In a corset i take 4 inches off my waist but i was wondering would i be able to go any smaller and would it pose any health risks???

You can go smaller by tight-lacing - though this should be done carefully and gradually, rather than trying to force your waist down all in one go!

Go slow and listen to your body - don't make yourself uncomfortable for the sake of a few inches loss.

A good section on the health concerns regarding corsets can be found here > http://www.costumebeginner.com/corsets/wearing.htm

That is such an interesting article. I wonder just how much the internal organs are shifted? ; (


xS

There isn't -terribly- much shift in the organs - unless you're doing very tight-lacing and going for a more permanent waist reduction.

Your organs shift all the time if you think about it, but usually return to their normal positions! (e.g. after pregnancy).

One of our Norwegian Queens, Queen Maud, died from organ fallior due to her organs shiftet but then she had a waistline like my neck So I doubt you will be in any danger (unless your goal is like hers.) Like Lolita said. Listen to your body and you should be fine

I think four inches is enough really, but I suppose it depends on your hip size. I have forty in hips so when I wear a corset I have a 18 inch difference between my waist and hips. There's hour glass and then there's egg timer. You don't want to over do it.
I also have low blood pressure and have fainted wearing a corset and dancing a bit too energetically. I felt fine before I danced, so avoid strenuos exercise when tighly laced, because your diaphram can be affected.

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Unless you're wearing a corset 24/7 it won't really effect your interernal organs or skeleton.

I' ve got lots of books on this subject which range from John Willies Bizarre magazine which has stories (and I mean 'stories') about 18th century girls being filled up with porridge to ensure their intestines were full before tight lacing, to the more serious The Corset by Valerie Steele (a New York based fashion historian - The Corset tells you everything you need to know and more).

In 'The Corset' there is a piece about health and corseting and it mentions Cathy Jung (extreme tight lacer for many many years) showing an x-ray of her in a corset. Valerie says thear 'a tight corset does indeed push the ribs significantly in and up, altering the position of internal organs'.

A study in 1998 put volunteers in corsets 3 inches below their normal waist measurement and it revealed that the subjects did have diminished lung capacity - an average of 9%.

Going onto skeletal effects, Valerie says that whilst corsets help a weak back in the short term, when worn for extended periods they do weaken the back and abdominal muscles. Corsets could cause permanent rib deformations - if the corset wearer started tight lacing as a child.

Really, that's about it.

When I was pregnant I really felt it was similar to reverse corseting as pregnancy pushes the organs up and the ribs expand to make room. Once I had given birth the thing I found most dismaying was my ribs being bigger. The skeleton takes about 6 months to return to normal and I presume if you did tight lace 24/7 the same thing would happen in reverse. No long term damage done.

When it comes to the crunch, if you are going to tight lace 24/7 then make sure you do exercise without a corset every day to ensure your back and tummy muscles stay strong. If you just wear for 8 hours a day you shouldn't have very much to worry about.

Katie

This might be a daft and obvious question but what are the actual differences between a tight lacing and non tight lacing corset?

Can you tell just by looking at it?

I'd really like to train my waist but i dont know if the corset i have is tight lacing. I think it is?

Busty
xxx

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There's a really good book called "The corset: A cultural history" and it talks about all the false myths about corsets and tight lacing. It's also got some gorgeous pictures and vintage illustrations. A lot of things being said about how good or how bad corsets derive from Vicotrian "wives' tales".
Unless you wear a corset constantly it doesn't move your internal organs. However if you wear it too much your back muscles might become a bit 'slack' due to being under-used and under toned.

Personally I get a bit of a stomach ache if I wear a tight corset for too long. But then again it's just my own anatomy.

xx
Honey Lulu

All corsets are tight lacing - anything that reduces your waist is tight lacing.

If it don't tight lace, it ain't a corset!

Katie