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.

I adore this Corset so much!! I got the white over bust in size 3xL. Im a waist size 36", With a 44" bust which is a 38F bra size. I sized up slightly as I new my bust is bigger than my waist and I have a bit of a belly. I also wanted to take in consideration of slight weight gain. It Fits perfectly and wile Corset is on, my measurements go up by 1" inch. I bought this Corset for my wedding! And I fell in love with it when I tried it on. At first I was confused on how to wear it but figured out the easiest way to put it on was to keep it buttoned in front then loosen the laces in back without taking them out as much as I can then slide the Corset over my head, I then positioned it and then grabbed the back laces and tightened them all to a comfortable but not super tight fit. I then wrapped the extra lace around my body and tied it at the front as they would have long ago. It made my chest and body look so flattering as well as gave me a wonderful upright posture with minimal effort. I would gladly buy this Corset again as well as in other colors. I adore the victorian and edwardian fashion and this made me very happy. The metal buttons are a great way to easily take off the Corset after use.

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.

Same model as another Charmain corset I got 7 years ago, but the quality has gone south with the steel bones. Not nearly as tough as before. Also, the laces look like shoe laces.

Material is perfect, what I expected, but if you want a proper corset this is not for you. There is steel in the front, and there is definitely something in the back as well, but to me it seemed like there was absolutely nothing in the sides. Now, that might mean that they used the kind of fishbones dancers use that bend, but my bet would be that it's simply the sturdy material there. It does get the job done, it holds the body together and is long enough for tall people. If you are looking for a fashion corset I would recommend this as it is a bargain for this price. If you want any real shape changing done however, this is not sturdy enough.

My first proper corset and wow 😊 Am a size 24 so ordered a 22/24. Fits perfect! (although took some figuring out the best way to get into it). Love how the top half is laced separate from the bottom. Turns my tummy into an hourglass. Waist has reduced at least a couple of sizes. Extremely well made and can be tightened with the confidence that it will hold. Boning is very stiff and supportive. Very strong and long laces means that they can be tied at front if easier. Overall very very happy!

I'm 5'11" and my measurements are bust: 36", underbust: 32", waist: 28", hips 36" (waist to hip ratio of 0.8). I bought the long line underbust corset in size M.CONS:1) the pictures of this corset are DRAMATICALLY inaccurate. Through wizardly staging or photoshop tweaking the corset is portrayed as being highly tailored/hourglass. In reality this corset is straight up and down with no real waist tailoring. I have an hourglass shape but not unusually so, when this corset was super tight at my ribs and hips my waist was rattling around uncinched, lost and bewildered. In fact the corset was so straight and so loose in the middle that I looked like I had less of a waist than without the corset. Even corset newbies should be able to spot that this is the exact opposite of what a corset is supposed to do.2) the material is listed as 100% cotton, while the label in the garment states that it's 90% polyester and 10% spandex. These low quality fabrics will warp and go shiney after a few wearings.3) the corset was incorrectly laced. Re-lacing isn't a big deal, but the laces themselves were of poor quality, even fraying in a couple of spots, and their texture meant that self lacing was difficult.4) steel boning? Hmmmm. More like 'I Can't Believe It's Not Steel!' boning. The corset was flimsy and unstructured, with not a trace of the structure and rigidity that "26 steel bones double boned" would infer. This corset required no seasoning; anything with proper boning requires up to a week of seasoning, a double boned high quality corset can require up to two; no seasoning highlights how uncorsety this corset is.5) this is an extension of 1) and 4), but due to the bland boning and lack of a tailored waist this corset would be utterly useless for regular waist training.PROS:1) well, at least it's cheap.2) I'm very tall and this corset was a great length, actually it was pretty perfect length-wise.3) due to the fact that it requires no seasoning if you need a last-minute addition to an outfit you can wear this corset the day it arrives, something you couldn't do with a decent corset without sacrificing your ability to breathe and permanently messing up the corset itself.4) even without decent tailoring this corset still was fairly supportive of my back and encouraged a better posture. If you're just looking for a back support garment and you're not fussed about cinching your waist this would actually be a good purchase, especially if you're tall/have a long torso.5) if you have a pronounced 'apple' figure, i.e. your waist circumference is greater than your hips and you want to train your waist down to equal to/a little slimmer than your hips then this could be helpful. If you're pear or hourglass the lack of waist is a deal breaker, but the straightness of this corset could suit some.CONCLUSION:If you're after a cheap addition to an outfit or a costume you can wear straight away then this is cheap and wearable. If you're after something to support your back/encourage a better posture while you're sitting at a desk then go for it. If you're after something that does the proper job of a corset, don't buy this. If you wish to actively waist train then this is completely unsuitable (unless, as I mentioned, your waist measurement is approximately equal to your hips).Because I can see a couple of circumstances in which this would be a good purchase, and because it is a great length and cheap, I would give this two stars (two and a half, if it were possible). However doctored or very inaccurate pictures and incorrect listings are two of the deadly sins of online shopping, so it's just getting one star. If this had been accurately photographed and listed I wouldn't have bought it, as it is I'm sending it straight back.

This is a lovely under bust corset and is well made, unfortunately it is not a fully steel boned underbust, only the front fastenings are steel boned, the rest of the corset is plastic boned. Not entirely impressed by this.