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Monday, December 23, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Overbust Straples Style
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Overbust Strapless in Clear Vinyl 
Overbust Strapless in Blue Denim 
Overbust Strapless in Black Satin 
Overbust Strapless in Black Satin with White Lace Trim 
This is a custom design overbust strapless style in blue denim with a solid oak busk. |
The Overbust Strapless Style is one of the many "traditional" corset styles. This design is a short corset, coming down to just above the hip. This corset can be altered in a great number of ways. The top front height can be altered to fit bust size. The top front can also be sculpt with a dip or a "V" cut into the middle. Or if you want different try a double diamond cut to have squared points above the bustline. The bottom of the corset can also be altered, to a point at center or perhaps straight across. Any alteration can be done. As with all Mistress Renee's corsets this corset can be made with any of the many options available. Front closure can be cross laced, zipper, hidden hook and eye, or a solid front. Back closure choices include cross laced, spiral laced, zipper, hidden hook and eye, or a solid back pannel. Lace or embroidery trim is available at an additional cost. Your choice of brass (yellow in color) or nickle (grey/silver in color) eyelets can be used for the laced designs. Corsets come with your choice of heavy duty nylon lacings in black or white. We offer a wide variety of material and color choices as well. Cotton is available in black or blue denim and unbleached medium weight canvas. Trigger, a cotton/poly blend is my favorite. It looks and feels almost identical to canvas but is easier to care for. It is colorfast, wrinkle resistant, and won't shrink like cotton. Trigger is available in black, white, royal blue, and maroon. Satin is available in black, white, cream, red, burgandy, and navy blue. I have chosen a hand washable satin so that you don't have to worry about dry cleanering. Satin brocade is available in black, white, red, and green. The satin brocade is also hand washable. Velveteen is available only in black at this time. Vinyl is available in black or white vinyl leather, and an unlined clear vinyl for those daring enough. Custom corsets can be made in just about any material and color combination. Like my motto says, "If you can dream it, I can make it". If you have an idea for a corset in a material type or color not listed above just email me with a description of the material and color and I will reply to you by email with a price quote and available materials as soon as possible. "Real" Velvet, Satin (the "dry clean only" variety), and Leather are also available at special request. |
German Underbust Style
n page.
|
TAKE ME TO THE ORDER FORM!
Back to the main page.
Overbust Strapless in Clear Vinyl
Overbust Strapless in Blue Denim
Overbust Strapless in Black Satin
Overbust Strapless in Black Satin with White Lace Trim
This is a custom design overbust strapless style in blue denim with a solid oak busk. |
The Overbust Strapless Style is one of the many "traditional" corset styles. This design is a short corset, coming down to just above the hip. This corset can be altered in a great number of ways. The top front height can be altered to fit bust size. The top front can also be sculpt with a dip or a "V" cut into the middle. Or if you want different try a double diamond cut to have squared points above the bustline. The bottom of the corset can also be altered, to a point at center or perhaps straight across. Any alteration can be done. As with all Mistress Renee's corsets this corset can be made with any of the many options available. Front closure can be cross laced, zipper, hidden hook and eye, or a solid front. Back closure choices include cross laced, spiral laced, zipper, hidden hook and eye, or a solid back pannel. Lace or embroidery trim is available at an additional cost. Your choice of brass (yellow in color) or nickle (grey/silver in color) eyelets can be used for the laced designs. Corsets come with your choice of heavy duty nylon lacings in black or white. We offer a wide variety of material and color choices as well. Cotton is available in black or blue denim and unbleached medium weight canvas. Trigger, a cotton/poly blend is my favorite. It looks and feels almost identical to canvas but is easier to care for. It is colorfast, wrinkle resistant, and won't shrink like cotton. Trigger is available in black, white, royal blue, and maroon. Satin is available in black, white, cream, red, burgandy, and navy blue. I have chosen a hand washable satin so that you don't have to worry about dry cleanering. Satin brocade is available in black, white, red, and green. The satin brocade is also hand washable. Velveteen is available only in black at this time. Vinyl is available in black or white vinyl leather, and an unlined clear vinyl for those daring enough. Custom corsets can be made in just about any material and color combination. Like my motto says, "If you can dream it, I can make it". If you have an idea for a corset in a material type or color not listed above just email me with a description of the material and color and I will reply to you by email with a price quote and available materials as soon as possible. "Real" Velvet, Satin (the "dry clean only" variety), and Leather are also available at special request. |
Mistress Rene
Current ebay Auctions
Corset Order Form
German Underbust Style
Overbust Strapless Style
Clear Vinyl Designs
Custom CorsetsMistress.Renee@eudoramail.comHave an idea? Let me make your Dream Corset. E-Mail me for information. |
Here you will find a variety of Renissance, Gothic, and Fetish style corsets and accesories. All corsets found here are quality made, custom fit corsets. Trigger, a cotton/poly blend is used as the lining material on all basic corsets. It looks and feels almost identical to canvas but is easier to care for. It is colorfast, wrinkle resistant, and won't shrink like cotton. Quarter inch german style poly boning stays are stiff enough to maintain shape yet give enough to allow you to tie your shoes while wearing your corset (and poly doesn't rust). 10 bones are used in the basic corset and this number can be altered. All corsets are hand washable in cool water and mild soap. These corsets are not "costume" corsets but sturdy long lasting corsets. Custom corsets are available priced per order as well as any alterations to the basic styles. These corsets are completely reversable, so you may chose any fabric and color I offer for the lining. I use the smallest, 1/4" eyelets in your choice of Brass or Nickel. You can even chose the color of trim used at the top of your corset. Trim accessories are also available for the custom corsets, such as ribbon, beads, pearls, embroidry, lace, or ribbon flowers. Feel free to suggest any alteration to style, design, fabric, color, and trim. ALL sizes are available. Each corset is individually made to your exact measurements. Just click on the apropriate picture or link at the left to view more information or to place your order. Be sure to check and see which corsets I currently have on auction at ebay and yahoo. If you have any questions, comments, or would just like to chat a bit please send me an email and I will get back to you. Men, please ask about my "For Men" styles and sizing. All styles are available in men's sizes as well as custom corsets designed just for you. Thank you for taking the time to view my work. Mistress Reneé --'-,-@ |
History of the Elizabethan Corset
The origins of what we nowadays call a corset are shrouded in mystery.
Noone is certain exactly where they originated from. The corset's shape
and sillouhete and even its purpose have evolved drastically over the
last 400 years.
Some people, on the evidence of one stone carving of a gargole which
exhibits boning-like vertical lines, believe that corsetry began around
1200.
Unfortunately, this evidence is singular and unrepeated by anything else
of the time period; no painting, carving, or written work contains
reference to such a garment. Until the late 15th century, all body
shaping had been accomplished by seam placement
and tight lacing, which was responsible for the monobosom effect of the
french cotehardies and renaissance gowns. At most, there was some form
of stiffening on either side of the laces to keep the seam straight.(see
picture to the right).
The first intimation of any corset-like garment first appeared at the end of the 15th century in the wide, constricting belts--a sort of "corset" in themselves--that were common in the latter half of the 15th century. These belts were worn just underneat h the bust, and were on average 4 to 6 inches wide; even allowing for artistic license, the amount of constriction they applied to the waist would necessetate some form of reinforcement or stiffening.
Two pictures in particular demonstrate the stiffness of these belts:
The picture of Mary of Burgundy in the Book of Hours by the Master of
Mary of Burgundy painted in the 1460s, where she sits reading by a large
window; and the dress of Lady Donne in
Hans Memlinc's 'Donne Triptich' painted in the late 1470s.(see picture
to the left)
Both of these women are wearing wider-than-average belts, which reach from the waist to just below the bust, and which exhibit a stiffening more than tight lacing and fashionable portraiture would account for. The latter picture also shows a woman behind Lady Donne, wearing a tightly laced cotehardie every bit as tight as the Lady's, and small wrinkles are apparent in the fabric of the dress that Lady Donne's belt lacks.
As the 15th century gave way to the sixteenth, the sillouhete and "ideal" shape began to change, both for men and for women. Rather than emphasizing the elongation of the human form, male garments began to broaden and gain in bulk to present a squarer, more massive appearance. Female garments soon began to do the same. The waistling lowered from below the bust to the natural waist, and the V-shaped neckline broadened out into a square shape. Sleeves broadened as well, becoming puffed and bell-shaped, and skirts became more massive. Bulk became more important than drape. A perfect example of this "bulky" look can be found in the famous portrait of King Henry as he stands, hands on his hips, looking more than wide enough to fill a doorway.
It is at this time that the corset, or "pair of bodies" as it is properly called, makes its first definite appearance. In a painting dated to 1495, Jeanne de Bourbon-Vendome displays a perfect example of the new emerging form which is to dominate the next century: her torso is flat and cylindrical, with only the merest suggestion of a curve at the bust; the neckline is horizontal and exceedingly broad, and both sleeves and skirt are more bulky than was popular in the previous decades.
Whether or not she's wearing a corset is open to debate. The flat, smooth torso may simply be an artist's ideal rather than an accurate description of her costume. In either case, the stiff, flat and cylindrical torso was the ideal which was pursued for most of the next 100 years. And it is to this end that the pair of bodies was used.
As the 16th century progressed, portraits and drawings of the time
exhibit a sillouhete impossible to achieve without the support of a
constricting and shaping undergarment beneath it. Holbein sketched
several pictures of women wearing substantailly stiffened bodices. (see
picture to the right). As the century progressed, more and more
portraits of women exhibited the unmistakable signs of corsetry. For a
look at a spectrum of tudor and elizabethan sillouhetes, visit the Elizebethan Costume Gallery to follow the evolution of the 16th century female form.
Soon, literary evidence became available as well; Mary Tudor has listed in her wardrobe accounts one "pair of bodies" made of crimson satin.
Unfortunately, no material evidence remains of an early 16th century corset. It is assumed that it was strapless, as the armpit-to-armpit neckline and shoulder-hugging sleeves would preclude shoulder straps. Noone knows what was used to stiffen these early pairs of bodies: glue-stiffened fabric, reeds, cane, whalebone and stiff rope are all valid possibilities. Whether or not these early corsets had tabs, square pieces of fabric spreading out at the waist to support the skirts, is also unknown.
The first real, concrete evidence of a corset is
the pair of bodies ( the period term for a corset) worn by the
Pfaltzgrafin Maria, shown in detail in
Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1560-1620 (see photo to the
left). This garment is made of two layers of cream-colored fabric, the
outer silk and the inner lining of satin, and
has channels stitched between the two layers into which reeds were
inserted. It has tabs at the waist, as well as small eyelets at the
waistline through which the farthingale, or stiffened hoop skirt, could
be fastened to the corset. It also had straps
going over the shoulder.
It has a pocket sewn down the middle front for a wooden or ivory busk
to be slipped into.
The armholes are rather far back, as are the armholes of most garments
of the time. A stiff, upright, and what modern people would call
unnaturally rigid posture was considered a mark of good breeding.
This was a german corset, and therefore cannot be considered an example of English Elizabethan fashion; nevertheless, it is the earliest surviving corset here today.
The busk which would have been slipped into the busk pocket, was a long, flat piece of ivory or wood, often elaborately carved, which helped to give a pair of bodies a rigid, smooth shape. It was often tied into place by a busc-lace to keep it from shift ing up or down. The busc-lace was considered an intimate favor, given by women to the men they loved--and is, ironically enough, the ancient ancestor of the tiny bow found on the front of many modern bras.
As the century progressed, the pair of bodies evolved. One of the most significant changes was the evolution of the waist tabs; from flat pieces of fabric sewn into the waistline, the tabs gradually acquired boning and changed into finger-like extensions of the corset itself. This accompanied--and perhaps precipitated--a lengthening of the corset busk and of the line of the bodice, so that many late 16th century women appear to have astonishingly long torsos. The neckline changed from a square shape to a more rounded one, and the straps moved farther and farther apart until they sat at the edges of the shoulders. The corset worn by the effigy of Queen Elizabeth, stiffened with reeds, had both boned tabs and a wide, scooped neck, hinting at the shape that the corset would take in the 17th century.
One picture does exist of a late period corset, painted in 1600. A
woman is painted en deshabille, with her front lacing corset showing
underneath an embroidered jacket. The stiffening looks to be reeds of
some kind. The tabs are gathered to the bottom of the corset, which is
considerably lower than that of the photo previously shown, reflecting
the increasing length of bodices which occured in the last decade of the
16th century.
During the 16th century, corsets were usually made out of linen or, in the case of nobility, silk outer layers and linen inner layers. Whalebone and reeds were the most commonly used materials for stiffening the pair of bodies. Although rarely seen, the pair of bodies wasn't always plain; Mary Tudor had a crimson pair of bodies and farthingale. The boning was slipped into channels between the two layers, which were backstitched for reinforcement. They laced at the center back or side back, through eyele ts reinforced with a button stitch.
To find pictures of 16th century Elizabethan corsets, the best resource is Nora Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. You can also look through Janet Arnold's two books Patterns of Fashion 1560 to 1620 and Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unloc k'd. For more information on Elizabethan costuming, check out the books in the Elizabethan Costume Page
Some people, on the evidence of one stone carving of a gargole which
exhibits boning-like vertical lines, believe that corsetry began around
1200.
Unfortunately, this evidence is singular and unrepeated by anything else
of the time period; no painting, carving, or written work contains
reference to such a garment. Until the late 15th century, all body
shaping had been accomplished by seam placement
and tight lacing, which was responsible for the monobosom effect of the
french cotehardies and renaissance gowns. At most, there was some form
of stiffening on either side of the laces to keep the seam straight.(see
picture to the right).
The first intimation of any corset-like garment first appeared at the end of the 15th century in the wide, constricting belts--a sort of "corset" in themselves--that were common in the latter half of the 15th century. These belts were worn just underneat h the bust, and were on average 4 to 6 inches wide; even allowing for artistic license, the amount of constriction they applied to the waist would necessetate some form of reinforcement or stiffening.
Two pictures in particular demonstrate the stiffness of these belts:
The picture of Mary of Burgundy in the Book of Hours by the Master of
Mary of Burgundy painted in the 1460s, where she sits reading by a large
window; and the dress of Lady Donne in
Hans Memlinc's 'Donne Triptich' painted in the late 1470s.(see picture
to the left)
Both of these women are wearing wider-than-average belts, which reach from the waist to just below the bust, and which exhibit a stiffening more than tight lacing and fashionable portraiture would account for. The latter picture also shows a woman behind Lady Donne, wearing a tightly laced cotehardie every bit as tight as the Lady's, and small wrinkles are apparent in the fabric of the dress that Lady Donne's belt lacks.
As the 15th century gave way to the sixteenth, the sillouhete and "ideal" shape began to change, both for men and for women. Rather than emphasizing the elongation of the human form, male garments began to broaden and gain in bulk to present a squarer, more massive appearance. Female garments soon began to do the same. The waistling lowered from below the bust to the natural waist, and the V-shaped neckline broadened out into a square shape. Sleeves broadened as well, becoming puffed and bell-shaped, and skirts became more massive. Bulk became more important than drape. A perfect example of this "bulky" look can be found in the famous portrait of King Henry as he stands, hands on his hips, looking more than wide enough to fill a doorway.
It is at this time that the corset, or "pair of bodies" as it is properly called, makes its first definite appearance. In a painting dated to 1495, Jeanne de Bourbon-Vendome displays a perfect example of the new emerging form which is to dominate the next century: her torso is flat and cylindrical, with only the merest suggestion of a curve at the bust; the neckline is horizontal and exceedingly broad, and both sleeves and skirt are more bulky than was popular in the previous decades.
Whether or not she's wearing a corset is open to debate. The flat, smooth torso may simply be an artist's ideal rather than an accurate description of her costume. In either case, the stiff, flat and cylindrical torso was the ideal which was pursued for most of the next 100 years. And it is to this end that the pair of bodies was used.
As the 16th century progressed, portraits and drawings of the time
exhibit a sillouhete impossible to achieve without the support of a
constricting and shaping undergarment beneath it. Holbein sketched
several pictures of women wearing substantailly stiffened bodices. (see
picture to the right). As the century progressed, more and more
portraits of women exhibited the unmistakable signs of corsetry. For a
look at a spectrum of tudor and elizabethan sillouhetes, visit the Elizebethan Costume Gallery to follow the evolution of the 16th century female form.
Soon, literary evidence became available as well; Mary Tudor has listed in her wardrobe accounts one "pair of bodies" made of crimson satin.
Unfortunately, no material evidence remains of an early 16th century corset. It is assumed that it was strapless, as the armpit-to-armpit neckline and shoulder-hugging sleeves would preclude shoulder straps. Noone knows what was used to stiffen these early pairs of bodies: glue-stiffened fabric, reeds, cane, whalebone and stiff rope are all valid possibilities. Whether or not these early corsets had tabs, square pieces of fabric spreading out at the waist to support the skirts, is also unknown.
The first real, concrete evidence of a corset is
the pair of bodies ( the period term for a corset) worn by the
Pfaltzgrafin Maria, shown in detail in
Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1560-1620 (see photo to the
left). This garment is made of two layers of cream-colored fabric, the
outer silk and the inner lining of satin, and
has channels stitched between the two layers into which reeds were
inserted. It has tabs at the waist, as well as small eyelets at the
waistline through which the farthingale, or stiffened hoop skirt, could
be fastened to the corset. It also had straps
going over the shoulder.
It has a pocket sewn down the middle front for a wooden or ivory busk
to be slipped into.
The armholes are rather far back, as are the armholes of most garments
of the time. A stiff, upright, and what modern people would call
unnaturally rigid posture was considered a mark of good breeding.
This was a german corset, and therefore cannot be considered an example of English Elizabethan fashion; nevertheless, it is the earliest surviving corset here today.
The busk which would have been slipped into the busk pocket, was a long, flat piece of ivory or wood, often elaborately carved, which helped to give a pair of bodies a rigid, smooth shape. It was often tied into place by a busc-lace to keep it from shift ing up or down. The busc-lace was considered an intimate favor, given by women to the men they loved--and is, ironically enough, the ancient ancestor of the tiny bow found on the front of many modern bras.
As the century progressed, the pair of bodies evolved. One of the most significant changes was the evolution of the waist tabs; from flat pieces of fabric sewn into the waistline, the tabs gradually acquired boning and changed into finger-like extensions of the corset itself. This accompanied--and perhaps precipitated--a lengthening of the corset busk and of the line of the bodice, so that many late 16th century women appear to have astonishingly long torsos. The neckline changed from a square shape to a more rounded one, and the straps moved farther and farther apart until they sat at the edges of the shoulders. The corset worn by the effigy of Queen Elizabeth, stiffened with reeds, had both boned tabs and a wide, scooped neck, hinting at the shape that the corset would take in the 17th century.
One picture does exist of a late period corset, painted in 1600. A
woman is painted en deshabille, with her front lacing corset showing
underneath an embroidered jacket. The stiffening looks to be reeds of
some kind. The tabs are gathered to the bottom of the corset, which is
considerably lower than that of the photo previously shown, reflecting
the increasing length of bodices which occured in the last decade of the
16th century.
During the 16th century, corsets were usually made out of linen or, in the case of nobility, silk outer layers and linen inner layers. Whalebone and reeds were the most commonly used materials for stiffening the pair of bodies. Although rarely seen, the pair of bodies wasn't always plain; Mary Tudor had a crimson pair of bodies and farthingale. The boning was slipped into channels between the two layers, which were backstitched for reinforcement. They laced at the center back or side back, through eyele ts reinforced with a button stitch.
To find pictures of 16th century Elizabethan corsets, the best resource is Nora Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines. You can also look through Janet Arnold's two books Patterns of Fashion 1560 to 1620 and Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unloc k'd. For more information on Elizabethan costuming, check out the books in the Elizabethan Costume Page
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