Thursday, October 14, 2010

Where Corsetra came from

No I am not talking about the story of my birth.

I have used the name Corsetra for almost a decade. I intend to use it for a long time for not only is it more private, but it is more recognizable than my legal name.

Back in 2002-3 I was in a pattern-making and fashion designing course at a local college. We had a few high school aged students in the class along with college aged and adults.
One day three of the high school aged girls came up with a superhero theme for themselves, basing their powers of of their physical traits. The girl with the flat belly's powers were based out of her belly button and she mesmerized with belly dance. The girl with the large derriere had the power to cause earthquakes when she shook her booty. The girl who later got a breast reduction had the power to blind with her "headlights."
Now I was feeling left out and decided to come up with my own super powers, but I wanted to be the villainess not a hero.
So I came up with the character Corsetra whose super power was in her corset strings. when the lacings are pulled, the heros contort as if being tied up.

My now husband drew this up


Of course her outfit is red and black with a corset. This is a half size costume that I made shortly after the creation of the character. The home made dress form was never truly finished and isn't very curvy at all, so the dress is not displayed to it's full advantage.
 The shoulder points are made from pleater, the bust portion is a black and silver knit, the sleeves and collar are from another stretch lacy knit. The red satin of the corset was scraps left over from my first real corset that has now passed away,
The back of the skirt features a corset applique that I made. I think it is the best part of the whole dress.
I hope you have enjoyed this little story.