figure changes over a month of preparations. This is why the work takes weeks rather than three days: the toile alone has to be made, worn, corrected and made again.
What the work includes:
— measuring with notes on posture and asymmetry;
— a calico toile and two or three fittings;
— a corset base with individually placed boning;
— hand-set eyelets, lacing, lining and finished seams;
— a final adjustment shortly before the date.
Then comes the calico toile. I cut a full mock-up in cheap cotton, pin it on you and correct it in pencil right on the body: where the waist wants to sit, how far the neckline can drop before it gapes when you lean forward, how wide a lacing gap still feels easy on a deep breath. Two or three fittings are normal, not a sign that something went wrong. The corset base is built as a structure of its own — layers of coutil, boning channels stitched along the seams, flat steel on the straight lines and spiral steel over the curves, which bends in two planes. The number of bones and the spacing between them are calculated for your figure so the cloth cannot buckle between the channels. Eyelets are set by hand into a reinforced panel. The lacing is there to support and hold the shape; it is clothing, so you must be able to breathe fully, speak and dance all evening, and we settle the tightness together at a fitting.
The outer fabric is chosen once the base fits. Heavy satin falls quite differently from a light silk, brocade holds a sharp edge, lace needs its pattern matched across the seams. Seam allowances are finished inside, the lining is bagged out so that nothing scratches, and the hem is levelled on you in those very shoes. A final adjustment happens three to five days before the celebration, because a figure changes over a month of preparations. This is why the work takes weeks rather than three days: the toile alone has to be made, worn, corrected and made again.
What the work includes:
— measuring with notes on posture and asymmetry;
— a calico toile and two or three fittings;
— a corset base with individually placed boning;
— hand-set eyelets, lacing, lining and finished seams;
— a final adjustment shortly before the date.
