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Anna Grau:
i am twenty-one years old and live in stockholm,
which, for those of you who are geography-challenged, is the capital of
sweden. if you don't know where sweden is, i wash my hands of you.
music is an important part of my life, and so are, to some extent, the subcultures i consider myself part of. my friends are also very important to me. |
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i love corsets. i love looking at, touching,
lacing and wearing corsets. i love being tight-laced, and i love the effects
it has on my body - corset fetishism might be a good word for it, according
to some definitions, but i'm really not very fond of that word.
i am interested in the history of costume.
i have been for a very long time. fashions, and the psychology behind them
fascinate me. i have read a lot on the subject, and, of course, i learned
a few things about corsetry, since it was an increasingly important part
of women's clothing from the late middle ages to the first half of the
twentieth century. the shapes have varied a lot during these five hundred
years, as well as the rigorousness, figure-forming abilities and general
importance of the garment. the types that i am primarily interested in
are those of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century -
this was the most extreme period in the history of the corset, with heavily
boned corsets that modify the figure to a great extent - and a small waist
was something to be proud of, something one would strive for and take pains
to accomplish. one interesting difference between the tightlacers of the
victorian era and modern tightlacers is that while the ideal of the victorian
women was a naturally small waist, modern corset enthusiasts pride themselves
more on the difference between the original waist measurement and the one
achieved by patient waist training.
and, well... so do i.
my current natural, unlaced waist measures 68 cm. when i started tight-lacing, about one and a half year ago, it was 81 cm. this is mainly due to the fact that i wear corsets on a more or less regular basis. gradually, i have managed to reduce both my natural measurements and increase the pressure i can put on my waist without discomfort.
my current corsetted waist is between 60
and 55 cm. when i started, i could accomplish about 70 cm at best - by
now i've been doing this for over a year, and the reduction is slower now
than it was when i started. i've come to the point when i have to compress
my ribs more and more to achieve a smaller waist, which slows down the
reduction. the lower ribs are rather flexible by nature, and can therefor
be compressed without injury. this must, however, be done slowly, carefully
and gradually, as well as the actual reducing of the waist.
recently, i've noticed that my lower ribcage
is showing a tendency to lean inwards, creating a more hourglass-shaped
figure, which is an accomplishment as well...
my current goal is 50 cm, in stays - we'll
see what happens when i get there... perhaps i'll want to reduce even more,
perhaps not. it will probably take some time. the further you get, the
slower is the reduction.
tight-lacing is not dangerous, when done
with sense, knowledge, and care. nor does it hurt as long as one laces
sensibly. permanently changing one's waist takes time, and must be done
gradually. lacing too tightly too soon can severely injure the bones and
organs of the midriff.
want to know more? there are lots of useful
information on the web - unfortunately, my favourite corset site, corestry.com,
is dead. if you know of a mirror site, or if the site would reappear on
the same or some other domain, i'd be very grateful if you mail me and
tell me about it. i miss it.
there are more links to good corset-related
sites at this page.
why do i do this?
i get all sorts of reactions om my waist
and my corsets - compliments as well as insults and concerns for my health,
and everyone seems to think that wearing a tight-laced corset hurts. it
doesn't - if it does, it's either too tightly laced or an ill-fitting corset.
personally, i enjoy the physical sensation of being tight-laced.
of course, many people don't understand
why i do this to my body. there are a few things i'd like to make clear
about this:
- i do not do this to become generally
thinner, to reduce weight. i am not on a diet, i don't even want to lose
weight. losing weight would mean losing curves, and an absurdly curved
figure is what i am striving for.
- i do not have a low self-esteem, quite
the opposite. i do not have a problem with my body. as i said, i like my
curves. i like my tits, i like my ass, i like my belly, and other people
seem to like them as well. i like my body, and i want to make it even more
beautiful, just as everyone else - in my own way.
- i am not a victim of any kind of male
or other oppression. i do this to my body mainly for my own pleasure. if
other people like it, that's fine. if they don't, that's their problem.
i do this because I want it, because i enjoy both wearing corsets and the
effects wearing them has on my body. noone induced me to start doing it,
noone is pushing me to keep doing it. this is actually pretty rare - it
seems most women who tight-lace do it for their partner's sake, not for
their own. this is not the case for me, however.
- i do not do this to seem cool. yes,
i have actually been accused of that. but serious body modification is
nothing one does to seem cool - especially not when it is so expensive
and, for some people, so difficult and uncomfortable. there are a lot of
people who don't enjoy being tight-laced at all - most people, it seems.
of course, it is also a fashion statement - but to me it is more than just
that. it's an obsession with me, almost an addiction.
- i do not do this to punish myself in
any way - quite the reverse. this is something i indulge in, rather. i
enjoy tight-lacing in itself, i enjoy constriction and restriction. i always
have. and the effects corsetting has on my body are a reward in themselves.
it's really very simple - i tight-lace because i want to, because it gives me pleasure and because i enjoy it. why i enjoy it would be a lot harder to explain - i'm not so sure about that myself. but as long as i do, and as long as it's not hurting me in any way, i really can't see why anyone would object - be it perverted or not.
and?
i like lacings. that goes with the corset
thing, i guess... all sorts of lacings, especially in the back, are very
attractive to me. boots with long rows of holes or hooks are fun, so are
clothes with lots and lots of tricky lacings, buttons, eyes and hooks.
the only kind of closure on clothing that i actually don't like is zippers.
i like hobble skirts and high heels, restrictive
clothes that make me feel helpless. i'm waiting for a pair of knee-high
stiletto boots that lace up the back of the leg, hope they will arrive
soon...
i'm also fond of stockings and suspenders,
especially seam-backed stockings. there's something about real, old fully
fashioned stockings... hard to explain, but seam-backed stockings, just
as lacings in the back, make me feel very sexy. and, really, few garments
are less sexy than pantyhoses. practical, but unattractive.
then, there is grey wool. i like grey
wool a lot, the rougher the better. grey is my favourite colour, and grey
wool has this nice, neat and old-fashioned quality about it. then, of course,
wool is a very warm and cosy material, it breathes well, it's pleasantly
prickly, it's beautiful, it feels very good to touch and i like the smell
of it. i really can't explain it much better than that... i just love grey
wool. some of the charm vanishes with wool in other colours, though - i
have this little problem with wearing and generally using colours. you
may have noticed that. *grin*
else?
well - the rest is something that concerns
only me and the people who may be directly affected by it, and i won't
tell you about it. you may ask, and i might answer. then again, i may very
well choose not to.
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