Week 6; ill...

This was the third week in which I'm feeling poorly so I decided to hang the corset and just slouch on the couch. This is rather impossible to do comfortably while wearing a corset as this keeps you upright and straight. Especially with my halfbust! So I skipped quite a few days this week. And with the setback of last week I didn't know what to expect from my measurements when I put on my corset again this morning for the first time in, what is for me, quite a while.

My natural waist was now 92 cm and my corsetted waist again 83 cm. That is a decrease of one cm on my natural waist.

Because the first month of waisstraining is behind me, I've made a compilation of my progress with pictures below. You can also admire this in the video; click here.

Start Week 5: comparing types of boning

I have to apologize for posting this message so late. I've filmed it on time, but as I was feeling poorly for three weeks now, it took a while before I took the time to edit and post is. But now I have, so here comes my report of last week!

Overall I've been a good girl and only skipped wearing the corset for a couple of days. 

This week I read an article about the benefits of artificial whaleboning and how this succesfully creates an authentic Victorian corsetshape where steel boning fails to do so. This article contained an example by my favourite costume historian Luca Costiglio: Click here for the film by Bowes Museum. So needless to say, I was immediately convinced and ordered 50 metres of it from England for my bridal corset and other experiments.

As it arrived I felt inspired to do some comparing with different types of boning. In this film I compared:

• plastic boning (1 cm) with steel boning (1 cm), 
• plastic boning (0,7 mm) with steel boning (0,5 cm),
• artificial whalebone (white) with plastic boning of the same width but transparent,
• actual whalebone to all the others mentioned above.  
• Oh, and rigilene, but never mind that!

In the end the steel boning is of course more rigid than the flexible plastic ones, however it needs to be said that the 0,7 mm plastic boning does not kink! 

The strength of the whalebone is balanced between the slightly more flexible narrow artificial whalebone and the plastic 0,7 mm bone which is slightly less flexible. I forgot to compare it to the spiral boning, but I think the stiffness is similar to that. 

This made me decide to make 2 mockups of my bridal corset; one with artificial whalebone and one with the 0,7 mm plastic bone, if I can find it... Maybe mixed with the spiral boning. 

Unfortunately my waist was back to square one... I had measured my natural waist that morning; 93 cm, and that evening my corsetted waist came down to 83 cm. Back to where I started; bummer! I think it might be some weird monthly thing having something to do with the cycle of my body. But we'll see. Still many months to go, one down. 

Click here for the video. 

Week 4: Dealing with the monthly cycle

This has been such a strange (and long) week for me.

Let me start at the beginning. One of the things that I really love about the corset is that I don't eat as much candy as I normally would. Not wearing a corset, I usually eat all day through, just because I'm bored or tired or something. But when I'm wearing a corset, I become aware of the fact that I'm not at all hungry much quicker than without.
There's this one evening in which I hadn't eaten anything after dinner and I felt really proud of myself! Even the next morning I still felt thin so I intended to wear the corset much tighter that day. However, during the course of the morning I didn't feel that great in my tighter corset and as I climbed upstairs to my room, I seriously got out of breath. One staircase! And I was just panting away and trying to support my upper body... I knew what was wrong, so I loosened my laces back to a comfy tightness, but I was baffled by the concept that I could loose my breath in a too tight corset! I don't think I would have feinted though, but still. It was a weird experience.

One day I skipped wearing my corset. One became two days and I knew that the third successive day would be the first day of my menstrual cycle. I've laced before and quickly experienced that the pains in my belly get a lot worse while wearing a corset, so in the end I didn't wear my corset for 3 successive day. This was also the day on which I should report my blog, so I postponed that, and my bloggingday alltogether, for 2 days so there would be something to measure again. I must say that halfway the third day I really missed the embrace of my corset as I walked...

Now my fiancee told me this amazing story from one of his students. She's really old and had been lacing since she was 10 years old. What she told him about wearing corsets (and some other facts from her mother's and grandmother's experiences) I've never come across before. I guess nobody has ever bothered to write this information down before, apparently, but to me it is invaluable. So here it is; She was told to stop lacing her corset 2 days before her monthly cycle for a total of 5 days. Unless if you were tightlacing and hadn't reached your desired stable figure yet. In that case you should stop lacing for 3 days; after your first day of menstruation, you could start lacing again.
So as of now, that's what I intend to do!
She also told him that it somehow regulated her cycle. When she stopped wearing her corset alltogether, her cycle became chaotic and had to find a new rythm of it's own. I hope that will work for me as well, but then again, I'm not lacing from the age of 10...

When I my corset back on yesterday I experienced the same thing I had discovered the other time when I had skipped lacing; how incredibly easy is was to lace myself very tight again! Effortlessly. How remarkable is that?!?

When lacing this morning my natural waist was 90 cm again (but what can you expect after 3 days not lacing and my body keeping in all this water because of my cycle) and my corsetted waist... wait for it... 81 cm!!!!!! It's finally decreasing!

Click here to view my vlog: week 4.

Week 3: Progress!

After two weeks of lacing I've finally discovered some measurable difference!!!
The measurements might have been a little bit compromised as I measured my natural waist in the morning but my corsetted waist at night.
I didn't have time in the morning to film for my vlog so I only took the one measurement. My corset probably got a little looser over the course of the day, so my corsetted measurements might not be as accurate as I would want it, being measured before I took it off at the end of the day...

This past week I've skipped wearing my corset for 1,5 days, but to compensate for that, I've laced in real tight for a ball. I was surprised how easy this was! In my first week there was definitely some resistance while lacing myself in, but now I could just lace myself tight with very little effort.
In line with this discovery is the experience of my upper body slimming down. The upper part of the corset feels almost loose now and I notice no fat anymore on my ribcage :D
My belly has also noticeably moved down. It's sitting in a whole new place now. I hope this will get lost as well as my appetite is now contained by the corset.

My natural waist is now 89 cm (a steady decrease!). My corsetted waist was 83 cm yet again, but this measurement might be slightly off...
And I'm contemplating on seriously improving my vlogging skills :P Any tips?

1. better sound
2. ...

For my vlogpost of this week, click here.

Week 2

This past week I've worn my corset every day but one, when I was a bit under the weather.

During this week I've noticed that the fat on my back has moved elsewhere and my waist feels slightly more elegant without it. So I like that result of my first corseted week!

My measurements however are not so noticeably different from my starting measurements... 

My natural waist is 90 cm (one down) and my corseted waist is 83 cm (again). 

Last week I've been lacing snug and comfortable, but this week I'm going to pull the laces a little tighter. 

Check my videoblog entry for this week here