> "However, whalehone, like plastic, adapts to the body shape > over time; and I have some old instructions about turning the bones > over when that happens."
Firstly thanks to Fran for bring this up. It's been told tiem and time again to communities where there is a negative attitude to plastic boning. In fact at one stage weren't there commercial steamers to make the baleen form into curves before the corset was even worn? And though t's been cut off, yes you need to treat the plastic as if it is baleen. SO when you look at extant 18thC corsets and see just how solidly boned they are, or when you look at 19thC corsets and the number of steel and baeleen strips used you start to get a feel for how to use the plastic without it warping too much. Even if it did happen anyway;) <<That's why I thought about combinating plastic and metal. At least for the back and the front of the corset I'd use something like spring steel and for the rest either plastic or spiral steel.>> Yes! This is what I have done for my 1880s corset. I am very curvy, not very overweight but my waist laces down very far, so the plastic is perfect for getting into the sides of the waist to produce the hourglass effect. But they do need some support in the form of the materials and fit of the corset in the first place and I also find a steel down he centre fronts and centre backs to support the lacing and create vertical tension which helps support the plastic. Michaela de Bruce _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
