On Oct 2, 2008, at 6:12 PM, Chris Laning wrote:
I also have a friend who finds that a normal 16th-century corset and fitted gown cause too much of the weight of the skirt to be carried by her hips and lower back, which she finds very painful. She does much better with something where most of the weight of the dress hangs from the shoulders (loose gowns, for instance, although she can also wear a fitted gown with a few bones but not a full corset). In her case, the medical problem is nerve damage.
If there's nerve damage, anything corset-like might end up being uncomfortable, but in general, a well-fitted 16th-century corset and farthingale take the pressure *off* of the lower back and hips. That is, if you do three things: make the corset with straps, make sure the corset fits correctly (especially that it isn't too long), and tie the farthingale to the corset. I don't have any medical issues, but I did have problems with lower back pain with my Elizabethans until I started tying my farthingale to my corset. Once you do that, the pressure of the skirts should be distributed up the torso and through the shoulders rather than falling on the hips.
The issue with corsets being cut too long is one that I find frequently, especially with larger figures. People gain weight differently, but for some, the apparent waistline drops as they get larger, and they tend to want the waistline of their corset to be where they wear the waistline of their clothing. This generally results in the waistline of the corset being too low--sometimes so low that it's sitting on the hipbones and throwing the whole fit off as well as causing lower back issues. For corsetry in general, the location of the waist should be judged by finding the bottom of the ribs and the top of the hipbones and aiming midway in between. On larger figures, this can result in an uncomfortable bulge of flesh below the bottom of the corset, and in that case try the styles that have tabs on the bottom and continue the boning of the body of the corset to the bottom of the tabs. That will dissipate the compression of the corset comfortably rather than creating a hard line that cuts into the midsection. Of course, if you're doing the longer 19th-century corsets, you don't have worry about it as long as you get the waistline in the right place.
Melanie Schuessler (who spent four years draping for an opera company) _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
