NEW WEB SITE

Our new web site is just about ready to launch. It's ready to view and a good page to start on is our "Tips & Tricks" page. We're really excited about the look and functionality of this new web site that should be fully functional as of January 10th. The site will sell our corset making supplies and you can see our products there now - even the new busks! You can also create your account so that later - you just sign in and don't have to fill in all the info. Check it out!

Asymetrical corset

Michelle is modeling an a-symetrical corset made from scraps of red and black fabric that were layered. The corset is an over bust on one side only, the right side is an under bust but she's not "exposed" as she's wearing a black bra.

Definitely not for the shy or conservative.

Aboriginal Inspired Corset and Hat

Gina had the perfect poise for this outfit of red waist cincher with glass beading detail that matched the beading on the dress. The outfit was made and designed by Jeff Chief and the stunning hat was made by Thea Crawford. Jeff lives in Saskatchewan and Thea lives on the east coast but that didn't hamper their collaboration.

Corset made from ties

Karen Merriam modeled a corset made from vintage wool and ties made by Norma LaChance of Winnipeg for the Creativ Fesitvals Corset Fashion Show - produced by Farthingales.

This corset was flawlessly finished inside and out - the vintage ties created a great retro look.

Wife and husband in amazing corsets

Wendy Bendle and Stephen Bendle grace the runway in corsets both were designed and made by Wendy.
Wendy's corset is made from black organza ribbons woven to each panel of her corset. Shephens is black pleather with silver button detail and an embroidered celtic knot that was designed by Wendy and machined freehand.

Black and white leather

Melanie Farrar Jackson is the designer, maker and model of this unique corset inspired by 18th century shape and 21st century materials. Her look was completed by a black leather pleated skirt, white patent boots and gloves made by Tami MacDonald

Is it a corset or is it a suit jacket?

It's BOTH!

This suit was modeled by Terri during the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show but the incredible design and expert construction was all done by Jennie Wonnacott.  The jacket has corset details built right in complete with boning and back lacing!  It had a matching skirt and a custom made hat by Helen Flower

Edwardian Corset w a modern twist

Mary Logan completed this corset just days before the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show. The shape is Edwardian but Mary's creativity was seeking more experssion so she appliqued a complete scene. There's water, rain...created by sequins, a light house, mountains and a tree in the foreground - the branches reaching for the sky and creating a full canopy of leaves of ruched silk  over the chest area. The pink and gold shot silk background makes for a beautiful sunset feel.

Drgonfly corset

The dragonfly and the black latice work is hand made bobbin lace made by Cindy Rusak. Cindy made the corset for her daughter but it's being modeled here by Kathi during the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show. It's a complete outfit with floor length shot taffeta skirt but I've zoomed in on the corset for the incredible details

The Red and Black Fairy COMPLETE and on the Runway

Sharon Gasgarian and her niece Megan Gashgarian collaborated on this work of art worn by Sharon's daughter Sonia.

One a truly incredible line-up this corset has wings and panniers. The wings were the work of Megan Gashgarian and they inspired alot "How'd she do that?"

You'll be able to see more pics of this outfit on http://www.flickr.com/photos/farthingaleslacorsetshop/

Embroidered silk corset by Melanie

Melanie is just one of many corset maker/model involved in the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show at the CreativFestival last week.

She embroidered the front panels of this hot, hot pink corset before she cut them. The embroidered images mirror eachother and are beautifully embellished with heat set crystals.
Photos of the show can be seen at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/farthingaleslacorsetshop/
We'll be adding more pics so check this link again.

Steel Corset

This welded steel corset was made by Heather Ruthig and modeled by her in Farthingales Corset Fashion Show on October 22nd.

Heather drafted the pattern, cut and welded the steel and added leather detailing. She painted some of the steel with a black laquer and coated the rest with a clear finish.

The corset is lined with suede and the back is two leather panels that get laced just like any other corset.

Corset with Aboriginal Inspired Beading

 Jeff Chief of Saskatoon created this corset and dress ensemble that was featured during the recent Corset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival in Toronto.
The simple black dress has a coutil collar trimmed with glass beads that Jeff attached one by one to create the classic motiff.

The corset is a single layer of coutil that Jeff dyed to deep red. He's added glass beads to severl of the bone casings so that the corset co-ordinates with the dress. The outfit was completed with a stylized top hat made by Thea Crawford from organza that was made into several feathers.

Photos of the complete look will be posted in the near future

Behind the scenes at the Corset Fashion Show

 The Corsset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival took place on Friday. There were over 20 of us prepping in the hotel before - getting hair and make-up done and getting dressed into our first looks.

Who needs alchohol when you get that many women in one hotel room - then we got on the elevator with one poor or ....very lucky man.

Corset Fashion Show is THIS Friday

The Creativ Festival  starts Friday, October 22nd and runs through Sunday the 24th. Linda will be teaching corset making all day tomorrow. Setting up for the show on Thursday and THEN...it's the CORSET FASHION SHOW

The Corset Fashion Show will feature 30 corset in and incredible mix of styles and material. There will also be corsets on display at booth #838 all weekend - the display will change each day. The dress rehearsal was this past Sunday and it went smoothly - no dressing challenges despite so many corsets.

The show will be video taped and posted to Youtube, likely next week.

Tickets to get into the Creativ Festival give you admission to the fashion show to!

Farthingales Corset Supply on TV

Tomorrow Linda of Farthingales will be featured during "Morning Live" in a brief segment at 8:20 a.m.
She'll talk about corset making and the upcoming Corset Fashion Show.

If you don't get CHCH TV or miss the 8:20 a.m. segment you can catch it any time later in the day athttp://www.chchnews.ca/  just scroll down the page of "recent news".

Black and Red Corset with fairy/butterfly wings

 Sharon Gashgarian has been on an incredible journey...of the corset making kind. A sketch for her corset is in one of my earlies blog posts.

Here you can see where Sharon has pinned her many fabrics to a dressform to get a visual for what she plans to build. I work very much the same way and ironcially I chose the same colour pallet for my corset contribution to the Creativ Festivals "Corset Fashion Show".

In this photo the corset has been sewn together and teh wings attached. The corset is not yet finished.

Sharon created the fabric from tiny bits that she sandwiched between two layers of water soluble webbing. This has created a very organic shading and patterning.

The white cages you can see at the hip is a creative version of an historic pannier.

I can't wait to see this corset on the runway.

There will be a videographer and two photographers at the show so I'll be posting pics from the show here on my blog and the video will end up on YouTube

New Look for Farthingales

We built the Farthingales web site 10 years ago and it's been rennovated many times since but now it's time to rebuild. The image on the left is one of our corsets during a photo shoot with Photographer Rebekah Boyle while I was in L.A. I've always loved this group of images so it will be the cover page of our new site due to launch in January 2011. 

It's obiously one of my favorites since it's also the image for my blog :-)

What is a Waist Cincher?

I get asked "What is the difference between a corset and a waist cincher?"              A waist cincher is a corset - but it does not cover the chest area. The focus of a waist cincher is just to cinch in the waist, the blue corset is a short waist cincher and the bronze one is a long line waist cincher. Waist cinchers can be underwear but they make great fashion accessories and are alot easier to make...because you don't have to fit the bust. Rye and Ginger kits offers waist cincher kits. ryeandgingerkits.com

sew be it studio

This past weekend found me teaching an amazing group of teen's how to make a corset the quick n easy way using Rye and Ginger Corset Kits corset kits. We met at 10 on Saturday morning and one of the girls finished around 4, the others weren't far behind. We faced a few delays but weren't far off our targeted finish time.

The girls chose basic black and basic white waist cincher corsets and plan to add embelishments later - but before the Corset Fashion Show - they'll be modeling their work during Farthingales Corset Fashion Show on Friday October 22nd, at the Creativ Festival

Press Release

PRESS RELEASE


Corsets From Stratford to Toronto

September 23, 2010


The Creativ Festival; one of North America’s largest sewing and crafting events, will be the venue for a very unique fashion show and exhibit: “Corsets – Fabulous Fashion Accessories” in Toronto. The subject matter is unique in it’s self but what makes this show very special is the fact that every one from the corset makers to the models are volunteers and some have never made a corset before! Over 20 people have worked both independently and together to create works of art that happen to be corsets – but not underwear. Most of these people are from the Stratford area but some are from London and Brantford and a few are from outside of Ontario.



Rita Gramsch of the Creativ Festival and Linda Sparks of Farthingales began discussion about this project shortly after last years Festival. By March of 2010 Linda was connecting with people to see if there would be enough interest to develop the corset fashion show idea and remarkably almost everyone who signed on is still with the project. Linda is the owner of Farthingales and Farthingales L.A. both of which focus on corset making supplies and corsets, but she didn’t want to design or build all the corsets. She wanted to see fresh approaches and was willing to coach anyone who needed help, though she’s found little coaching on her part has been needed as people are helping each other out. Linda comments: “It’s been a remarkable experience to see all these corsets come to life. Many of the corset makers are artists in their own rite so they’ve brought skills to the table that I don’t have and they’ve brought fresh perspective as to what a corset can be.” “No one has all the skills that this team of women & men (yes we have two) posses as a group and that’s what will make this show very one of kind. Each member of the group designed the corsets they wanted to make and they talked about their designs with me so I was sure no two projects would be similar and none are. I then advised on construction, if they needed or wanted support or I teamed them up with someone else who had the skills they didn’t.”



The diversity of interpretations of what a corset can be is exceptional because so many people are involved. There will be a fairly classic Victorian corset and petticoat look but you’ll also see corsets that appear to be knit, covered in bobbin lace (the lace is being hand made as this is written), made from hand woven fabric designed specifically piece by piece for the corset, and one will even be made from welded steel by the woman who will model it. “It’s a lot of work to organize a show of this size, we’ll have over 30 corsets on the runway and there are over 20 corset makers but it has hardly seemed like work because everyone is excited about what they’re doing and that excitement is contagious and motivating.” says Linda who is overseeing every aspect of the show. So what does she hope to gain from producing this event? “I hope that people will see corsets in a new light – let go of old perceptions of underwear and sex and see corsets as a fashion accessory and an art form. I also hope it will inspire people to sew, this show just might give young people something to aspire to since we’ll have simple corsets on the runway and incredible corsets out there to.” “I also think we representing the “Canadian Way” as this process has been the “anti-project-runway” approach, no one is competing everyone is offering ideas and construction advice when someone indicates they need help. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with a team approach,”



The Corset Fashion Show will be held at 1:00 Friday, October 22nd at the Metro Toronto Convention Center during the Creativ Festival. Some corsets will be on display during the 3 day event at booth 838. www.creativfestival.ca



Can’t get to the show? Follow it here on the blog http://farthingalescorsetblog.blogspot.com OR pick-up a copy of “A Needle Pulling Thread” a Canadian needle arts magazine where one corset’s progress is being followed in a 3 part article. http://www.aneedlepullingthread.com/





Linda Sparks

Farthingales

286 Monteith Ave.

Stratford, Ontario

N5A 2P8

PHONE: 519-275-2374

Fax: 519-275-2376

E-MAIL: Linda@farthingalesLA.com

Little Black Corset - take 3

Who says a corset can't be professional? It all depends on how you wear it. Come see many ways to wear a corset during the Corset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival on October 22, 2010

Little Black Corset

A little black corset is a great accessory to update your wardrobe and you can make your own. http://www.ryeandgingerkits.com/

Imagination

Imagination....a classic little black waist cincher corset can be worn with a t.shirt and jeans....or something a little different.  The little black corset - as versatile as "the little black dress" 

Inspiration

Inspiration can come from many places. Karen Merriam loved the jacket and skirt in this Vogue Pattern and as she thought about the outfit she developed the idea of a corset that would complete the look - not quite the typical 3rd piece but a great idea.

All pieces are well underway and she's still got time to decide on a blouse or turtleneck.

This elegant and unique outfit can be seen at the Corset Fashion Show during the  the Creativ Festival, October 22nd

Side Opening Corset

Karen Merriam isn't just making a corset for the Corset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival - she's making a whole suit! Jacket, skirt and corset. As a proffesional tailor Karen has lots of sewing experience but it's been awhile since she made a corset. She's used a commercial pattern for her corset but made some major modifications to it. Typically a busk goes down center front and lacing is at center back. Karen as opted to place the lacing as a design element down the left side of her corset and put the busk in the back. It means she'll be able to get into the corset with some assistance but won't have to lace it up as the lacing can be left in - it will need to be loosened to get into and out of it but not unlaced and re-laced.

To see this corset come to the Corset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival October 22nd at the Toronto MetroConvention Center

Corset with wings

Sketch for one of the corset entries for the Corset Fashion Show to be held during the Creativ Festival on Friday, October 22nd at 1:30.

This corset incorporates many things, a spoon busk, painting and WINGS.

Sketch and corset by Sharon Gashgarian

Diamond Busk

The DIAMOND Busk

Farthingales is considering investing in diamond busks - the same great quality as our regular busks but with with a rhinestone well secured in each knob. These are for the fashion corset, at twice the price of a regular busk you won'twant to hide these. We expect to have some in stock by mid  November

Don't know what your looking at? These are the bound tabs at the bottom of an 18th century corset.  See the rest of the corset; made of black silk with heavily jet beaded front, at the Creativ Festival the weekend of October 22-24th. At the Toronto Metro Convention Center

An asymetrical corset

I'm making a corset for the Corset Fashion Show as well and I wanted to do something different. At first I considered and underbust lace corset with exposed bones - german plastic ones that had been dyed RED! I collected scraps of  fabric in in red and black because I wanted a very "organic" look. The more I played with the fabrics the more my vision changed and it has evolved away from a lace corset with red bones - though I may still try that - if I have time.                                                                               The pattern has morphed from an underbust to a partial over bust corset - or "Asymetrical" corset. Pictured here is just the mock-up. The actual corset is now almost finished, I've used several pieces of the black and red scraps and so that none of the panels are the same, I've made a hidden busk and am now adding beads to add just the faintest bit of glitter here and there. The corset will be paired with a black and red tulle skirt.              

To see this corset "in the flesh" come to the Creativ Festival in Toronto. The Corset Fashion Show is on Friday October 22nd, and this corset with several others will be on display all weekend.                                                                             

Black Beaded Corset

JoAnne Zeegers has opted for a classic elegant look using an 18th Century corset pattern but making it in black silk with stunning black jet beading. The whole front panel is beaded and while Joanne did not do the beading herself working with beaded fabrics provides it's own challenges. This period corset pattern will look nothing like a period costume as the fabrics she's chosen create an elegant and sophisticated look. Joanne has every intention of wearing her corset for a special occaision...her  birthday in February - a very special number that is not 29 :-)

Joanne's corset will be on display at the Farthingales Booth during the Creativ Festival in Toronto the weekend of Oct 22-24th, 2010.

Corset Making Tip

There are many ways to make a corset and inumerable types or styles of corsets. A detail that had totally slipped my mind has been incorporated by Joan Scheerer. She stitched her two layers of coutil together - (note: this is vintage coutil) and as you can see in the photo she then heavily machine stitched a section above the one bone casing. This area will be under the arm when the corset is complete. The stitching ads support to the corset under the arm but keeps the bone away from the arm pit. If you're shorter than average in the torso you'll know how uncomfortable it can be to have a bone digging into your underarm!  This is a great tip!

Joan's corset will be a simple coutil Victorian shaped corset and she'll be modelling it at the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show during the Creativ Festival in Toronto on October 22, 2010 at 1:00

Corseted Ladies Suit

A buisness suit with the corset built right in! Jennie Wonnacott designed and is creating this vintage inspired suit for model Terri Dans whose short hair and glasses create an incredible professional look.                                                                                            The suit jacket is boned and features lacing up the back just like a corset, visible bone casings have been included as a design feature and the herring bone weave panels are beautifully cut to meet.      The photo is of the mock-up stage "Yes, there will be sleeves." 
The skirt is also spectacular with several panels creating a flared hem and some of the panels are bias cut.  

This is a great example of what a corset can be when we think outside the box.

You can see the finished version of this corset suit jacket at the Corset Fashion Show on Friday October 22nd at 1:00 during the Creativ Festival

Hot Pink Silk and Machine Embroidery Inspires Corset

Hot pink silk duoppioni with machine embroidery in briiliant blue, green, red and white is the starting point for one of  Melanie Farrar Jacksons 3 corsets. The little bags hold Swarofski  crystals that will be hot fused on once the corset is complete. Melanie has made corsets in the past and is excited about building 3 new ones despite a tight schedule.        She's also working on a leather corset - not basic black but white leather with black patent.            The variety of corsets being creatied for the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show is amazing!  Come see the show during the Creativ Festival October 22, 2010 at 1:00. About 10 corsets will be on display for the weekend but there will over 30 on stage.

Corset as Works of Art

Kathi Posliff isn't just making one corset for the Farthingales Corset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival; she's making two! And never one to settle for the ordinary Kathi is creating her own fabric for the second one to. What you can see here are the tabs for her blue 18th Century Corset.              The stomacher of this corset is stunning and it reminded me of sun setting over the ocean. Even for those who  have no interest  in corsets will want to see Kathi's corsets as they are "Art".    

Hand woven fabric Corset

Kathi Posliff is participating in the Corset Fashion Show in October. She's never made a corset before but with guidance from fellow team members she's well on her way despite having decided to create her own fabric!

The sample at left is a small portion of her fabric. I'm not showing any more for two reasons:

Kathi's progress is being published in the Canadian publication of "A Needle Pulling Thread" magazine and to really do the garment justice you have to see it! So come out to the Corser Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival on October 22nd at 1:00
Kathi will be modeling this corset and another and this one will likely be on display at the Farthingales booth across from the runway at the Creativ Festival.

Corset Fashion Show background details

Sara Brzozowski is the first to finish her corset for the October Corset Fashion Show at the Creativ Festival! She chose to make a waist cincher from black silk satin and an Asian inspired cotton print. To continue the "fan" motif from the side panels into the black silk panels at the front and back she cut fans from her printed fabric. She fused the fabric with "wonder under", made sure the fans she cut followed the pattern, confirmede their placement and fused them into place. She experimented with gold stitcing and opted against idea as the fans stood out so well in contrast to the black.

To see the completed corset and find out if Sara added any further decoration to her corset come to the Creativ Festival in Toronto on October 22nd. Fashion show starts at 1:00 corsets will be on display at the Farthingales booth all weekend....though Sara may be wearing hers!

Corset Mock-up

For those who don't know what a mock-up is - it's a test garment. You cut your pattern out of inexpensive fabric to test the fit and design lines. This photo is of a corset mock-up for Sharon Gashgarian's corset entry for the Corset Fashion Show that will take place in Toronto on October 22, 2010. This mock-up is on a stand but will be fit to the models body, it's made from muslin. The actual corset will  have wings and be painted.

Corset for the runway

There will be over 30 corsets on the runway at the Corset Fashion show at 1:00 on Friday October 22nd during the Creativ Festival in Toronto.

This sketch illustrates the idea Sharon Gashgarian plans to execute for her daughter to model. The corset will have detachable wings painted by Sharon's neice. While the wings will create a costume fairy effect the corset will be remarkable even without them. To see the final and complete look come to the Creativ Festival http://www.csnf.com/

By Sharon Gashgarian

The corset fashion show will take place at the Toronto Metro Convention Center on October 22nd 2010 during the Creativ Festival. While Farthingales is producing the show there are about 32 women involved and a couple of men to! Everyone has submitted sketches or descriptions which means everyone who originally signed up is still on board which is pretty incredible for a volunteer project.

Kathi is the first one I've got some photos from; as a fiber artist with no corset building experience she's focusing on the fabric. She's creating two corsets for the corset fashion show. One corset is being featured in A Needle Pulling Thread magazine in a three part series - check out the August Issue for the first installment.

Several fabrics cut into bits and pinned securley between two layers of net.

The second corset Kathi is working on will be built from the same corset pattern - a modern take on an 18th century corset. She's taken several fabrics, cut them into bits and with decorative machine stitching anchorded them between two layers of open net. This one of kind fabric is only being used as a detail; it's being combined with other purchased fabric.

There will be over 30 corsets on the runway during the corset fashion show and many will be on display for the balance of the weekend. So mark you calendar and book a day off work Friday October 22nd this is a show worth seeing.

Corset Fashion Show

Farthingales is producing a Corset Fashion Show for the Creativ Festival, October 22nd 2010. Follow the link to find out more about this event and the many aspects of the Creativ Festival - you won't want to miss it.

This is going to be an amazing show with 30+ corsets made by over 20 people. Everyone has designed and created a unique one of kind corset. Over the next few weeks some of these corsets will be posted here on the Farthingales Corset Blog. None of the corsets are finished yet but we'll be posting pictures of the sketches and fabrics that are now in production.

This project is awesome in that it's a team project. The women involved are not competeing but supporting the process - right down to shoe swaping to make the outfits complete! We actually had a "Cinderella" situation....who ever fit the shoe got to wear the corset!

Check back each week to see more as we close the gap to October 22nd!
Look for the ribbon dress that's actually a corset, the steel corset - welded not sewn! The corset that's knit but still creates great shape, the lace corset with red bones and many more. 

You can follow the progress of one team in the Canadian magazine "A Needle Pulling Thread"
http://www.aneedlepullingthread.com/

Over Bust corset making class

Farthingales L.A. is hosting a two day over-bust corset class at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, Illinois this coming August!

Two full days it tight to learn all there is about corset making but you will learn alot. Most people don't finish the corset in class but at least they have a pattern that fits them and they know how to complete the corset.

If you really want to know how to fit an over bust corset and put one together this is a good choice. Note: white coutil is used and there is limited to no opportunity to embellish it in class. This is all about learning the processes.

Follow the link for more details

Corset Class - waist cincher

Farthingales L.A will be hosting a one day Waist Cincher Class at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, Illinois this August.

This is a great way to start corset making especially if you're new to sewing but even if you're not. This class is based on Rye & Ginger Kits waist cinchers to make it a fun and easy class that results in a great fashion accessory AND learning the basics of corset construction.

In the past we've had people come from as far as Washington state, Vogue Fabrics can connect you with hotels in the area and the shopping experience at the flag shop can be amazing - you'll get a discount card when you

"A Needle Pulling Thread"

This is a great Canadian needlework magazine that features many project ideas with instructions. The editor has invited us to chronicle some aspects of our pending Corset Fashion Show to be held at the Creativ Festival in Toronto, Friday, October 22.

I've started the article already as the first deadline is in June. I'll be writing about the developement of one corset - from the sketch to the run way. The corset for the article will be an 18th Century style that's being created for contemporary fashion. I believe the artivcle will be in the August edition of "A Needle Pulling Thread".

Corset Bones at Discount Prices

Vogue Fabrics the US distributor for Farthingales Corset Supplies now offers discounts on several products based on small volume purchasing.

For example:
Light spring steels (white bones) now have a discount of 20% for orders of 50 bones or more (on one size).
This offer is for item #28-8106-series, the  typical 1/4" wide white bone found at many US sources and not sold through our Canadian location.

Corset Making Class

The next Corset Class taught by Linda Sparks of Farthingales will be held October 20th at the Creativ Festival in Toronto. The information should be on their web site soon.

You can sign-up for their e-mail news letter by following the link provided here. http://www.csnf.com/f10_index.html

The class is just one day! And will be based on a pre-cut corset kit similar but not the same as those found on http://www.ryeandgingerkits.com/

Farthingales at the Creativ Festival

Farthingales will not only be taking part in the fashion show during the Creativ Festival but there will also be a booth to display the corsets after the fashion show for the balance of the weekend. This festival opens the opportunity for each corset maker to work with other creative women, create her own look and incorporate other needle arts than just machine sewing. The organizer of the Creativ Festival said this project epitomizes what the Creativ Festival is all about.

The Fashion show will take place on Friday October 22nd, time to be announced. Day admission to the Creativ Festival is $15.00 for Adults, $12.00 for Seniors and $4.00 for students/youth. The Farthingale's booth will be located within view of the fashion show -- including our booth displaying the corsets from the fashion show. 

We are excited to be showcasing a variety of corsets that will represent different types of corset making!

Corset Fashion Show

Creativ Festival

That’s no spelling mistake it truly is “creative” without the “e” and the “Creativ Festival” used to be known as the Creative Sewing Festival. http://www.creativfestival.ca/
This is Farthingales big event…in fact it’s more than just big because this year we’re exhibiting, Linda’s teaching a one day corset making class and she’s producing what will be a fashion show like no other! A corset fashion show, that’s not about lingerie.

So what’s so interesting about this corset fashion show? How do I explain it….perhaps “corset consortium” sums it up. A group of women and a few good men are joining together to create corsets and model them. I presented the idea of a corset fashion show to some people I know and ended up with 24 volunteers. Ages range from teens to…well somewhere above my 49 . We’ve got novice sewers and professional sewers and everything in between and we’ve got mentors for those who want them. We’ve got models and back stage management, make-up artists and photographers, jewelry makers and fabric painter and a whole load of enthusiasm. Many of the models will be modeling corsets they designed and built themselves and we have no doubt you’ll see some garment you love because every one is developing their own idea of what a corset can be and bringing their own art to project. I don’t want to let any secrets out of the bag but some of the ideas have even had me in awe and I’ve seen a lot of different corsets! What I can say is you’ll see bridal, evening, historic, fantasy and some amazing needle work details.

The show will be held on Friday, October 22nd during the Creativ Festival at the Metro Convention Center in Toronto. The fashion show is free with admission to the Creativ Festival and if you can’t get there for the show you can still see some of the corsets on display at our booth #838.

Come discover what corsets can really be, they’re so much more than “old underwear”!