CharmianWomen's 26 Steel Boned Cotton Long Torso Hourglass Body Shaper Corset

Warning. This is long winded, but I hope it will be of use to you. I hate dry, unhelpful reviews, and I have taken it on as my personal task to fight against this and create informative, amusing (well, I crack myself up in any case) reviews. Happy reading.tldr; love this corset, for reasons.I didn't post a review right away because I wanted to give myself sometime to season and actually wear this corset.I am not new to corsetry, I have worn a number of them in different styles. The prices have ranged accordingly from "Oh, that's inexpensive" to "well, consider it an investment". I have owned the Hallowe'en 'I-need-this-to-complete-a-costume' (basically a 'throwaway', I'm not proud) to the medical grade, industrial strength, honest to god ugly with a purpose steel boned corsets. Without boring you with detail, I had put on weight after a long illness, and the increase in my bust line was not doing my back any favors. I was looking for a corset that would help me with back support and waist training would be a bonus, not a goal. Okay, kind of a lie. I wanted my profile to be a bit more streamlined, and look better, too.I received this on April 17, 2016 but had to wait a bit as I had ordered extra lacing. I purchased  Charmian Women's 26 Steel Bones Cotton Waist Training Underbust Corset Underbust-White Large . My measurements at the time were 44/34/44. I'm guessing my weight was about 190lbs. (approximation, I don't own/use a scale) and I am 5'10" with a somewhat elongated waist.The seasoning period is the hardest. It varies from source to source as to how and the length of time you want to spend doing this, you can easily google "corset seasoning" and be overwhelmed with links, but I'll pare it down to the basics for the data usage/motivationally/time challenged. (no offense meant, sometimes I don't want to bother to look ̶s̶h̶i̶ things up, either) When you first get your corset, loosen the laces. Like, a ridiculous amount. (this is why I bought extra long length laces, I didn't want to have to struggle with laces that were juuuuuuust a little too short - I like to wrap the laces around my waist and tie them in front, like a belt) You then work the closure on the front, and begin to tighten your laces. This can be done on your own, but is far less difficult with help. You tighten it until it feels snug, but not tight. You'll want to, I'm sure (I do), but you run the risk of damaging the corset if you rush into it. All willy nilly. Like a crazy person. And you wear it snug for about 45 minutes and tighten it so it is a little more snug. But not tight. Not "I-am-going-down-four-inches RIGHT THIS DAMN MINUTE, NOW PULL" tight. Wear for an hour, hour and a half, two hours total, allowing the corset to gently form to your shape, without warping or bending or ruining all the good things that make a corset a corset. Rinse and repeat. For days. Weeks, even, depending on your school of corsetry and the type of corset. After it is seasoned properly, it will fit like a glove and should be easier to put on and take off. And wear for hours, or even sleep in it. Some may experience a claustrophobic 'I-have-to-get-out-of-this-thing-RIGHT NOW' feeling. Loosen it a bit and go from there.This corset felt wonderful! (is that even possible? YES. Yes, it is) The back support was a huge relief, and helped me a great deal. As I stated earlier, my motivation was primarily to lend support to my back, but with could also make me more pleasing to the eye. I chose white because I could not find it in a nude colour - I wanted something that could be worn under clothing without being glaringly obvious. I wanted a size that would accommodate my weight loss, so I chose a large. Go with their size chart. It's spot on. It wears wonderfully. Even when I lace it up firmly, it is not uncomfortable as some of my corsets have been in the past. I am able to sit with relative comfort due to the shaping at the bottom. Because of the heat in Texas (even though I do not wear it out all that much), I wear an extra long camisole or tank top underneath to keep the corset from getting too dirty. It is a well made garment. The boning is legitimate steel boning. The busk is a sturdy steel busk. The fabric is strong, and the stitching is uniform.This is a high quality undergarment at a very affordable price. I am already looking at alternate colours and styles because I will be purchasing from this seller again. It was shipped and delivered in a timely manner, as well.Buy it. It will be one of the best corset purchases you will make.p.s. no offense to those that are knowledgeable in the ways of what is corsets. just tryin' to be helpful.

This is a good quality corset overall, my only complaint being that a couple of the hooks were bent or slightly our of alignment with the pegs. Its very comfortable once broken in. It is a bit too large in the bust for me, but I can easily pad my bust out.I will say, however, this is not for shorter torsos, especially if you're sitting down. Either it stabs you in the thighs or the corset gets pushed up rather embarrassingly. I will say, however, that it gives great support if you're going to be standing for extended periods of time.Overall it's a good corset, but buyer beware if you have a torso on the shorter side.

So the snaps are difficult to latch. It works best if you latch the snaps, loosen the pull strings, get into it, then have someone cinch you in from the back. Overall, it fits as expected. If you’re really short like me it’s a bit long in the torso, so take that into consideration.

I gave this 4 stars, even though I have some serious mixed emotions. I am going to review this in 2 categories, Quality and Fit. I am returning the one I ordered, and going one size smaller. Please read the details in the Fit section. Currently, My advice on this product, think about what your shape is, and what you are wanting this to do. If you want it to reduce your waist, then order the size smaller than your actual waist.If you want something that will work to change the SHAPE of the "apple shape" (larger tummy or have a muffin top with out clothes on), but not necessarily try to reduce your overall waist size, then get the approximate measurement of your waist.QUALITY (FYI, I make costumes, and due to time I could not draft and create a corset for myself.)Material:The material is a cotton duck (canvas) material, and by it's nature is a very strong material. The parts are well sewn, and my cotton not shine-y white version won't be in any sex lingerie catalogs, but was exactly what I wanted for a historic looking corset. The corset has a waist tape, (looks polyester) and a steel busk (the thing that goes up the front). Grade A+Busk:I didn't have any issues like other reviewers in getting this to stay closed. I did have to fight with it to get it to close, and it is a thinner style busk. BTW, the Busk is meant for getting OUT quickly not for speeding up putting the corset on. Grade B+Boning:The boning IS spiral spring steel, BUT it is very thin (as in narrow) spiral spring steel. This is why it would be bendable and plastic feeling as stated from the other reviewer's. Plastic boning doesn't have the "bumpy" feeling that this does. So YES it is spring steel, but it isn't the heavy grade wider versions used in a high end corset. The 6 steel bones it talks about are positioned well. They are very short, and are only in the back area creating a decent back line. ALL of the bones are encased securely, and appropriately used. Grade B-Lacing:The lacing holes are good enough, and sturdy. The corset laced up very well, and took the full force of a grown man pulling in the ties. The actual string for the ties were hard on the hands, but is perfect for it's application. Grade A-Over all Quality:This corset is as advertised, and makes a solid B+ to A- for ANY non-custom corset. At the price point of $31 it's a GREAT deal.FIT: C-For reference I am 5'9" tall, with broad hips and shoulders. I have a 43" bust a 36" waist, and 45" UPPER hips, 50" rump. I sound very plump, and in some regards I am. However, my shape is WIDE not thick I turn to the side in photos to appear smaller. By different definitions, I am either a perfect hourglass or slightly on the pear shape. I wear at the mall a 14/16 pant, and size Large to X-large tops depending on the stretch for my boobs. The size chart told me to order via my WAIST size or a 3X. All of my measurements were within the size 3X range. I will add that my rib cage at the part right under by boobs runs around a 36" measurement, which means I am ALL boobs up top. My "problem area" is just an all over plump issue, so most clothes fit me fine.I pulled the corset out and measured across the SMALLEST part, I found that the actual waist measurement on this was 34". That is a PERFECT 2" gap for a 36" waist, in a corset. However, for ME that means that my waist wouldn't be brought in any. I went ahead and loosened the ties and undid the busk. I put it on over a sheath dress and my bra. I will be wearing this over a shift to keep it from rubbing. Closing the busk frustrated me a lot. The thin busk material means it bends this way and that, and that caused these little things to fight me.Once it was on, I had it tightened to general comfort level. I measured it, and at that point I had a 36.5" waist. Not surprising as it was still lose and I was wearing it over a dress. My husband continued to tighten this until it was CLOSED. The waist measurement I got at that time was a 35.5 inch waist. Nice job because the dress had to be compressed to, but this would have been a small improvement. When all was said and done, I had the entire thing tightened all the way closed from waist to the very top. This gave me shelf boob, which would work for a hidden costume under layer. (IE what I wanted, but the fit of the corset was awful.) The corset back was doing this /\ (closed at top flared to bottom), not ) ( [open similar measurement all the way down]. The fit that looks like this ) ( is a good fit.Therefore, I came to the conclusion that I would try a smaller size, and see what happens at that point.

I'm a UK 10 and so I ordered a Large it was huge and even laced up did not pull me in at all I'd recommend going down in size if you want waist and chest reduction I did I wanted to feel absolutely squeezed to the max. Nice corset though I've given them my vitals so hope to get one that really fits me

I ordered a larger one at 1st as I was worried it may come up small, however that was the case so I had to get a smaller one it fit like a dream I absloutely love it and u get what u pay for, I'm 6ft so it for like a regular corset but it looked amazing

this is the first corset I have ordered with the perfect length, sadly it was too small. there is enough thread to adjust the corset to fit but at it was for over my clothes rather than under I would be too conscious of the gap it would leave. its a nice material and would have ordered another in a bigger size but it was for an event held the evening it arrived

i absolutely love this! i buy corsets a lot and more than often the quality is crap, but this corset is well worth the money and im tight as a ducks arse! honestly though, apart from the clasps being a bit trickier than normal it wasbrilliant, and the best part, i ordered my normal size and pulled tight it was still too big! i love it!!!!

Product fits very well, struggled to find a good quality corset to fit a larger bust while steering clear of the hefty price tag but this corset does the job perfectly. A lot more comfortable to wear than I expected as well and the material is very good quality, the material is thick but not rough on the skin. Would give more stars if possible!!