If you have ever bought a corset and wondered just how the hell your supposed to lace it all up or have a corset and wonder why it wont pull in properly then this article may just help. Recently a T Girl friend had to help me into a new corset dress - it just never occurred to me that someone may not be au-fait with how a corset needs to be laced or applied in order to make it and you look good. Getting the lacing RIGHT......... The first thing you need to know is how to lace a corset properly. So starting with the corset fully unlaced and in two seperate halves here we go.... Apply the lace in a loop through the top holes of the corset. This loop goes from outside to inside. See the picture above right. Leave the corset halves quite far part at first to make sure you can get it on later. The lace should be of equal lenght for each side of the corset. Now the laces are run side to side with the lace always going in the holes from outside, see the picture at the left above. Its vital that each lace runs in the same order. So for example on the picture top right you can see the lace running in the left direction is ALWAYS over the lace running the other way. This is essential otherwisethe corset wont tighten properly when you try and put it on.   Check out the Corset Curves Article HERE for lovely corsets And loads of pics of Mel in her slinkiest ever dress   At the corsets mid-point ( ie the holes which are centre ) each lace comes out of its hole and returns to a hole on the same side of the corset leaving a loop behind. I have put the loop on the picture top left against a white paper so you can clearly see how the loop is made. The size of the actual loop will normally be larger on most corsets and in fact will normally be 18" at least. Theres a reason for this as youll see later. After the loop is made the lacing continues for the lower half as per the top - again its essential that the lacing follows the same under/over pattern as the top of the corset. The final lacing can either be with the lace ends tied together as per the top left pic OR the lace can be terminated by simply tying the end of a lace into a knot as per the top right picture. On the top right you are vieweing the inside face of the corset. The lace comes in from outside and has a simple knot tied in to stop it pulling back through the hole. Dont worry the knot wont create any problems against you when the corset is on. Which style you choose is your own choice but traditionally corsets use the top right style of finishing. Getting it ON......... With the corset laced quite loosely wrap it around you and do up the front using the hooks or whatever its closure method is. Most traditional style corsets will have a stiffened front with steel buttons and receiving hooks. The corsets seating on you will depend very much on your body shape ad the corsets style but generally they should sit just above the hips at the side. Getting it TIGHT......... Now if your working solo feel behind you for those loops at the midway point. When you know how to do this its a lot easier than you may think. Grasp the loops and pull each sides loops ( which is a pair of laces equally ). You wil feel the corset tighten now around you. Once there is no slack then feel for just the bottom laces from the loops and pull again. There should be still some slack that will allow this. Now using the loops that come from the top half of the corset pull in again. Work at this until there is no more slack or the corset is as tight as you want. To finish off if your very dextrous you can tie the remaining cord from the loops into a bow at the back - this is where a helper comes in handy OR you can simply run the laces around you and tie at the front this is why the loops should be left very long. Check out the pictures below for this. Corset Dresses. Corset dresses and some long line corsets require multiple groups of laces. My Vollers corset dress for instance has two lace groups at the back. When faced with this style of corset ALWAYS work the bottom most laces firts before starting on the top. This will make sure that any fat spots will be forced upwards and compressed under the top part of the corset. Thats about it - as always I hope the article is of use to girls out there. Back to features Index HERE