At 19:08 05/12/2006, you wrote:
Whalebone is now illegal, but the support and flexibility of the old
stuff are pretty similar to modern plastic boning.
Fran
I use spiral steel for all Victorian era corsets, with straight
steels either side the lacing holes, and a steel busk in the centre
front if required. I would never use plastic boning for this period
- where whalebone was not used, most times, as far as I know,
spiral steel was used. To my mind, no matter what size the
customer, the plastic stuff doesn't work for the period - I use it
for earlier stuff though - I don't like cable ties. My original
Victorian corsets have either whalebone or spirals.
Suzi
You can actually purchase whalebone legally from Inuit traders. This
was on a discussion list I was looking at last week. I have a bundle
of genuine corset whalebone inherited from an elderly corsetiere,
ands while it is flexible like modern plastic boning, which I like
for other periods, there is just a little more rigidity in the
whalebone - and not because it is aged and dried out.
Suzi
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