How to: Lace a Corset Properly

A corset is a necessity in any femme’s closet (unless you don’t have or want one, of course), and you always want to make sure that your corset is laced correctly. You wouldn’t want all the other corset connoisseurs laughing at you behind your back, right? Right.

“Proper” corset lacing increases the ability to tighten the corset, which is essential if you are wanting to attain any sort of waist reduction with your corset, though that is not always the aim of corset wearing. It also allows the two sides of the corset to close fully, unlike shoe-like lacing which requires the lacing to go in between the panels. Plus, though this is personal preference, I believe it looks better.

As a corset snob, I will say that lacing a corset this way is only (barely) a necessity for what are snobbishly referred to as “real” corsets, that is, those with multiple layers of fabric and steel boning, heavy corsets made for giving you that “real” corset feeling (yes, I am also into breath play). I’ll also say I own quite a few “real” corsets, and I also own quite a few corsets which are not “real” corsets so I also have nothing against corsets which are not “real” (part of the reason for the quotes, of course).

That said, on to the instructions!

Lacing a corset isn’t quite the same as one would lace a boot or a shoe, while that is done various ways it usually is the same motion over and over: coming out the top of the grommet and then going up through the bottom of the next one across, and so on.

Step 1: To lace a corset you want to start the same way you would start lacing a shoe, either going up through the bottom of the first two grommets or going down through the top (in a corset’s case the two grommets at the top of each section of the corset). Whether you go up through the grommets or down through the grommets depends on personal preference. Personally I like to go up from the bottom of the grommets and then even out my lace. Like so (yes, the corset is pink and red, I thought it would be the best of my corsets to show the black laces on contrast-wise):

Step 2: You want to go down through the top of the next two grommets, creating an X on the outside of the corset that overlaps itself and doesn’t go between the corset sections. Then you do the opposite, go up through the bottom of the next two grommets in line, creating an X on the inside of the corset that overlaps itself and doesn’t go between the corset sections.

Step 3: Continue in this pattern, making outside X’s and inside X’s, until you reach the waist of the corset. If you have worn the corset before this is where it may have slight creases in the boning where your hips are. If you do not have a crease like this, such as if the corset does not go over your hips, then choose the middle of the corset to stop. If you look in the image below you can see a slight crease where the boning turns up slightly very near to the grommet which I have stopped at.

Step 4a: There are two different ways to proceed. You can make a simple loop by simply taking and going down from the top through the next two grommets in line with where the lace comes out (as opposed to crossing it over). This makes the loop rather easily. The loop will be where you tighten the corset from once it’s on, rather than pulling at the top or bottom of the corset. This allows the top and bottom to be tightened independently of each other which also gives more control to the person tightening the corset and eases any corset tightening you may try to do yourself (though having someone help you is always preferable).

Step 4b:The second way to make the loop is slightly more complicated, though it is the method I personally prefer. This method gives the lacer much more control over the tightness of the lace and, I believe, allows one to tighten the corset much further than they would be able to before. This method is especially for those of you who like to tighten your corset quite a bit, and attain a large waist-reduction. However, this is not mandatory by any means and if you prefer to skip it go continue from step 6.

To make the loop via this method you first have to go up from the bottom of the opposite holes two down from where your lace is coming out, making an inside X like so:

Step 5: Now you go down from the top on the same side where the lace is coming from, through the two grommets above where the lace is coming out in order to make the loop. Because of the way the laces cross themselves this adds an extra bit of power to the ability to tightlace.

Here’s another look at this second method of making the loop, with one of the laces dotted for ease of explanation, pointing the way the lace went through the grommets.

Step 6: Continue as above the loop, making inside and outside X’s until you get to the end.

Step 7: Tie a binder’s knot at the ends of the laces such as below:

Step 8: Pull the laces from the loop and tie off to store, or open up wider than needed to put on and lace up the back using the loop!

There is nothing wrong with lacing a corset another way, of course, and my use of “properly” is meant to be a bit facetious. This is how I lace my own corsets, because I believe it looks the best and is the easiest to pull tight with the loop. I highly encourage you to at very least try out this way to lace a corset as well as other ways and find which is best for you.

-Scarlet Lotus Sexgeek

Other posts by Scarlet Lotus St. Syr

• Guest Post: My Femme Role Model - August 26th, 2010
• Remember to Breathe - June 23rd, 2010
• Dear The Femme's Guide - August 22nd, 2009
• Review: Hard Love & How to Fuck in High Heels - August 21st, 2009
• Interviewees needed for Butch/Femme Identity Study - July 8th, 2009

Technorati Tags: clothing, corsets, femme clothing

Tags: clothing, corsets, femme clothing