Wednesday, September 10, 2008

What's it Like to Waist Train with corsets?

Hello corseting fans and the corseting curious! My name is Mair and I’m the corsetiere for Blue Rose Corsetry - a small business specializing in custom made corsets. I’ve been a fan of corsetry for more than 20 years now and am embarking on a waist training regime for a 13 week period.

What’s involved with waist training?


Here’s a quick run-down. I’ll elaborate more as I post updates to this blog.

  • Wearing an underbust corset for extended periods of time
  • Reducing the waist measurement on the corset gradually week to week
  • Some dietary guidelines to help differences in digestion that often occur when corseted
  • Some recommended exercises to keep muscles toned, keep other muscles from bulking up too much (i.e. sit-up variations)

What’s the payback?

I have a few goals for this training period.

  • Product quality & design for my underbust corsets. Happy corseting customers make my day! I normally wear my corsets around events and not continuously. I want to ensure comfort and excellent fit and features for those that like to figure shape full-time.
  • To sculpt my natural uncorsetted waist down a few inches
  • To bring my corseted waist down to an exciting 24-25” range that complements my hip size well
  • To loose a bit of weight along the way!

So what’s my plan?

I have a plan for a 12 week corseting program provided for me by Romantasy.com's Ann Grogan. Ann is a long-time corseting enthusiast and she provides consultations for corset training. Please check out her book “Corset Magic” for wonderful information about corsets and corseting.

So, I get this 12 week plan and begin my corset experience on Tuesday Sept 2nd.

Look at your calendar – what day is that? Why the day after Labor day here in the States! Hmm…. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of a starting date as I did what most people do & ate well that weekend. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The reason this is a 13 week plan and not a 12 week plan as originally “scheduled” is that my well fed waist didn’t want to be corseted down to the required measurement the first week. Yeah, too much corn on the cob & burgers!

Eek!!! What to do!!!

Naw, I don’t panic like that. Corseting is like dieting and other life style changes. You do what you can and adjust to get back on track. It’s the journey and the end result. No one’s giving me points for doing the program exactly as specified. Anne provides this as a guideline based on her knowledge & experience. I get to adjust it to work for me.

So my solution is to add a week to my training schedule. I followed the first week as prescribed but increased my measurement one half an inch to match what I was able to achieve that week. Then week 2 I should be able to corset to the originally prescribed measurement. Genius eh?

Some statistics for this journey:

Starting weight: 162 lbs / 73.5 kg / 12 stone
Height: 5 foot 5 inches / 165 cm
Starting Natural waist measurement: 30.5 inches / 77.5 cm
Starting average corseted waist measurement: 27 ½ inches – 69.8 cm

Goals for my program:

Ending weight: 138 – 140 lbs / 62.5 – 63.5 kg / 9.8 stone
Height --- well I would just like to keep my height thank you very much!
Ending Natural waist measurement: 26.5 inches / 67.3 cm
Ending corseted waist measurement: 24 inches / 61 cm

Hmm…. Are you like me? When you read that did you think ….. wow that’s a lot of change in 12 weeks! This will be cool if it works!

My “toolkit” for my waist training journey:

  • An first over-bust corset that’s good for wearing for extended periods of time, but is a little too big me to use for more than a week.
  • A silk brocade over-bust corset that is a smaller size and will work for a week or 2
  • A new under-bust design corset that is sized for wearing in the 28 – 26 inches / 71 – 66cm lacing range and will close at 25 inches / 63.5 cm
  • A second under-bust corset for use later in the program that is for the 26 – 24 inches / 66 – 61 cm waist range. This corset closes at 22 inches / 56 cm
  • Some clothing to wear underneath the corsets to keep them clean
  • A dietary plan based loosely based on a South Beach or Perricone Prescription diet base
  • An exercise program
  • Some Advil PM (more on that later!)
  • A paper journal & blog space
  • Some rewards planned for milestones
  • Some punishments for when I’m not keeping with my plan
  • A camera, a tape measure
  • A positive and exploration minded attitude

What you can do for me

I’m blogging this process because I find it fascinating and I have had lots of questions from customers who want to know more about full time corseting, figure training, body sculpting and waist training. So I hope to provide you with some “hands-on” information on how corsets work in real life.

I’m hoping that you will ask me questions via the blog. Cheer me on when I need some encouragement and pass on any experiences or information you have to offer.

Tell me what issues you’ve had with your corsets or what revelations you found in wearing them. How have they effected your life? What sites or books have you read that you would like to tell me about?

Stay tuned for my next update:

“Week 1 of Waist Training” or “How to Successfully Add a week of Training to Your Schedule because of your Uncooperative Waistline!”


Cheers –


Mair
Blue Rose Corsetry’s Corsetiere

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great idea. Trimming down and getting toned, looking great all the while. I'm looking forward to following your journey to a fabulous figure.

Zumba Michie Millard said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zumba Michie Millard said...

Hello there, I know this is an old post by now, but just wanted to know how you are doing. I have now been waist training for a month Starting weight 172lbs, 5ft 1 inch tall, 38 inch waistline. I can now corset down to 32.5. I am hoping to get further. I am now weighing 164 lbs.

Anonymous said...

Tightlacing is the practice of wearing a tightly-laced corset to achieve extreme modifications to the figure and posture and experience the sensations of a very tight corset.

http://www.corsetdeal.com/Waist-training-corset_c_36.html

waistcincherhq.com said...

I love corsets. They’re so great for posture. I do not recommend wearing them while gardening, country dancing, or anything else highly strenuous.