A Waist Trainer's Diary
My waist training journey, quest to find a waist trainer corset and reviews of the ones I testA Diary Of My Quest For The Ideal Waist Training Corset
You can read a bit about the background to this diary and a general rundown of waist trainers here on my main waist trainer page. The general premise however, is that I have only really made corsets previously (and taught others to make them), never corset trained. I want to have some recommendations for those who come to me without sewing skills, asking what brand of waist trainer I recommend for waist reduction. So in this corset training diary I’m going to try out various different brands and record my progress on video so you can see for yourself what the corsets look like, how they affect my body and hear what I have to say about them as I go through the process of ‘corset seasoning’ (also known as the ‘breaking in’ period) and then training my waist.
+ Plus for the duration of my first corset ‘seasoning’ (which should take ten days) I’m celebrating with a special
❣️25% OFF❣️ discount code – WAISTED25 –
which I just activated early ? use it in the SHOP for a discount on all your corset making goodies.
A Waist Trainers Diary
My first corsets from Lucy have arrived and you can follow along with my progress as I season my first corset. Also included below are photos and data about my shape and weight pre-waist training to make this study as complete as possible. Directly below are the most recent posts –
New Corset Training ‘Seasoning’ Record Sheet
I've created an updated corset seasoning record sheet after doing a fair bit of corset seasoning myself recently (check out the page A Waist Trainers Diary for my corset training videos). I put a lot of thought into this one ? It's designed to fold in...
Video 10: How To Alter A Corset Training Corset
A later than expected corset alteration video. I had some issues with the corset, I’ll go into them in the video but I discovered the waist tape wasn’t symmetrical etc.
That aside I show you everything from chalk line to new binding covered edge. So if you want to alter a corset training corset you have that’s too high at the top or too low at the bottom, I have the solution! 🙂
Video 9: Final Corset Seasoning Session Corset 1
Today I’ve been wearing my corset out again, for 5 hours! Discussing wardrobe; leggings and high waisted jeans, my final thoughts on this corset and how I plan to alter the torso length next week (yes that will be videoed!)
The Waist Trainers I’m Trailing
All will be steel boned corsets intended for serious waist training. These are my shortlisted training corsets, the first two from Lucy’s Corsetry (Timeless Trends) have arrived and you can follow along with my progress above in the dairy entries as I season my first corset – the longline slim silhouette. In the section below you’ll find my pre-corseting data and photos.
Slim Silhouette Longline Corset
$95
Lucy’s Corsetry Shop
Lucy from Lucy’s Corsetry is a friend of mine and an affiliate for my course. That disclosed I wouldn’t wear a corset advocated by a friend just for those reasons. Lucy knows her stuff and has road-tested practically every brand of corset I’ve ever heard of. She currently sells a few through her website shop so I know they’re going to be good. I’m currently eyeing up her longline underbust for $95, Timeless Trends label. It has adjustable hip ties which should help with fitting.
UPDATE: I also got this Hourglass Standard Length Corset after Lucy advised this shape for me.
L4071 Mae Corset
$229.50
What Katie Did
I’ve always wanted a What Katie Did corset and I’ve heard very good things about them so I have my eye on the L4071 Mae Corset for $229.50. I don’t have a lot of curve to my figure so I need something with narrow hips and to their credit What Katie Did’s styles all have varying measurements with a few extreme options to cater for a variation in customer body shapes. The Mae has nice narrow hips. It’s also very conical in shape so we’ll see how my ribs get on with it. If they don’t have the color you want in stock it’s 4 weeks for made to order.
RetroHistory Retro04
$298.59 or $360.36
(CA $397.91 or $480.24)
RetroFolie
RetroFolie’s made-to-measure corsets have been on my radar for a while. The over the hips Retro04 shape is exactly what I’m after and little touches like all their corsets including hand flossing along the bottom edge, show them up as a quality brand. While I could go for the Cotton Twill RetroBasic for CA$397.91($298.59 US) which is very good value for made-to-measure, I’m going to splash out and go for one of their RetroHistory Retro04 pattern matched Mucha designs for CA $480.24 ($360.36 US). Ready to ship in 5-7 weeks.
Background & Pre-Corseting Data
Below I’m gathering all my weight data and photos taken of my body shape over the years (updating with more soon) including my weight diary recordings at the time. They were all recorded for personal use, mostly taken as before photos or progress photos when trying to get in shape etc. I didn’t plan on them being part of a public waist trainer quest, so anything too revealing I’ve blurred out while trying to keep my body contours as easy to see as possible and excuse the amateur photography!
To the right is a comparison from the below images, of me at my heaviest 9st 13.2lb yesterday (info on the set of images say 10st as thats what I was that morning on the 5th, pics are taken at just gone midnight) and near my lightest recorded 8st 12.6lb just under 4 years ago.
That said you can see a fair difference in tone and body fat. I’ve neglected the gym and done no exercise for about 8 months ?
Also note the times each set of photos was taken, early morning shots on an empty stomach look thinner, that’s why I took a quick set of shots yesterday at the end of the day so you can compare with Aprils early morning ones at about the same weight. (Apologies for the Animal pants, it was gone midnight and fortuitously they turned up in the old photos below ?).
Left: 9st 13.2lb – 06 June 2017 at 00:37 AM
Right: 8st 12.6lb – 28 Sept 2013 at 11:05 PM
A Few Points To Note About This Personal Challenge/Experiment
- It’s been a while since I have worn a corset anything like regularly. I’ve always been pretty bad at sticking to anything and waist training is one of those things. Read; I’ve never properly corset trained. Ever! This will be a beginners journey.
- I’ve put on about a stone in weight in the last 6-8 months that I’d like to loose. I’ve kept a weight diary for the last couple of years as well as taking body photos intermittently throughout that time (see above). So I have some good data on how my body and shape changes as I put on and loose weight naturally without a corset.
- I’m about to turn 32 so I haven’t had teenage youth on my side for a while, I think this is probably a good time for this experiment as we tend to loose the young girl physique toward the mid/end of our twenties and I’ve tried exercise alone to recover that shape without full success.
- I’ve got a 12 year old so my body has been through pregnancy. Not a lot of people know I have a little one (not so little now). I had a completely flat stomach before pregnancy and while I was lucky and you can’t tell I’m a mum to look at it, my tummy has always been rounder than before. Again I have photos I’m going to dig up and add to the above and all this data means making a case study of myself is a great idea.
- I have A symmetry in my hips – thanks to a lifetime of carrying a heavy bag on my left hip, my right hip is much bigger (see the image below where I’m holding a tape measure round my waist to make the difference easier to spot). I’m looking forward to seeing if I can correct this & how it will affect seasoning a corset for me.
