If you want to know more about what it’s like to wear a steel-boned corset and how best to secure them, this post aims to talk you through what you need to know when it comes to wearing a traditional steel-boned corset. We provide tips and guidance on why they’re a desirable clothing item for crossdressers, plus how to wear a steel-boned corset safely.
What Does a Steel-Boned Corset Do and How to Wear One?
Wearing a corset safely
A corset is designed to cinch your waist area and sculpt you above and below. Do not attempt to radically cinch your hips or ribcage otherwise you may damage yourself or the corset. Always tighten the laces gradually and bear in mind that corsets should always be ‘worn-in’ over the first 5-10 wearings to ensure safety first and to allow the garment to shape itself slowly to your form. Men, in particular, must take care not to over-cinch in the early stages otherwise, they may cause damage to themselves or the corset.
How to put on a corset
As a starting point, all our corsets come fully-laced so, so there is minimal effort required to wear your garment. To put on your corset, begin by loosening the laces at the back of the corset. Next, unhook the busk at the front and then wrap the corset around your waist/torso, re-hooking the busk in the front center. Start to tighten the laces from the top first followed by the bottom, taking up the excess lace into the loops in the center of the corset.
Once the corset is partially cinched, stretch the arms in the air and wriggle your torso to settle the garment about your torso before attempting the final cinching. Also, take care not to cinch too much at a time; take your time, resting at intervals and ensure you gently tighten evenly and accurately. The end result of lacing the corset should be evenly laced all the way up and down. This will both aid comfort and prolong the life of the stays.
Once you are ‘snugly’ cinched (as opposed to ‘tightly’) you can then tie-off the loops of lace at the waist in a normal shoestring-style knot. This can be done at the rear or the side and the loops may be wrapped around the torso prior to tying off if you wish.
Do not make sudden movements in your corset. Remember, you are constricted by the steel boning and can cause discomfort to yourself if you move too suddenly.
What Are The Benefits of Wearing a Steel-Boned Corset?
The main reason crossdressers want to wear a corset is due to their waist-cinching ability. By lacing up nice and snugly in either a waist cincher, underbust corset or full body corset, you’ll notice an immediate reduction in your waistline, but you can also work to reduce your waistline over time. This is also sometimes referred to as corset training. It gives you that nipped-in waist and curvature which is more in-line with a woman’s physique. In fact, many women also partake in corset training to reduce their waistline. Corsets are versatile too, with the option to wear them under or over your clothes. For example, a nicely fitting corset will give you a fabulous curvier silhouette underneath your favorite LBD (little black dress), or a waist cincher worn over the top of a crisp white shirt scream sophistication and style. The best thing to do is experiment with a variety of different outfits to see what you prefer.
Can You Sleep in a Waist Trainer or Steel-Boned Corset?
We are not medical professionals, so we recommend that in order to get a definitive answer you contact your doctor. We wouldn’t recommend sleeping in a waist trainer or steel-boned corset as aside from it likely being uncomfortable, it may cause things like acid reflux, so please always seek medical advice before attempting to sleep in waist training garments of any style.
If you still need help tightening your corset watch our informational video on our Youtube channel on How to Lace Yourself Into Your Crossdressing Corset.