Regina, what you’re doing at the theater is very different from what the Victorians did and from what modern day 24/7 tight lacers do. The only thing the two situations have in common is that both are using corsets. It doesn’t matter that your using a replica. You’re using it wrong. Though I totally understand why. I think it’s okay to use it “wrong” for special occasions, even if it does cause discomfort/pain (and apparently all those health problems!?).

For tight lacing, first you need a corset made specifically for your body. Then you need to take it slowly. If it hurts or is uncomfortable, it’s too tight. If you can’t breath right, it’s too tight. And if it’s causing health problems, it’s definitely too tight. There’s more to it than that, but I would have to write a book, so this is just the general gist of it. There’s a method to tight lacing to avoid the discomfort and apparently the health problems you’re experiencing too. Which is the reason why it’s supposed to be worn every day. Wearing it every day, when worn correctly, AVOIDS the problems that people who only wear it occasionally and too tightly experience. It doesn’t make things worse like you implied. And this isn’t something that modern day tight lacers have just made up. It’s been in practice for years and is what the Victorians did too.

What your doing on the other hand, is taking a corset that wasn’t made to your measurements and lacing it down too much right away. Which is okay in this circumstance because you need to create a certain look right away. Let say, for example, you’re going down 7 inches within a few minutes. I can see how that can be a shock on your body. But it can take the tight lacer a year or more to go down that much, and that’s with a proper fitting corset too. Within that time, the body and rib cage has time to adjust.

Corsets are more than just a waist size. If your natural waist sits just a bit higher than the corset your wearing was made for, or if your upper rib cage to waist ratio is just a bit bigger than the corsets, then this can greatly increase your pain when you lace down too tightly. And even if you were to just lace down until it’s snug, like you’re supposed to, a non-proper fitting corset can still hurt.

I don’t want people to think that what what you’re experiencing is the typical experience of people who wear corsets every day (or nearly), because we do a lot of research to do this properly before going into it. I do tight lacing/waist training and so far have reduced my waist 4 inches. I haven’t experienced any breathing problems or pain. And only minimal discomfort back when I was trying to sleep on my side like I usually do. But that’s no longer a problem since I found it’s more comfortable to sleep on my stomach with the corset on. And I definitely haven’t had any health problems. Granted, 4 inches isn’t much, as I just started. But I chat with the online tight lacing community, who have people that have gone down much much more, and have never heard someone complain of the problems you mention.

The only thing that’s true is that the ribs do become distorted. But that’s kinda the point as that’s the only way to get a smaller waist (if you’re not overweight) and it’s basically a form of body modification. And the organs do move around and stack on top of each other if taken to extremes. But that’s only with extreme waist reduction. Most of us who only go so far as to get a normal looking waist, or slightly curvier than average, don’t experience this. And for the few who do take it to extremes, the organs are still able to work properly. Btw, people who do this know what they’re doing and what’s happening to their bodies.

Also I have never had any problems wearing a waist training corset, it does reduce my appetite, but to me that is a good thing.

I’m not sure you can effectively compare the pressure and force of using a video game controller to a corset… Seems the thrusting force of play would be more detrimental than the constant firm support of a corset. But it is an interesting comparison. Food for thought. Especially in terms of the moderation argument. If things are done in moderation, they are relatively safe. In fact, corsets and girdles are still recommended by doctors — properly used, of course. (Not to be confused with the harsh tight-lacing tactics.)

However, I still stand by the research I’ve posted. There is enough evidence to make a sane, critically thinking person question all we’ve been told about corsets.

I am, however, presenting research and facts into the story as most of us have been told it. Please do read my other corset history posts to get the full story.

And ask yourself if merely wearing a corset — not used to “train” a waist to ridiculous proportions, but merely wearing it everyday — was so horrible, why there were any children born, or indeed how any children survived to adulthood as it was common for children, boys and girls alike, to wear corsets daily. Not all the women or all the fashionable women of the time died from wearing the commonplace daily corset. There are those then, as today, who take fashion, ideas and ideals to extremes; such idiocy usually results in paying at least one price.

But the story as we’ve been told it, “Corsets caused death and the feminists saved we frail women from it,” is not as simple or even as accurate as that. Again, read my other posts on the subject.

When you’ve read more, I remain here to discuss and debate with you.

Did you do any research at all? You can clearly see evidence of organ displacement in anatomical sketches and xrays of women who regularly wore corsets, on images available through a simple Google search.

Have you heard of Cathy Jung? She has the Guiness Book record for world’s smallest waist. She, if I recall correctly, on got into tight lacing as an adult and yet it has moulded her into a completely unnatural shape. Her waist is truly like that of a wasp and her lower abdomen is swollen and distended from the organs having relocated to that area since they have had nowhere else to go 23.5 hours a day for the last couple of decades.

It’s understandable why so many women once wanted to wear corsets everywhere and why many still want to do so today. I have one, which I wear from time to time. I only wear it when I know I won’t be physically exerting myself and that I’ll only be at the location/occasion for a maximum of 5-6 hours because it really is utter torture. The last time I wore the thing was a couple of weeks ago. I had to sit through an adult class before going where I was headed and I was late. I walked to the front of the room to sign the role and I heard and audible gasp from almost the whole class and a couple of ‘Wow”s from the guys. It was an awesome feeling and I’m sure it was the corset that made all the difference, but how the hell anyone has ever worn those things for such long periods is beyond me. I wouldn’t wear mine more than once a week at the most, even if I worked with Antonio Banderas every day because I plan to have another child. I simply wouldn’t risk having a baby with a weakened or altered reproductive system. If you don’t believe in the alteration to these organs, ask Cathy Jung to let you see her medical scans. Even better, just take one look at a photo of Cathy Jung and you’ll clearly see that nothing is where it should be (though I believe she’s quite proud of her inhuman figure, it is rather amazing but I’m sure, not healthy)

Thank you for taking the time to write such a long argument to counter my “petty and unintelligent” one.

I think the true dangers of corsets are like anything else put into use or practice 24/7 — and I don’t advocate the prolonged 24/7 use or practice of anything; even critical thinking requires a break now & then.

However, what is most fascinating to me are the historical reasons behind the standards, be they of beauty or behavior, and, in the case of the corset, much of the truth has been as bent — and the intolerance as strict — on both sides. As equally by those “for” as “against.” And that, Anastasia, is part of the information that needs to be available for folks to research and decide for themselves.

At least there we agree