Since launching, our underwired corselettes have gathered, dare I say it, a bit of a cult following.
With lots of you ordering first the Offida corselette back in 2020 and now the Black Cherry corselette, experiencing the lovely fit and wonderful shaping abilities. Several of you have then ordered more in your own custom colourways.
It's been a true joy to work on so many custom pieces.
But I know that there will also be some of you who haven't discovered the wonders of our corselette just yet, so I want to introduce you to all the fabulous elements that make up our most shaping lingerie ever.
All of our underwired corselettes are made to order to your exact measurements. You tell us your bra size, waist and full hip measurements and we draft a bespoke pattern just for you.
Firstly, the fabric.
The fabric looks like satin, but it's not. Satin would not be strong enough for this kind of clothing. If you look very closely at any piece of Pip & Pantalaimon lingerie, you'll notice that while many of our fabrics shine like satin, they are actually knitted rather than woven.
We use a highly technical specialist shapewear fabric, to guarentee that your lingerie will last you for years to come.
Next is a point of general construction. You probably already know that we're making our vintage inspired lingerie on a myriad of true vintage machinery from the 1950's (in Market Harborough as well, a town once famous for its corsets!). If you look closely at your P&P pieces, you'll notice that every single seam is flat stitched down. I hardly see any other brands doing this, but it really adds strength and longevity to your lingerie, meaning it's going to last you a lot longer than your average lingerie. Seams can sometimes give and eventually bust over time, but not with this extra top stitching that we apply to every single piece of lingerie before it leaves our studio.
The above two points apply to all of our lingerie, not just our underwired corselette, but here are the things that are unique about the corselettes.
Firstly, and most obviously, these corselettes are underwired, they have a metal wired inserted exactly like an underwired bra, this gives shape to the upper half and ensures the corselette fits closely to your body, particularly around the breastbone and underarm.
The corselettes have an internal waistband that is 5cm. This sits inside the corselette and is secured with a row of curved zig zag stitching that you can see above the waist. Incidentally, for any true vintage enthusiasts, this is a very unique stitch that can only be achieved using true vintage machinery.
The corselette fastens all the way from the top to the bottom with a row of hook and eyes down the back. This means you dont need to wiggle in, but instead you put the corselette on back to front, hooking up all the hooks and eyes. Then bunch the corselette around your waist and spin it round so the hooks are at the back (it will be quite snug at this point). You can then position the cups and underwires in the right place for you and pull the straps over your shoulders. Finally, secure your stockings in place using the 6 steel suspender clips.
Lastly, all of our corselettes are available in a full size range, from a UK8-UK22 (US4-18) and up to a G cup. As standard, we stop at a 38 underband, but we have also made several of our corselettes in a 40 underband too! When you place your order, we draft a bespoke pattern just for you. You select your bra size and then add your waist and full hip measurements at checkout. If you forget to add these, don't worry, we'll send you a quick email to get them off you so we can make the perfect corselette for you.
If you'd like to discuss a custom size or colourway, you can always email Philippa here; info@pipandpantalaimon.co.uk
***Custom pieces, including all corselettes are made to your measurements and cannot be returned or exchanged. Read more about returns here.