Corsets For My Cousin I: The Wardrobe I'm Working With

So, I have a beloved cousin who may very well be inheriting my corsets at the end of the month. I have two, a brown and a black, that don't fit me particularly well (and, given the extreme nature of my hourglass figure, never truly did), so I am going to have her try them on. Hopefully, one or both will fit her nicely.

That said, she's never had a corset before. In addition to making sure that she can lace up the garments properly, I want to make sure she knows that there are a variety of ways that one can wear them.

I'm doing a series here to help her with that.

This is the first post I'll be making in the series, to establish a palette. The black corset shown is a pretty good approximation of the black corset she will be trying on. The brown is lovely, but, unfortunately, isn't exactly what she'll be trying out; polyvore didn't have anything that looked right, and this is the closest I could find.

Everything you see here is from stores she would reasonably shop at (Claire's, Maurice's, Wal-Mart, etc.), thrift store stand-by shapes, or easily made skirt shapes like dirndls or circle skirts.

Corset Wardrobe I: Tops by bespectacledbibliophile featuring lace tops

For tops, I went with a lot of ruffles because... well, I like ruffles. Obviously, they range from very casual ruffled sweaters and t-shirts to the much more formal Victorian-esque blouse, but they all have that design element in common.

I also wanted to include two layering pieces, for which I picked a lace bolero and a black blazer. Both are simple enough that they could be adapted to many different looks and could be incorporated into a corset-less outfit with ease.

Corset Wardrobe II: Skirts by bespectacledbibliophile featuring a black shirt

For skirts, I went with mostly skirts that hit the knees. That's a "mother appropriate" concession, I admit, but I prefer my skirts knee-length or longer so it also aligns with my personal taste. Most of them are full - again, personal taste - and would flare nicely to accent the nipped-in waist that the corset gives. I also tried to make sure every one of them had something interesting to it, whether that be texture, color, print, or shape.

Corset Wardrobe III: Accessories by bespectacledbibliophile featuring floral tights

And accessories! I went with a lot of very simple things here and tried to keep things fairly neutral. Hats, hair accessories, a few pieces of jewelry, some tights that go with almost anything, shoes, and a set of earrings that offer plenty of choices and vintage charm. Personally, my wardrobe is possessed of accessory overload, but I did try to keep this to a few pieces that will match a lot of things.

Next week: outfits featuring the brown corset.