Off-Topic OT ~ Corsets/Waist Cinchers

[Negin]

Has anyone tried these?
My esthetician told me that she wore one for quite a while after the birth of both of her children. My abs have always been weak. My core has always been the worst, even before children. My children are both pretty much adults, so if I was to try this out, I probably wouldn't get the same benefits as my esthetican. It's a bit too late for that. My other concern is that we live in a very hot climate year-round.
Any thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[puja]

What is your goal? To strengthen your abs/core or slim your waist? If it's the former I definitely DON'T recommend a corset as it can have the opposite effect. If it's to slim your waist, they do work by essentially displacing everything above and below (mostly below). To get this effect however you have to wear them diligently and keep increasing the tightness. Orchard Corset has a lot of information on corsets, how to break them in and wear them etc. But they aren't comfortable and yes, they're hot. You would probably get used to them after a while.
All that said, I don't recommend them as they aren't the healthiest thing. It would be better to work on building your core strength (Pilates is great for this) as this will contribute to overall better health.

[PhyllisG]

How they ever managed to bring these back is beyond my understanding. In this heat?! I thought they were gone forever. They should be.

[PrairieGem]

I'm not sure I understand the goal here. I do historical costuming from the Renaissance to the Victorian era, so I wear (and make) a lot of corsets. A well-made, properly fitted period corset should be very comfortable; many costumers eventually find they prefer them to bras, since the support comes from below and also gives a nice boost to the back when you're doing a lot of heavy labor (like work on a farm). And though health concerns about corsetry are largely urban myths (hard to milk a cow, scrub floors on your hands and knees, tote around 100s of pounds of laundry, and all the other work we did before our wonderful modern labor-saving devices, if your movement or breathing is restricted!), it IS true that because the corset did a lot of the work of supporting the torso, our ancestresses often didn't have the most toned core muscles, and their uncorseted bodies showed some flabbiness in those areas. (OTOH, they also didn't have the modern "computer slump" that we exhibit, so there are tradeoffs!)

So. I would think that the benefits of a corset for a modern body would largely be the same as historically: they give fabulous back support... if they fit you correctly. Plus aesthetically they just look awesome.

[videofit]

I don't even like wearing tight pants!

[Negin]

Thank you all so much.

Originally Posted by puja

What is your goal? To strengthen your abs/core or slim your waist?

Honestly, I would take either at this point. I'd probably prefer to slim my waist. Thank you for the Orchard Corset tip. I will look into it. I started to look into hourglassangel
I have tried and tried for most of my adult life and even my teen years (I'm 48) to have a strong core. It's not going to happen. Pilates does nothing for me. In fact, I've come to hate it. Classical Stretch is now more my thing. During the day, I forget to hold in my abs. It's hard to break bad habits.

Originally Posted by PhyllisG

I thought they were gone forever.

Phyllis, I thought so also, but I keep hearing them mentioned now. Some celebrities swear by them (not that that means much to me personally), but I googled yesterday and found all that out. I had too much time on my hands. My eshetician was shocked that I didn't know anything about it. Her mom bought her one as soon as she delivered her first child. My mom is clueless about such stuff. She's naturally skinny. I'm not. As far as I can tell, corsets are similar to Spanx.

Originally Posted by PrairieGem

health concerns about corsetry are largely urban myths
So. I would think that the benefits of a corset for a modern body would largely be the same as historically: they give fabulous back support... if they fit you correctly. Plus aesthetically they just look awesome.

Yes, I read that they're fabulous for posture and back support. I was skeptical until I saw the results on my esthetician.

[bex]

Originally Posted by PrairieGem

...I do historical costuming from the Renaissance to the Victorian era, so I wear (and make) a lot of corsets. A well-made, properly fitted period corset should be very comfortable; many costumers eventually find they prefer them to bras, since the support comes from below and also gives a nice boost to the back when you're doing a lot of heavy labor (like work on a farm). And though health concerns about corsetry are largely urban myths (hard to milk a cow, scrub floors on your hands and knees, tote around 100s of pounds of laundry, and all the other work we did before our wonderful modern labor-saving devices, if your movement or breathing is restricted!)...

PrarieGem, you are my spirit animal! I'm a total costume geek.

But my understanding of corsets was that they were clothing for the upper classes. I don't think Renaissance peasants or Victorian kitchen maids wore them - and the middle class Mistress (or Master, because there were also corsets for men during some periods) wouldn't have needed to scrub the floor or milk a cow. Am I wrong?

Negin - my apologies for hijacking your thread but I just couldn't resist.

[Negin]

Originally Posted by bex

Negin - my apologies for hijacking your thread but I just couldn't resist.

You're not hijacking at all. I enjoy reading your posts.

[AsSweetAsSugar]

Negin, I've heard about that too. Some people in my home country would wear one after delivery for a few weeks or a couple of months (only) until their stomach looked back to what it was before pregnancy. I bought two, when I was pregnant, but one was too lose to do anything and the other one was too tight, and it didn't feel comfortable, so I ended not using any, I wish I did

I've seem other people online who wear them forever (they just take it off for taking a shower, etc.) and keep tightening it up, to the point that it doesn't look "right" or healthy, it is even kinda creepy!



Those costumes Prairiegem mentioned... I always thought they looked sexy and elegant, and I love watching films where people are dressed like that.



I guess everything in moderation is okay.

[Negin]

Originally Posted by AsSweetAsSugar

Some people in my home country would wear one after delivery for a few weeks or a couple of months (only) until their stomach looked back to what it was before pregnancy.
I've seem other people online who wear them forever (they just take it off for taking a shower, etc.) and keep tightening it up, to the point that it doesn't look "right" or healthy, it is even kinda creepy!
Those costumes Prairiegem mentioned... I always thought they looked sexy and elegant, and I love watching films where people are dressed like that.
I guess everything in moderation is okay.

Those costumes are gorgeous!
I agree about everything in moderation. I'm still looking into one. The one that I want is not available in my size. So I'm waiting and reading up on it all.