I corseted the whole female cast of an opera a few years ago and none
of them had trouble singing.
Sylvia
On Jan 29, 2009, at 11:56 AM, Suzi Clarke wrote:
At 18:37 29/01/2009, you wrote:
Hi,
I have a very special question. My singing teacher asked me to sew
a corset for her - she wants it as an undergarment for concerts,
to make her look, I guess, more "beautiful". She is a size 18-20.
She would like a corset similar to the 1880s styles, but it
doesn't have to be too complicated. But a proper corset with metal
bones and front busk fastening and lacing etc.
The point is, she needs to take a deep breath in the corset (when
she breathes, her bust circumference increases up to 8cm more).
And I have NO IDEA how that's going to work, because corsets are
usually the same size or a bit smaller than your bust (and,
certainly, your waist). The stupid thing is she has to breathe in
the belly as well as in the upper ribcage (ehm, my knowledge of
anatomy in English is poor, I don't know how's that king of
breathing called. Simply means she will increase her bust as well
as waist circumference when taking a deep breath.)
Does any of you have some experience with corsets for singers? Or
any ideas of where to search for information? I thought making one
panel in the corset of some elastic, but that would definitely
loose the sense of wearing a corset.
But I think this must be possible to solve somehow, don't tell me
19th century singers wore no corsets...
I also thought of trying an existing corset on her so that she can
try out how she can sing, but I have no corsets in such a large
size:-(
Thanks for help,
Zuzana
Jean Hunnisett worked at Glyndebourne, a major operatic centre in
England, and said some singers were happy to wear corsets, and some
hated them. Your teacher is starting from a positive position, as
she wants a corset. I have also worked with singers who wanted to
wear corsets, and I found that making them in the normal way is
perfectly satisfactory. Most opera singers breathe "below" and
"above" where a corset fits, in my experience. I have also sung
myself in a corset, and have had no problems.
The corset dated 1878, in "Period Costumes for Stage and Screen
1800-19??" by Jean Hunnisett, is a really nice corset - you just
have to check the length as it sometimes comes up short.
HTH
Suzi
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