Orchard Corset; Underbust – A Review

Tags

corset, orchard corset, size 26 corset, underbust corset

Just two months ago, I took the plunge and purchased a corset. I had had an overbust from a Renaissance festival about three years ago, but as you can imagine, while my breasts grew, it no longer fit.

Breast growth is not good for overbust corsets that barely fit in the first place. Oops!

Orchard Corset
“Our mission at Orchard Corset is to combine quality products with superior customer service. Ralph, Peggy, Jeff and Leanna along with their dedicated staff are devoted to making your shopping experience at Orchard Corset enjoyable, easy and safe. With over 3,000 corsets in stock and a One Year Guarantee on all of our Authentic Corsets…why shop anywhere else?”

Average total order satisfaction: 9.29 out of 10

 Average total customer service satisfaction: 9.63 out of 10

Stats Taken from OrchardCorset.com

Also purchased and reviewed by FussyBusty

I took the plunge and ordered an underbust corset. I was not looking forward to running into the same problem that I did with that very expensive overbust corset from the Renaissance festival. While I’m certainly not done growing in terms of hips and the way my body develops, the most extreme part would be my best. And I highly doubt that anything that could fit my bust would fit my waist. But I digress.

After..not much deliberation because I discovered my torso length is quite short and similar to another blog who had luck with this model, I purchased the CS-411, size 26, in white to improve the chance of it matching with most of my wardrobe as I intended and often have worn it as outerwear.

For more information on length of a corset, check out this video.

Image Courtesy of OrchardCorset.com

This gorgeous OC underbust corset is made with rich high shine satin and matching trim. The CS-411 is designed to dramatically shape the waist and to instantly give an enhanced hourglass shape. The 411 has the same curve as the 426, but is shorter and doesn’t require as much curve in the hip as the 426 does to fit well. As with all Supreme Authentic CS corsets, this style is made from high quality materials including high strength, high shine satin, steel front busks and double spiral steel boning. The corset is lined in 100% cotton which provides durability and support, and protects the exterior fabric.

16 Flat & Spiral Steel Bones	*Rigid Front Steel Busk Closure
*Average Torso Length	*Waist Tape Reinforcement
*10″ Front / 10.5″ Back / 8.5″ Side	*High Strength, High Shine Premium Satin
*Level 2/3 Silhouette (Enhanced-Extreme Curves)	*High Strength Laces
*5″ Back Modesty Panel (Lacing Guard)	*All Metal Grommets
*No Garter Tabs	*Bi-directional Lacing

As you can see, this corset is gold! Or, not really but it surely is the most expensive piece of clothing that I own. I’m not an expensive gal, though. At only $73USD with free shipping within the US, I was a fool not to grab it when I had the money to.

Now, to clear up any confusion, a corset is sized based on the circumference of the inner part when fully closed and laced. This means that if I ever get to the point where it’s fully closed, my waist will be 26″ even if throwing a measuring tape around the waist won’t show that.

“So if you have a 31 inch waist, we would recommend that you purchase a size 26. A size 26 will have a 26″ waist when fully laced shut. The bottom edge will measure aobut 8-9 inches larger than the waist, and the underbust is about 4 inches larger when laced shut.” For further information on that, check out this video.  And for more corset sizing information, you can read here!

With my waist hovering between 30″-31″, a size 26 was perfect for me. Though, because the underbust is four inches larger, making it 30″, I can fully lace the top of it and could do with it being smaller, but that’s no biggie! It didn’t affect the look of the corset in the slightest, in my opinion.

I ordered my corset on the 2nd of December and received it two days later on the fourth. I had been looking outside with bated breath all that day for our mailman was a substitute who was often too lazy to get out of his truck, so wrote slips instead. I would not wait another day to get my beautiful corset! So when I did receive it, I tore open the box!

Look at that pretty wrapping!

The first thing I wanted to do was open it up and throw it on! Though, I needed photos for my blog. So I whipped out my trusty phone with a so-so camera and captured the beauty. The corset comes fully laced and ready to wear! Only..you have to loosen it first because if you can get the corset right on fully laced..you should have probably gotten a smaller size.

Never have I seen a thing so beautiful in front of my eyes! Want to know the first thing I did after getting these photos taken? I put it on of course! With the help of my trusty corset tier–my younger sister who had been tying me in that Renaissance corset for years.

12/04/13

See that gaping? Yeah, it’s normal. Of course, this corset isn’t fully tightened as they don’t recommend fully tightening a lace at first for the damage it can do. So of course, for the past month I have been “seasoning” it–wearing it for a short period of time at first before progressing to longer amount of times. Though, a day after receiving the corset, my sister and I both came to the conclusion that the nylon laces that this corset comes with are far too painful to tie with and quite long when tied. So I ordered myself 5yd white satin ribbons and following this video to figure out how to lace the thing and now consider myself a pro at it.

And so, as you scroll down, glance at the dates of the corset and notice how it’s both affected my figure and fits better.

12/05/13

12/08/13

12/10/13

12/13/13

12/14/13

12/18/13

12/27/13

There are countless ways that I can wear this corset that it makes me so happy everytime I put it on because I can’t wait to get out in it! My problem though is because my waist is natural inches larger than it is in the corset, many of the shirts that I wear that fit without the corset, hang over my frame. Thankfully, the universe gave me belts!

And with the most recent results from the corset!

As I’m sure you can see, throughout the past month that I’ve had the corset, my shape has really been affected by how tight I can now lace it. I estimate my waist now down to just under 28″ when it usually hovers between 30-31″, so that’s nearly a 3″ reduction! I don’t even require much more and I’m happy with this shape as is.

There’s nothing about this corset that I don’t like, other than my inability to wear it for a long time and I estimate that I’m only able to bear wearing it for about 3 hours tops. But there’ll be more on that in another post.

I most certainly think that corsets should come back in style, because even though the amount of looks I’ve gotten when wearing one over my clothing are bordering on bothersome, I could never not wear one because of it. I do adore the aesthetically pleasing shape that I achieve with the corset and it boosts my corset so often, that I’m glad I invested in one from Orchard Corset.