Selecting the correct corset for you.

Corsets can be very robust, they are designed to shape the female form and need to be tough. The under bust corset construction to fit between the hips and ribcage will indeed lead to an hourglass form. If the corset is not properly fitted it can be tricky to get a comfortable fit. A normal corset will have between 16 and 26 boning stiffeners and these need to be held in place on the corset. Unusually they are built in to the corset and the top and bottom of these garments have a rolled trim top and bottom. These trims together with stiff boning can cause rubbing on the wearers bottom ribs and on top of the hip bones. Some clever corsets go over the hips to prevent the bottom edge of the corset rubbing on the hip bones. A majority of underbust corsets just compress the waist. The balance is getting a corset strong enough to give you the shape you desire at your waist but flexible enough to flare out over the ribs and hips.