OOTD Stealthing in animal print

Hello everyone!

This is the outfit I wore yesterday, I wanted to show off my waist so I wore an animal print blouse, and dark blue pants.

I wore a liner and my CS-426 , I love the tan color of this corset, because I don't need to wear another cami to hide it.

Since it is a long line, the sides were visible at the bottom,  so I added a belt to my outfit

Outfit Of The Day

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I post OOTD pictures twice a week :)

Part 2.5 Buying a corset / Seasoning

This is the continuation of Part 1 & Part 2 of the basics, a series that will include a list of what you'll need in order to decide if you'll be able to adapt Waist training into your lifestyle, the buying and seasoning process, and tips that may help once you are training.


On the last post I mentioned what you'll need to buy in order to start your training, as well as the difference between OTR and Custom made corsets, in today's post I am going to describe the different silhouettes ( another important selection you need to make before buying your corset) and the seasoning process which starts as soon as you try on your corset for the first time and can last up to two weeks depending on the fabric of the corset.





Different Silhouettes


2.5 Silhouette

There have been many different silhouettes since the 1800's,

I'll focus on four of the most commonly used in modern times :

Tube/ Barrel (Not curvy)

Tube/ Barrel corset

Mostly recommeded for men, or anyone who wants a corset for support, this type of corset can keep your back very straight, but it is very difficult to fit in this type of corsets if you have natural curves

Gentle Hourglass (Natural curve)


this is me! :)

This is a feminine and natural shape, and it is suitable for people with little or no training. man and women can use this type of corset, which offers better back support and a higher level of comfort.

This is a great silhouette for beginners and probably the curviest you can find OTR, the next silhouettes can only be obtained using custom made corsets.

Hourglass (Very curvy)


Hourglass

This is the look we all have seen in old Hollywood movies, this type of corset won't go unnoticed, it is very curvy and makes you look extra curvy, focusing all the attention on the
waist.

This can be a great silhouette for you if you have a naturally curvy figure, or if you are very squishy.

Wasp Waist (Extreme curve)


The amazing Fakir Musafar


This is an impressive level of reduction (and body modification), only obtainable after training intensively. This type of corset should be used by experienced corset wearers.

Even for them it is a process that took years of dedication , and many custom made corsets to get to this point.

NOTE: None of this silhouettes is better than the others, it's just a matter of purpose, fit,

and of course personal preference.

2.6 Seasoning 

Once you finally get your corset its time to try it on, the first thing we all want to do is tighten those laces and look amazing, but one must be careful not to damage the corset since it has never been worn before , (unless is a previously owned corset) and the fabric and bones need to adapt to the stress of tighlacing.

You should be able to tighten your corset just enough so you can see if it fits,but not so tight that it is almost closed, if it is, you got a size too small. 

If the gap is bigger than the modesty panel, or (in case you don't have a modesty panel) if it is as big as a sheet of paper, it is probably too small for you

History of the corset

Again this depends on personal preference, for example, my friend Claudia tried both a 24" and a 22" corset, the gap on the 24" was less than an inch, but she said she liked that one better than the 22" because it was really comfortable.

On the other hand, I recently closed my 22" and it made me feel  bad that it did not compress me, I felt as if I wasn't training anymore. So I bought a size 20" and that size is more comfortable for me.

If you are happy with the fit of the corset, it is time to start seasoning.

Erin's picture form The tighlacing society

The Seasoning process will help you, and the corset to adapt to each other. 

You'll begin to get used to the tightness slowly , and this will allow you to learn how much reduction is comfortable for you, which is usually not much at the beginning.If you try to get your corset too tight you might hurt yourself, or give up on corseting because of the discomfort caused by the sudden pressure, so it is very important that you get used to it very slowly.

It will also allow the fabrics of the corset to stretch without putting too much pressure on them, the bones will mold to your body (slightly) always keeping their intended shape thanks to the pattern. And this will extend the life of the corset.

It is reccomended that you start wearing your sorset for one to two hours , wearing it snug but not over tight.

 I ussually can fit a hand under the hip and underbust area the first day, but the waist feels compresed already.

Lucy explains in one of her videos that you can make the process a little faster if you season twice a day, for example in the morning and in the evening.  That's what I ussually do, because I am very impatient

I tighten the corset a little more after half an hour, wait two hours at most. and then take my corset off and hang it by the laces.

I repeat this a few hours before going to sleep. Seasoning a cotton corset takes about  1 week and a half using this method.

Different fabrics need different seasoning, My Mesh corset was fully seasoned in less than a week, and I started wearing it pretty tight after tree weeks now it's almost closed.

 I've heard leather gets seasoned very fast too.

There are a few things that will let you know if your corset is seasoned, as the days pass you will be able to put it on more easily, it will hold it's shape when you take it off and 

 the flare at the top and bottom will be reduced, this is a picture of my first corset when it was still not seasoned:

I tried to wear it as tight as possible (not recommended) for the picture, because I wanted to ask Lucy if it was ever going to fit.

--Poor Lucy I sent her lots of emails when I started waist training but she was always super kind and helpful! I'd probably would not have succeeded in this journey if it wasn't for her .  Thanks Lucy for  being so nice and willing to share your knowledge! :) all the community loves you--

As the days went by the corset eventually fitted, it started to lay flat against my underbust area, and as I continued to tighten it , it became almost impossible to notice it under clothes , I always stealth as some of you may know. So this was very important for me.

I hope you find this information helpful !

We are making a new fb group dedicated to waist training, so if you are interested you can find it here 

Have a nice day.

OOTD Stealthing Casual day

Hello everyone

This is a casual look that I wore a few days ago, When I wear strapless tops I wear a light sweater for work because I do not like showing my arms at the office , I wore it like it is in the pictures for the rest of the day.

That day I went to work, the supermarket and to the park, I think it looks very nice and the top highlights the waist very nicely , the corset was not very obvious and overall the look remained casual thanks to the jeans.
I also did not use any jewelry to keep it simple.

The top is actually a dress, it's almost knee length but I kept it a little bit folded at the waist and since the fabric is so thin it wasn't bulky at all.

I even got a compliment-question at work, one woman asked me about my gym routine, she said she wanted to do exactly what I do if that would help her get a smaller waist.
I explained her that I do go to the gym a few times per week, but that this waist is the result of many months doing waist training.

She asked a lot of questions and also asked me if she could touch my waist, I didn't mind any of that so I also sent her a few links so she can do her research because she wanted to buy a corset ASAP. lol

BTW I was wearing my 20" CS -426 that day.And I recently re- laced it following Lucy's tutorial,

I love the look but the inverted loops are not so great with long line corsets, I needed a lot more effort to pull the laces tight , so I changed it back to regular loops but kept the lovely chevron shape.

I did the same with my Mesh corset and I love it, on that corset I did keep the inverted loops ears and it is a lot better, the level of tension on the waist increased and now I am planning to use the same technique in my MCC-38 to see if ti helps with the bending issue it has on the back.

This is a link to Lucy's video, give it a thumbs up if you like the tutorial

Please check my other post for more OOTD and tips, and stay tuned for Part 2.5 of the basics of waist training, click here for Part 1 and Part 2 .

PART 2: The basics; Buying a Waist training appropriate corset

This is the continuation of the previous post PART 1

Now that you have decided that you can fit Waist Training into your daily routine, you can start researching brands and saving some money, because good corsets are not cheap. not even OTR.




2.- What will you need to buy?

2.1 .- One thing that you will need plenty of, is liners, you can also wear camis or tank tops underneath your corset, and this is something that you should never skip.

Forever 21

The reason for that is that you need a breathable material between the corset and your skin. This will keep the corset dry and clean, thus extending it's life, but more importantly, it will keep your skin fresh and avoid the contact with the sturdy fabric of your corset.

Corsets are meant to be very strong and for that reason, the fabric may not feel very comfortable against your skin, another issue that you might experience if you skip the liner is that some corsets do nor have a modesty panel, and the laces could hurt your skin .

ebay

Tip: I bough some spandex tops from ebay and they were very cheap, I cut two of them to make them tube tops, and left the other two as they were.

Some times I wear those tops, and other days I wear Forever 21's camis which are pretty cheap too.

2.2 The most important thing to buy is a corset, and this involves a lot of research

2.2.1 OTR (off the rack) Semi custom or Custom made.

All of these corsets are useful, the right one for You depends on what you need and what you can afford.

Tip: Underbusts are recommended for waist training, Overbusts can be used, but they will not be as comfortable and it will be a lot more difficult to find one that fits you.

Drawn by Christine Wickham
This is Lucy of course! click to see a very
important post of hers about
 how to determine fit and proportions

When money is an issue, or Waist Training can't be a priority in your budget you can look for a good OTR that fits you, if you do your research a lot and are a bit lucky you could find a corset that fits your 4 most important areas:

A) Underbust
B ) Waist
C) Ilac crest

You will also need the vertical measurement from A to C

Many sellers have a chart, and you can use that to see if a corset will be good for your body shape or not. Some other corset sellers tell you how much more inches will it have at A) and C) compared to the waist (B) but if they don't  you can always ask them .

OTR's have standard sizes, and unfortunately not everyone has standard bodies, so some people will not be able to find a right OTR for them,  in that case, semi or fully custom will be their only option.

Also, Waist trainers that expect to size down a few times before getting to their goal, can start with OTR corsets, and then move to custom once they have trained for some time, and need a more pronounced curve. Remember that when sizing down in OTR you will have less space in the Underbust and Ilac crest, and not only the waist, in this case those two measurements are what determine if the corset fits you.

There are may sizes offered in standard corsets just as shown in this beautiful painting 

In my case,  I started with a  natural 26 " sometimes 27 " waist. And my current goal is to get a 22.5" natural waist.So far I've managed to do my training using OTR corsets only .

I started using a size 22" corset, and slowly trained until closing the corset. by then my natural waist was 2" smaller. A size 24".

But no matter how many hours I wore that corset it would not help me shrink anymore, because it was completely closed, and I could not size down on that same model since it was very tight on the bottom and it would cause some muffing top.


I could have gone custom back then, but I was happy with my reduction and decided to keep using the same size corset for many months.
Just recently I decided that I wanted to pursue my original goal again, and get that 23" waist before my wedding ( 7 months from now ).

Luckily the brand I use came up with a few new corset styles, so I managed to not go custom yet.
If I ever try to get a smaller waist I 'll need a custom corset because my measurement are no longer close to the standard. For now, I think my goal is not that extreme and hopefully I'll get there in a few months

If money is not an issue, Custom made are the best bet. because they are meant to fit you perfectly.
The down side of custom made corsets is that they are expensive, and it takes much more time for the corsetier to get all of your measurements, the fabric you chose, make a pattern just for your body etc.

Cora form the lingerie addict has a great article explaining Why are corset expensive 

I must say that if I had the money I'd already be wearing custom corsets, I love my Orchard Corsets, but after almost a year training I know that this investment is worth it, and that I will definitely wear them a lot.
Besides, most people can close their first corset the fastest, and the speed of the process then slows down.

Chart by Mystic City Corsets 

The last corset is the semi custom, this is a great alternative too, since the corsetier can  alter a few important measurements such as the height of the corset, or the height of the waist, this can make a corset a lot more comfortable.
But is less personalized thus less expensive than a custom corset.

Whether you have the money or not, I'd recommend starting with an OTR (Of course if you fit into the standard sizes) which usually go between size 18" to size 34" , just so you can make sure that you will feel comfortable training daily, besides, you can close your first corset in a  few months and for me, it's hard to make a big investment if I won't wear the corset for a long time.

The 3 options are good, and depending on your natural measurements can decide which one will work better for you.

Just keep in mind that you need more than the waist measurement to decide if a corset fits you. So forget about those corsets marked in sizes S, M, L etc, that's rarely a good sing unless they provide the measurements mentioned above like  this:


 2.3 How many corsets will you need?

It's recommended to buy a couple of corsets instead of just one, so you can alternate between them, but it's OK if you decide to start with one, while you save some money to buy the second one.

After a while you will probably buy a few more ;) I have bought 5 corsets during my journey, and while I could have saved all that money to get a custom one, I do like the variety, and I know it will extend the life of my corsets as well. When you size down it's easy to sell pre-owned corsets at prices between 60- 70 % of the original price. And you can use that money to buy a new one.

I sold one of my older corsets to my friend Claudia when I sized down, and I gave the other one to my mom as a gift, she wears corsets daily as well, but she does it only for back support.
Which takes me to the last topic...

2.4 What's your purpose (Not the same as Goal) ?

Corsets are worn by both man and women, and many aren't looking for an amazing hip-spring or getting more curves, but only for the support they offer, some others do it for posture, and there are people who use real corsets for fashion.
Some people even use them to help them with medical conditions, so the purpose is a very important factor when choosing a corset.

I'll only talk about Waist training today, since that's the purpose I am more familiar with.

When using corsets for Waist training, the purpose is to get a smaller waist, in order to get that result you will need a corset 4 to 6 inches smaller than your natural waist and you can keep sizing down as you progress in your training. (remember that there are many important measurements involved, not just the waist)

Right now I am wearing a corset 6 " smaller than the waist size I started with, I could even go for a smaller size, since my natural waist is now at 24", but there is no OTR corset that works with my new measurements

To this day my measurements are:

29 "            Underbust
24"             Waist
32 "            Ilac crest
9"               Height  between Underbust and Ilac crest

Hope you find this post helpful, :)

and if you have any question you can use the comment box below :

OOTD: Stealthing at work

Hello everyone! 

Please ignore the mess behind me lol, I take this pictures very early in the morning before going to work .

This is an outfit I wore last thursday and I got a lot of compliments, well 2 compliments and a odd comment from my boyfriend (it was a compliment in his mind)

I mean odd because...
who else has been asked?  :  Aren´t you going to break (as in my upper boddy falling off due to my small waist)? lol

I take it as a joke now, but they caught me off guard the first time I heard that, it was one lady at the bank who kept staring at me , I smiled at her (because I was a bit uncomfortable ) and she immediately took the opportunity to ask me if I wasn´t going to break... hahahaha how can somebody get broken by having a small waist ?? I don´t know if the translation is correct, but I hope you get what i am trying to say ;) 

Have a nice day, and please don´t break ! 

PART 1: The basics of Waist Training

Hello!

Laura's post "What not to do when buying your first corset" was super popular, 
so I realized that many of us are just starting or wanting to start Waist Training.


I am making a list of the basics you'll need to decide whether or not you'll be able to adapt Waist training into your lifestyle, the buying and seasoning process, and tips that may help once you are training.


1.- Decide if Waist Training fits in your daily routine

If you have been reading about waist training and seen everyone's amazing results I am sure you are tempted to start your own Waist training journey, but you must consider a few things before jumping to buy a corset.

6 months Results

1.1 You need to dedicate many hours to Waist Training

The first thing you need to think about is your daily activities, imagine yourself doing everything you do in a day but with a corset on.

Corseting takes time 

For example,

If you were a personal trainer at a gym, and you'd work 5 hours at the gym and then 3 hours at the pool every morning, you would only be able to start training after those activities. (Which is not impossible, but that's 8 hours a day that you won't be able to Waist train)



But if you have an office job, and you will be sitting for 8 to 10 hours without doing any physical activity, you would be able to Waist train at work without much effort, and that's a great way to start training.



I've read that you need between 18 and 23 hours a day to see results, but that actually depends on every person.

I began training 2 to 3 hours a day the first couple of weeks, 10 hours a day the next month, and 20 to 23 hours a day the following 2 months, by then my waist was already 2" smaller, and my corset was fully closed.

I was happy with that reduction and began decreasing the training time again to 10 hours , I wore my 22" corset fully closed for about six months, and I just recently decided to size down.

1.2 Be aware that you MUST do some exercise if you are waist training

pinterest

Another important consideration is that you will need to do core exercises at least twice a week.
That's because the corset will be supporting you all day and your core muscles could get weak.

And of course doing exercise is a great way to get faster results and feel your best. (and we all should exercise to be healthy , waist training or not)


1.3 Be ready for a few diet changes

Although this is not completely necessary and some people never change their diet, there are a few things that you can avoid in order to make your training more comfortable, for example:

Sodas, Coffee, excessive fats, bread, gassy foods and everything that would cause bloating or inflammation.

This is a post from the tighlacing society with some real life examples

And just as exercise, this is something that we should be doing anyway.

Also, a  positive side effect almost everyone experiences is that you can't eat large amounts of food when waist training which is very healthy too and helps you to avoid overeating.

In my experience this has been true, I used to eat until my tummy hurt lol, but now the corset won't allow that much food and it will become slightly uncomfortable if I eat a little more than a normal sized portion of food.

So if you want to make this the right and healthy way, it will definitely be a positive lifestyle change.
Just make sure you have enough time because it requires effort, but trust me the results are worth it!

Have a great day and stay tuned for the next post : Buying a corset

OOTD: Sweet dress

Hello everyone!

This is what I wore yesterday for church, the casino, and a restaurant (very versatile clothing I'd say) a bit colorful and very nice for stealthing



My Grandma came to visit us form El Paso, so the whole family was supposed to go to Church with her and have dinner afterwards...

The only person missing at Church was my Grandma, she decided to wait for us at the Casino lol

So after Church I went to the casino to pick her up which wasn't easy! she was winning so she asked me to play one of her games for good luck and I ended up winning too.

After about half an hour we finally left and then we went to a salads restaurant to celebrate that she will stay at Chihuahua for a month.

I was wearing a CS-201 BTW.

What not to do when buying your first corset. by Laura

Hello everyone!

Today we have a Guest Writer, My Friend Laura sent me this post, I just added a few notes and pictures. For more information visit "The Basics"

.

                                   

                                      Picture by Kathy Chin for The Tightlacing society

1.- Not take enough time to research of waist training

While it is exciting to know that there is something you can use to improve your body shape without going under the knife you should take the time to inform yourself about it as with everything there would be people with promises of the dream body as long as you buy from them, waist training requires more than just put the corset on, you should know that there are different types of corsets for different needs, look for help in blogs like this, fb groups or people that have been doing this for a while, not everyone is on it for the sales and you probably  will have better answers from them .    


   

     

 2.- Not setting your goal

What are you looking for? is it getting an hourglass body shape, just correct your posture/back support, or something nice to wear, once you know exactly what you want it should be easier to look for the right one, not all corsets are made to reduce your waist some will just help your back and posture.

·                                                                           Picture from chicvintagebrides.com

  3.-Not look for reviews of the site/person you are planning to buy from

Believe it or not... they are calling this a corset 

As I mentioned before, as long as you buy from them they will tell you the corset is magic, don’t fall for the word SALE, cheap is not always better there are a lot of things to take into account so you should look for someone that is willing to help you find the right one and even work with you if after receiving it is not what you expected.

4.- Not be aware of the materials a corset is made of

Pictures from Madame Sheer ( Quality Corsets, and
many fabrics ands styles are available there)

 It is important to know that cheaper corsets are made of cheap materials, if you are only looking for an addition to your wardrobe,  plastic bones  should be no problem  since you are not wearing it for long periods (unless you are allergic to some materials of course), but if you are looking to get into waist training you might have to invest a bit more on some steel boned corset, and even after this you have to think about the fabric you want it made of and if this is the type of corset it will make you meet your goal.

5.- Not knowing how to measure yourself

        This is a video by Cheri from Orchard Corsets :

                     

6.- Not knowing that ultimately the decision of when to get a corset is yours

There is no rush to get into a corset, it takes time to achieve any type of reduction so there would be no difference if you get it today or in a month, and once you start wearing it is going to take time to seasoning it, and even after this you might want to wear it only at home for a couple of hours or maybe when your are at work,  it is all up to you so everyone gets different results, don’t feel any type of pressure when looking for your corset, there are a bunch of styles some prettier than others so make the search fun, and

 buy something it will make you happy.

I hate to say I learned about these facts after getting my first corset, so while the one I got it can help my posture since it is steel boned my main goal was to reduce my waist which I cannot accomplish with it, I bought from the first site/person  that offered me one and it was on sale (not really) so I have no option to return it and I have found that while I don’t hate the style there are a lot others I like it better, so don’t make any rush decisions, take your time and get something you will love.

OOTD: Stealthing at work

Hello everyone

This is a simple and casual outfit I wore yesterday to work, the corset was not noticeable but the waist looked very pretty.

I was wearing OC's mesh corset

OOTD : stealthing at a wedding

Hey guys I thought it would be nice to share OOTD pictures in between posts, what do you think?

Update: a few more pictures with my friends and my BF