I will take a tall glass of Lace Me Up! Hold the Rumors please!

The eighteenth century was a time where corseting was a very normal practice that started from the time of adolecence where children were put in cinchers to get used to the idea, there adulthood was to be corseted and that was the way of life. When the nineteenth century had a very different view of the matter. Girls and Women who tight-laced were considered to be engaging in perverted and evil activities that were equally as frowned upon as masturbation, thought to cause blindness. Actresses and models were snidely accused of being called a "tight-lacer" like it was a sinister practice, and that is attracted the attention of indecent men. How did something so common, get to be so uncommon, and so weird? Misinformation down the grapevine.

This is similar to telephone, the game I am confident we have all played at least once in our adolescence, where one person starts a sentence at one end, and it usually finishes in a jumbled mess that came out nothing like it started from the other end. Bad information usually travels in a similar fashion, or should I say "bad-fashion". Like an infectious seed had been planted, and with years of nurturing, it spread and nearly suffocated an entire garden.


Rumors have doused corsets for centuries and have drowned them out of the "popular crowd" sometime after the eighteenth century because of rumors, including girls get their ribs removed to be able to fit into such a thing, you can not breath in them which has caused casualties, or the one I love among many, if you take off your corset you are going to not have any support anymore and you will flop around like a limp noodle. Well ladies and gentlemen, none of these are true. In fact, if anyone so much as tried to have a rib removed in the eighteenth century, prior to modern medicine and anesthesia, I can only imagine how that would have went, and I am sure you can picture the same.

As for my core strength, I do other regular exercise such as yoga, but even bringing in my waist I have not noticed even slightly a limp noodle feeling of a weakening core. If anything I am holding myself up while wearing my corset so it doesn't crush my girls or cut into my hip. But, regular tight lacers and waist trainers should maintain other forms of without your corset on that involves core-strengthening exercises.  And children, pre-teens, and even young teens should refrain from training until they are done growing because it is vital to build up your abdominal muscles and core-strength while you are young, hence why I don't need the support of my corset, but want it.

As homosapiens, we have what is called four "floating ribs" at the bottom of our rib cage, two on each side. These ribs are not attached to the sternum and are able to be adjusted and moved around,
slowly of course. This is the reason we are able to "train" the waist in. The ribs move in and slowly your body shifts as well as your organs, functioning normal and efficiently. This may sound unhealthy to some but I reassure you our body is made for this, the process repeats itself in one of lifes most natural form, pregnancy. Hosting a pea all the way up to sometimes a whopping 11 pound child is an even more traumatic thing for your body to endure if you think about it, and you only have a nine month count down, ouch.

As for breathing, it is true you breath differently with a corset on, but not being able to breath should never be an issue, and if it is, you are in the wrong size or wrong corset. When corseted your air intake is done in a form called accessory breathing. This form of breathing is done is shorter, more frequent breaths in the upper part of your lungs rather than long expanded breaths. Although loss of lung capacity has been documented, accessory breathing also affects pregnant women and obese individuals.

Myth Busted.

So next time someone gives you a snide look, or pukes out a rude remark, they could possibly just be a moron or they reside in a little town I like to call Jealousy-ville! But in reality, they are probably just grossly uninformed and are in need of some educating. But don't feel obligated, I very much pick
and choose who I want to share information with in a face to face fashion because a lot of the time you know right off the bat if they are interested at all in actually learning or not. So, fight the urge to win the retaliation war that was just initiated and think of this blog. Give them the "3-finger-snap" with some attitude, in your head of course, smile politely and represent your stay with a forward attitude. This will in return, activate your corset to do exactly what it is intended to do, radiate elegance in the highest of fashion, upon many other things of course...

De-bloating Tools for Corseting!

Mint: Aids in digestion by promoting the movement of food through the digestive track. Just put some in water or drink mint tea.

Calcium: Causes the body's cells to burn the fat instead of holding on to it, and is most absorbed with food's containing vitamin D, such as milk in small amounts.

Peanut Butter: Free of added sugar, small amounts like 2 tablespoons a day is great for a vigerous digestive system because of the niacin content. 

Asparagus, Cucumber, Watercress, Watermelon: All great diuretic foods, high in fiber and a lot of water, which flushes out your system of toxins held in your fat causing you to bloat.

Dandelions: Ranked top 4 for the overall most nutritious veggie, not only are they great for you the weed acts as a diuretic and releases both water and reduces gas. Eaten in a salad or made into a tea, make sure they are chemical free!

Coconut Water: Has potassium which flushes sodium from the body. Sodium retains water and causes bloating. Make sure there is no sugar added and replace your high sugar soda with it.

Avocados: Have more potassium than bananas and also are high on the good fats your body needs.

Grapes: Helps to cure a sweet tooth, usually caused by the body lacking natural sugars which we often fill with processed sugars that cause our body to swell.

Pineapple: Contains an enzyme called Bromelain which aids in digestion, great to eat after a meal.

Yogurt, Keefer, Kombucha : Look for no or low sugar content that has live and active cultures. Not only do these have major health benefits but they aid your gastrointestinal system in digestion and to absorb your food properly.

Fennel Seeds: For fast relief this is a bloat blaster, so either have as a tea or eat them directly on foods or with cereal or yogurt. The Fennel allows your muscles in your digestive track to relax and allows trapped gas to pass.

Cutting out drinks such as soda or beer will help greatly.

Avoid sweeteners at all times! Use honey or agave nectar

Too little fiber, fluids, and physical activity can cause constipation that can result in bloating.

Having Allergies to wheat and Lactose Intolerance are common factors of bloating, to find out if this is a problem for you ask your doctor it takes just a simple test.

Eating too fast can cause you to swallow air, also the more you chew your food the faster the body can break it down.

 

Drink Plenty of Water!!!

My visit with Tess Munster coming to Orchard Corset

Bored in bed one night and scrolling through the popular page on Instagram, obsessively refreshing and hoping to find some sort of inspiration in the hundreds of images I was shuffling through, I stumbled on one lovely, and inspirational women's page.

Her name.. Tess Munster: Her message.. "Eff Your Beauty Standards"

Immediately after checking out her bio, I knew I loved this girls attitude and it was exactly the kind of confidence Orchard Corset needed to present to our Big Beautiful Ladie's to kick any last stereotypes or negative thoughts floating around, poising their brain with the idea they too, can't look just as sexy in a corset as anyone else!.... When in fact, you can! This woman had one message which was determined to spread, to love yourself shamelessly, which has turned into an entire online movement today, known as #EffYourBeautyStandards. This does not just pertain to over-weight individuals but to our society as a whole. To love ourselves so we can appreciate and love one another with the same respect we have for ourselves. And what a beautiful message this is, and one with my full support. Tess was voted into the top ten Plus-Sized Models of the year by Vogue earlier this year.

Shortly after getting into contact with Tess and getting her into a couple of corsets From Orchard Corset, I was soon to be amazed. Our larger sizes started flying off the shelves and the sudden boost of confidence from our plus sized fans rang on our social media sites.

Three months later, I had the privilege of hosting Tess Munster for three whole days and showing her around the Washington Warehouse, official headquarters of Orchard Corset...

For those of you who are our loyal fans, this is where the magic happens everyday! 

On a Thursday night, I was eagerly SeaTac Airport bound to pick up Our Special Guest, Tess, which I had recently spilled to our fans hours before through our various social media sites, and boy were they talking! After months of preparation and hours making sure that for this brief visit everything went accordingly, it was finally here! As I approach the carrousel of baggage working it's way around the maze, the first thing I notice about Miss Munster is that amazing palette of reds and oranges cascading down from the top of a head that came to about nose level on me. A colorful personality began to emerge as well, learning very quickly we were both social butterflies, and we continued to fill my car with stories for the next three hours, home to Wenatchee.

Being greeted by the owner Jeff (above), Tess was welcomed to the warehouse and taken through the land of "corset heaven" as she referred to it on her Instagram. We were able to collect a ton of beautiful imagery of Tess down at our local train tracks to give an edgy-punk feel. Having never done this kind of theme, the pictures turned out great and have been getting very positive response from fellow O.C. followers. Here is the video to check out this fun photoshoot (coming soon)!

I also had the privilege of being able to Interview with Miss Munster, and find out exactly where all this personality and self-drive came from. Come to find out, Tess hosts a wonderful story, and one worth taking a few minutes to watch, here is the video. Body image issues and bullying have been a very large part of Tess Munster's life, and she has learned to direct the negative into being very positive for not only herself, but to many others that struggle with similar issues.

Orchard Corset had a fantastic visit with Tess, and it was a pleasant hosting experience for me. We hope to have her back in the future, and keep her and her fans rockin' corset's from Orchard Corset all year round!

Also got to meet Glamorous Plus-Size Model Kerosene Deluxe (pictured above on the Left) in Seattle while we were at Pike's Place Market. She was an absolute doll, and Orchard Corset will hopefully be working with her in the near future, because she looks Fantastic in a Corset!

Our travels took us to many stops in Washington State, and made quite the fun little road trip. Tess was gone, but the painful throb of my overactive cheek muscles from the permanent smile and discontinuous laugh I had for three days straight, was certainly not going anywhere, anytime soon. Tess Munster is a fabulous role model for those that are struggling with their own confidence issues and she continues to "shape" our world, loving every-BODY, one body at a time.

My Corseting Experience:

From Occasional Model to Moderate Waist Trainer

I have been wearing corsets for about 2 years now, all of which started off just modeling the products at Orchard Corset from time to time, probably once or twice a month. My initial impression was this is great my waist is going to look awesome in one of these! After having my first corset cinched up, I quickly realized this was no walk in the park garment, but a heavy duty, very durable and weighted accessory around my torso. At the time my measurements were: Overbust-36 Underbust-30 Waist-29 Upper Hip-34 and I started off in a size 24 corset. For those of you that are newer to this, this corset brought my waist 5 inches down from it’s natural size, we recommend 4-6 inches up to a size 38.. At this time, I could wear the CS-305and CS-411 very well, the CS-426 had too much hip for my curve, being a longline.

After about 6 months of wearing them once or twice a month, I was hired on at Orchard Corset and was the “Guinea Pig” for all the samples that came in and also started doing more frequent shoots for product shots. I began wearing corsets a lot more frequently than I had in the last 6 months, I would say once or twice every two weeks. I was noticing a big difference in my comfort level in a corset, and was able to wear one for longer periods of time. The more I wore them it seemed, the more I was able to cinch one down until the 24 was closed.

This took me about 6 months doing it slow, like I said I only had them on for a day or two (6 hours-ish) every two weeks I was working out some and eating good but never denying myself the sugar crave that hits occasionally. I am now in a size 22, and have been for about a year now. To tell you the truth, I am active but not going to the gym nearly as much as I used to 2 years ago and my eating is both good and bad at times, though I try and keep it on the better side. My measurements as of now are: Bust-34 Underbust-29 Waist-27 Upper Hip-34. As of the last 6 months I have been waist training 4 days a week for 4-9 hours and I can now completely shut my seasoned corsets in a size 22. (those who are beginners, a seasoned corset is one that you have broken in by wearing for short periods of time the first couple weeks to allow the corset boning to form to your figure so it does not stress or warp, we have a great blog to read if you are wondering how to do this).

For now, I choose to stay at a size 22, and I see a noticeable difference in my hourglass curve, even without the corset on which is awesome! I can rock a 426 like no one’s business now because I have lost 2 inches on my waistline and it gave me the curve I needed to fill in the hip room I lacked when I first started wearing corsets.  Before this, I could wear the CS-511 overbust being in the 24, but now with my smaller waist I have noticed pushes my girls up a little farther than I particularly like so I am defiantly one of those anxious consumers wanting the much anticipated OC overbust that will accommodate us bustier ladies (for the record I am a 34D). Also, the305 satin is not curvy enough for me, I can still wear the 305 leather because it has more give naturally but is not as comfortable on my hips anymore as the style once was.

Another thing corsets have corrected for me is my floating rib and broad rib cage I have had since birth which otherwise would not be fixable. In a sense, corsets to my ribs have been like braces are for your teeth. I often explain corsets to beginning waist trainers as such; Just like braces, it is a slow process to gradually change your figure just like straightening your teeth. You may feel sore in spots from time to time, and you need to wear your corset every so often like a retainer to keep the exactness of what you want once you reach your goal, but the results are well worth the time and patience.

My Advice:

1. BREAK YOUR CORSET IN!! I often compare the corset boning to a paperclip, because once you bend and stretch out the paper clip, it will never be the same if you try and put it in it’s original form, so breaking in your corset is VERY important, also it gets 100 times more comfortable the more you wear it and break it in properly.
2. GET YOUR CORRECT MEASUREMENTS!! Bust, Underbust, Waist (where you bend), Upper Hip, and Torso Length (from the bottom of your sternum under the breast to the top of your pelvis where you took your upper hip measurement, straight down). Corset sizing CAN NOT be guessed or known by bra size or pant size.
3. DO NOT START OUT IN A SIZE WAY TO SMALL FOR YOU! you will already bend the boning, and then you are training your body with a bent corset, and you wouldn’t want a crooked retainer on your teeth would you? If the back of your corset looks like this ( ) with your skin showing or almost showing in the middle, it is too small or you are tightening the top and bottom too much and you need to work on pulling in the middle. It should be evenly laced to bring in your waist correctly, which is the point of the corset like this ||
4. If you do not know your size…ASK!! we have so many helpful blogs, videos, and employees more than willing to share information to help. Chat with us, call, of just send an email!
5. BE PATIENT!! Your teeth don’t move with braces over night, nor will your rib cage. You do not want to harm yourself or your organs by trying to cinch to low to fast. Allow time for your body to adapt to it’s change. It will happen I promise…patience is a virtue!
6. DO NOT START OFF IN A LEVEL YOUR BODY CAN NOT HANDLE! We have tons of different styles to accommodate different body types with a great blog to compare our styles. Like I said, the 426 was too curvy for me at first until about a year of slow waist training. Work your way up the latter, so you do not get discouraged or experience unnecessary discomfort.