Blog

Dita Von Teese Reveals What Waist-Training With Corsets Is Really Like

Posted on by Rachel Barb
Dita Von Teese Reveals What Waist-Training With Corsets Is Really Like
15
Apr

In 2015, Renee Jacques (of Allure) had the chance to chat with Dita Von Teese about beauty – and more importantly – corsetry. Below is a quick recap of the Q&A related to corsets. For the full article, visit https://www.allure.com/story/dita-von-teese-corsets.

You’ve appeared on HuffPost Live before, where you talked about the corset obsession that’s consuming America. You said that some of the big celebrities endorsing corsets feels like “the blind leading the blind.” Since you’re a true expert on corsetry, what should people really know about them?

Dita Von Teese: There are a lot of people just jumping on the bandwagon. Yes, it can be a form of body modification. You can shape your waist with corsetry and it creates a feminine silhouette. It’s not meant to be comfortable. It’s a little bit like high-heel wearing: It’s not necessarily easy. Your whole demeanor changes and your stance changes. Wearing corsets can be very useful for some people — for their posture and for their back. I always advise having a corset custom-made, instead of buying them off the rack, because our bodies are all shaped differently and the places where we want to be compressed can change. Anyone who’s interested in it should go seek out a company that has been making them for decades and decades.”

What about the claims that some celebrities make on Instagram that corset training helps them get their pre-baby bodies back?

Dita Von Teese: It can shape the waist, but you won’t lose weight. The flesh goes somewhere. It’s a little bit like Chinese foot binding. If you wear it for a length of time, and you live in it, and you’re doing serious corset training, it can maybe modify your body, but only if you have a body that responds to it. Still, it’s no substitute for exercising and eating well. And it’s definitely not the fast track to losing weight; it’s the slow way.

It’s admirable how committed you’ve been your entire life to your signature look. Why do you think it’s important for people to find their own signature look?

It’s admirable how committed you’ve been your entire life to your signature looIf you choose a signature look, you have the opportunity to perfect it and do it quickly in a pinch. You can become as good as any world-class makeup artist if you set your mind to it and you’re practicing and learning all the time. I love when I meet people and they have a real signature, and they become known for it, and they are really great at it. They don’t have to think about it; its like second nature. I love when somebody has a signature scent that you recognize and that you associate with them. (Von Teese’s is Quelques Fleurs, by the way.). Why do you think it’s important for people to find their own signature look?

Have you ever been tempted to deviate from your signature look?

I mean, I’ve tried other things, and I’ve been photographed before without much makeup on and with a beige lip and I just feel drained of my confidence. Why would I do that to myself? Really, what’s the point of it? It’s something that I really love that makes me feel good, so why would I fight it? I feel that it’s a real childhood obsession. It’s almost a fetish. It’s so ingrained in me ever since I was little and all I ever wanted to be. I can’t imagine being any other way.

Additional resources for Dita Von Teese:

Stay up-to-date with weekly blog posts, waist training tips, and the chance to win one of our monthly corset giveaways, like us on Facebook & subscribe to our mailing list today! Want to find the perfect steel boned corset? Shop some of our favorites: underbust corsets, overbust corsets, corset dresses. You can also shop our corsets by material: cotton corsets, denim corsets, leather corsets, mesh corsets, pvc corsets, and satin corsets.