Hi, I have a very special question. My singing teacher asked me to sew a corset for her - she wants it as an undergarment for concerts, to make her look, I guess, more "beautiful". She is a size 18-20. She would like a corset similar to the 1880s styles, but it doesn't have to be too complicated. But a proper corset with metal bones and front busk fastening and lacing etc.
The point is, she needs to take a deep breath in the corset (when she breathes, her bust circumference increases up to 8cm more). And I have NO IDEA how that's going to work, because corsets are usually the same size or a bit smaller than your bust (and, certainly, your waist). The stupid thing is she has to breathe in the belly as well as in the upper ribcage (ehm, my knowledge of anatomy in English is poor, I don't know how's that king of breathing called. Simply means she will increase her bust as well as waist circumference when taking a deep breath.) Does any of you have some experience with corsets for singers? Or any ideas of where to search for information? I thought making one panel in the corset of some elastic, but that would definitely loose the sense of wearing a corset. But I think this must be possible to solve somehow, don't tell me 19th century singers wore no corsets... I also thought of trying an existing corset on her so that she can try out how she can sing, but I have no corsets in such a large size:-( Thanks for help, Zuzana _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume