Couture Design, My Road to the Corset

So last night, my corset was due in Couture Design. If you follow me on Instagram, I am sure that you have been seeing my updates over the course of corset building. It was a labor intensive couple of months where I built my very first corset, complete with boning, casing, a lining and the design elements that made it my own. At first, I will admit, that the idea of making an actual corset was extremely daunting. I was not sure that I would be able to pull it off, really... but as a testament to my professor as well as my classmates, the process was not only a learning one but a really fun and rewarding one.

So the process was pretty much a learning one. I drew inspiration from tree bark and earthy greens/golds and felt that I really stuck with it through the creative creations. I love to do smocking so spent some of my first days of the corset crafting doing some very mismatched smocking which I would use as the front panel of my garment. I only used one type of olive green brocade fabric which I manipulated to be used for every facet of the corset. I dyed part of the fabric, along with the lining, an olive green so that there were different shades to use as alternating panels.Something that I loved (and hated) about this fabric was that it was a frayer so rather than let it get me down, I used this aspect to fray the bottom, then braided strips which I then sewed to the bottom as a finish. While I had to give my corset a hair cut (to even a sister out), the overall effect was something I thought was organic and was generally loved by all. I am pretty proud of how it came out and shout from the rooftops "this is my best design school project so far!"

I still have one more project left in my couture design class, which is a draped garment. The corset was a fitted and pattern based garment so I can't wait to just drape on the dress form and see what happens. Want to see some of my favorite corsets from my design mates? What amazed me the most in leaving class last night was that there were so many new techniques that I wanted/needed to try because others had impressed me with the effects.

What do you think of my corset and those of my classmates?