About a month ago I jumped down a rabbit hole following a lead I'd come across on the internet. The premise was that the old fashioned undergarment worn for centuries by ladies in the western world could reduce fibromyalgia symptoms. I'm not a doctor, I'm not selling corsets, I'm just sharing my experiences thus far. I dove into the experiment right away because who in our position doesn't dream of relief, not from a capsule or expensive recurring visits to (insert Masseuse, Acupuncturist, Counselor, Naturopath, Physical Therapist.. the list goes on and on). Honestly, I've tried all those things to no avail. My only relief has been from the advice of excellent medical doctors and if you haven't found one that understands the condition and treats you with respect, keep looking. (And before you start your own corset experiment, check with your doctor first. There are a number of medical conditions that could be adversely affected by wearing one, such as high blood pressure, respiratory illnesses and osteoporosis for example).
Anyways back to Corsets <3
Right away when you start searching corsets on the internet you find "Lucy" from Lucy's Corsetry. She's the most prolific of the YouTube advisors out there and she speaks from personal experience gathered over time. She's so genuine and enthusiastic in her championing of corsets in the modern era that you can quite quickly find a video about any question you might have on the topic.
Next if you're like me you dig into the history of corsets. "Corset, A Cultural History" by Valerie Steele was the best I have found and it was available at my public library. It had chapters on subjects related to corsetry that I in my noobishness was totally unaware of and already I've found it helpful when talking to the rabid haters that seem to fly off the handle without any personal knowledge or experience on the subject.
I think the original web article that lead me down the rabbit hole was about Sarah A. Chrisman, a woman who's shared her personal biography as it relates to corsetry in the book "Victorian Secrets, What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself". This book was an e-read from my library and I found it invaluable in my first days, when I was breaking in my first corset which I wore on the outside of my clothing. If you choose to go that route or like Sarah, to wear period clothing, be prepared for a lot of attention, some of it positive and some of it negative and even creepy.
Once I'd gathered enough information I set out to buy my first corset. I ended up picking Orchard Corset and Timeless Trends. Two well regarded "off the rack", affordable corset vendors in the corset world. When you buy corsets you need to be prepared that not all corsets fit all women. They are sized by waist dimension of the garment, loosely based on your waist measurements. Each vendor recommended the same size and basic shape corset for me but both ended up being too large because I'm apparently very squishy :)
My second corset attempt from Orchard was a winner on fit. My second attempt from Timeless Trends still didn't fit at all and I realized for my body, Orchard was hands down the right one. I can't really comment on the Timeless Trends products since I didn't wear them other than to say they seemed a bit more delicate and ornamental. Orchard has amazing customer service and they've created an extensive corset use guide you can find by searching Orchard Corset 101 Tutorials on the internet. Their content really seems unmatched by other vendors both "off the rack" and custom made.
So that's the start of the experiment for me. On my next blog I'll talk about actually wearing a corset, and how it relates to my fibromyalgia and life in general.
Anyways back to Corsets <3
Right away when you start searching corsets on the internet you find "Lucy" from Lucy's Corsetry. She's the most prolific of the YouTube advisors out there and she speaks from personal experience gathered over time. She's so genuine and enthusiastic in her championing of corsets in the modern era that you can quite quickly find a video about any question you might have on the topic.
Next if you're like me you dig into the history of corsets. "Corset, A Cultural History" by Valerie Steele was the best I have found and it was available at my public library. It had chapters on subjects related to corsetry that I in my noobishness was totally unaware of and already I've found it helpful when talking to the rabid haters that seem to fly off the handle without any personal knowledge or experience on the subject.
I think the original web article that lead me down the rabbit hole was about Sarah A. Chrisman, a woman who's shared her personal biography as it relates to corsetry in the book "Victorian Secrets, What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself". This book was an e-read from my library and I found it invaluable in my first days, when I was breaking in my first corset which I wore on the outside of my clothing. If you choose to go that route or like Sarah, to wear period clothing, be prepared for a lot of attention, some of it positive and some of it negative and even creepy.
Once I'd gathered enough information I set out to buy my first corset. I ended up picking Orchard Corset and Timeless Trends. Two well regarded "off the rack", affordable corset vendors in the corset world. When you buy corsets you need to be prepared that not all corsets fit all women. They are sized by waist dimension of the garment, loosely based on your waist measurements. Each vendor recommended the same size and basic shape corset for me but both ended up being too large because I'm apparently very squishy :)
My second corset attempt from Orchard was a winner on fit. My second attempt from Timeless Trends still didn't fit at all and I realized for my body, Orchard was hands down the right one. I can't really comment on the Timeless Trends products since I didn't wear them other than to say they seemed a bit more delicate and ornamental. Orchard has amazing customer service and they've created an extensive corset use guide you can find by searching Orchard Corset 101 Tutorials on the internet. Their content really seems unmatched by other vendors both "off the rack" and custom made.
So that's the start of the experiment for me. On my next blog I'll talk about actually wearing a corset, and how it relates to my fibromyalgia and life in general.