The Modern Corsetiere, a book that first came as a training manual for students at North West School of design, has now turned into a detailed guide for aspiring and amateur corset designers.

The book give step-by-step advice and knowledge on the whole process of corset making from terminology and styles to pattern construction and sewing methods. For anyone reading the book, the most surprising, illuminating factor is the different types of corset-bodies styles that exist within the fashion sphere.

From the most popular: hourglass, conical and waist corset shapes to tight lacers pipe stem, s-bend and others such as the Elizabethan and male corset.

According to the author, Marlene Oosthuizen of the North West School of Design, there's a whole lot of confusion about the inner and outer corset that is often misleading if one is not sure exactly what to look for when searching for corset design methods on the internet.

The book has also set apart the two worlds of the under garment and the corset-bodice.

It details how one should understand and be aware of the differences in corset as under garments or as fashionable outerwear from designing, constructing and wearing the corset.

Oosthuizen also shares her experiences when she interviewed corset wearers.

She says, “Wearers of this controversial garment have shared many corset wearing fiascos which prove that we [as designers] should keep the customer in mind before over-shaping, over-boning and over-fusing a corset-bodice.”

For designers to understand how the customer would feel when wearing the garment she advizes them to wear the garment for at least a period of six hours.

The book covers very aspect of corset designing and is not only for students but also for amateur designers, lecturers, corsetieres, dressmakers and couturiers.

The book is available to order from nwsd@gds.co.za. Priced from R285 each and R210 for bulk orders.