the corset
the domestic minx
38 Comments
There is something so erotic about pulling oneself into shape.
Oh, what delicious torment lies in the tantalizing tug of the tightlace, the sharp intake of breath as luscious curves are revealed, defined by the exhilarating yet torturous bondage of exquisite restraint.
Yes, dear friends, the corset is a delectable discipline.
One cannot cavort in a corset; there is no frolicking and frippery or fancy food intake when one is laced up, for there is constraint and capture by one's own body.
There is discipline in this undergarment and one is compelled to be sublimely graceful and civilized when trapped inside.
You may wonder how it is, in fact you may be aghast, that this bon vivant, this confirmed sensualist and devotedly wanton creature finds pleasure in lacing herself so tightly into something of such utter constriction and restraint.
The truth is, I am fascinated by this delicious undergarment, and have been since I was a little girl.
The tiny waists of my Victorian dolls captivated me as visions of burlesque beauties and the big-screen wasp-waist influence of such goddesses as Bardot and La Lolla mesmerized me in a way I could not ignore.
And, while I find myself a little older, with my edges a little softer,
I am still a little girl.
I still have a small waist and a spell is drawn when my artful pulling reduces it even further, creating that magical waist to hip ratio that spells sexy.
It is almost art for me to squeeze myself into the curvaceous shape I so admire.
It is the hourglass, of course, that the corset creates.
Timeless, titillating and tantalizing.
And I must admit I like the shape.
It has been something women have aspired to throughout the ages.
The first whisper of corsetry appears in ancient times where the Book of Isaiah tells of a petty God who punished his people by taking away some of their personal pleasures and adornments, among them the biblical equivalent of the corset. Quelle horreur!
Mouldings of the female form have even been found in early Minoan culture where evidence exists of Cretan goddesses squeezing themselves into the ancestors of our modern corset four thousand years ago.
While fashions have come and gone, binding in one form and another has influenced the shape of women since the earliest of times.
But by the end of the sixteenth century, the corset was as common a subject of speech and writing as it is today. Costume was upheld as a symbol of position, rank, and wealth and the corset played a large part in displaying a person's position.
In the French court, the enigmatic Catherine de Medici took cutting edge to a ruthless extreme, demanding that her ladies in waiting reduce their waist measurements to an excruciating thirteen inches, herself encased in what one French writer described as "a closely-fitting fortress."
The same fashion icon promoted the wearing of iron corset cages, the entire trunk of the lady encased in metal, a system of gradual and determined constriction employed until her measurements were reduced to the desired slenderness.
Ooh, it all sounds deliciously fetishistic.
A dark and cruel queen subjecting her pretty maids all in a row to her instruments of torture, her own Iron Maiden.
Oh, what an erotic bedtime story!
Apart from the occasional fashion departure from the wasp waist,the corset was Queen, single-handedly cinching women's figures well into the nineteenth century.
Goodness, they were even lacing in the tummies of Victorian gentlemen and dandies!
In fact today, Mr Pearl, corsetiere extraordinaire to the delicious Ms Teese, wears his own corset twenty-four hours a day and has done so for the past ten years, removing it only for bathing, revelling in the disciplinary aspects of his garments, training his waist from thirty inches to a mere eighteen.
"Corset-wearing requires a moderate intake." he says, "I do not eat junk food. Beans are a disaster - and beer, definitely not."
And this, my dear friends, is where a line in the sand is drawn beween
my corsets and I.
While I can whittle my waist to twenty two inches (ouch) in my little black beauty, I have no desire to sacrifice my customary glass of shiraz in the pursuit of anything smaller.
And that, I think, is why I love the corset so very, very much.
It is a fancy, a fascination and a fetish frequent, but not so familiar as to breed contempt.
The effects are certainly delicious, but a true corset, properly pulled, is a cruel indulgence and quite a painful pleasure for one so hedonistic.
But then it has to be said that this bon vivant often requires a firm hand, a little pulling into line and a bit of straightlacing.
Ah, but don't we all need pulling into line from time to time?
Indeed!
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Reader Comments (38)
Good grief 22 inch waist. My eyes bulge in pain at the very thought. I would like to see it though.
Naughty Norman
PS Mind you it is guilty pleasure Thursday is it not!
Ah, darling Norman,
Once upon a time when I was 18, I had a 21 inch waist without sucking my tummy in...sigh...
It is sweet torment and a lot of pulling to suck it down to 22 now - and after today's lunch it will be more like 42!!
My girlie crush Dita has a waist of 16.5 inches with her corset tightened!!
I simply cannot imagine it!!
I simply will not say no to good food and wine!!
My torment stops there!
Other things are more delicious - and it's Thursday, is it not? xx
xox
Oh Minx, I loved this post but sadly I have to report that corsets are not for little moi!
I admire your own dedication to saucy confinement. They do look lovely, but I am far, far too selfish and slovenly to lace myself up to such an extent, erotic though it may be.
I must be free, in every sense of the word!
I am not averse to a firm hand, however...
Darling Island Girl,
So glad to see you are on the mend and out of your self imposed confinement - not like mine apparently, where the squeezing of one's recalcitrant flesh into the constraints of fetish is confinement enough.
I must confess, I give myself over to a good pulling a mere 10% of the time; the other, as you can gauge, spent in the lowly pursuit of being an utter sybarite and devotee of Bacchus....
Good God, I NEED a firm hand...
Any more free and I'd float away.
xox
Dear Minx I have always been fasinated by the confining contraptions! I must confess I have never bought one. After this enlightening post, I am on a quest for an 18in waist! and maybe while I am at it I will buy a fainting couch as well heheh
goodness me,, my minxy friend,,, i shudder to think what i would look like in a corset,, other than being totally blue from oxygen deprivation that is!!!!!!!
Lady Terri,
Of all the beautiful swashbuckling pirate girls out there, you deserve a corset my dear!!!
Squeezing yourself into one on a regular basis will provide you with the intestinal fortitude necessary to deal with the sort of blaggards one encounters on the high seas!
Lord Likely is one such blighter that comes to mind!!!
Goodness me! 18 inches is a hard target, darling, but if a man can do it. Well!!
Bring me my fainting couch! swoon...
xox
Paisley darling,
All women look beautiful in a corset!!
The secret of the defined waist is all in the practiced pulling - by someone else, of course.
And it's not really how tiny the waist is, it's all in creating that magic waist/hip ratio.
This is why I like it.
I've always been a little straight up and down and I love it when I can reapportion the flesh and create some curves.
It is the curvature that's beautiful...
Ah yes, oxygen deprivation...it is a tricky thing...
xox
God I wish they made a corset for men. I could use two after all the beer I've consumed today.
I would willingly sacrifice oxygen in place of fat :)
xoxo
Darling boy, they do indeed, it seems!!
And perhaps you were not paying attention, mesmerized by all that beer (and who can blame you!!) when I mentioned that Mr Pearl, corsetiere to Ms Teese, our dear Posh and little Kylie, has been wearing one for 10 years, all day, every day!
He has trimmed his girth (abdominal) from 30 to 18 inches. Good God!!
No beer though, darling...
I imagine he must eat no carbohydrates whatsoever.
Oh dear, life must be dull without a drop or two...
Perhaps we should go and visit him together..
I'd like another...
Have you got a spare $30,000?
xoxo
alcohol cannot be sacrificed for fashion. Well, not always. ;)
And I say Cheers to that, darling!!
Neither can I say no to a resoundingly stinky slab of Roquefort...
I will work it off.
But I will never say No...
Bottoms Up!!
Tummies in!!
xox
All this talk of pulling and squeezing and tugging has left me quite breathless.
I'd like to pull your laces, Minx..
How timely, Eddie...
I will need them pulling especially tight after all the rampant indulgence of the past two weeks.
I do hope you're as vigorous as you imply - there can be no fainting at your end!!
xox
I have a 24inch waist, and I LOVE that about me.
I have never worn a corset before, but I am dying to experience it after reading this post.
(I probably wouldn't wear it for much longer than taking a photo) ) as I prefer the comfort of sweat pants ...
But still, I feel compelled to run out and get one of these seductive undergarments and have my way at it.
Sometimes, I swear you are reading my mind. I have been shopping for said garments for the past week. I have found a place online where they make lovely corsets that are guaranteed to take off four, FOUR inches off of your waist.
What style to select...what fabric...oh so many choices!
xoxo
Mistress M
"There is something so erotic about pulling oneself into shape". Indeed. I would go so far as to say simply, "there is something so erotic about pulling oneself".
Dita laces down to thirteen inches? Phew!!
Oh Meleah, you deliciously slender thing!
I think you should treat yourself to a corset darling.
You would look perfectly divine with your elegant proportions!!
I have just completed a three hour, 25km walk to maintain mine...
It is sweat pants all the way for me today!!
xox
Margot darling,
I can see you in an emerald green corset to match your eyes or a jet black one to highlight your dark side.. deliciously...
Four inches off the waist is fabulous!!
It will give you Dita von Teese proportions darling!!
You must let me know what you decide!!!
xox