How to Get a Smaller Waist & Bigger Hips: Welcome, Corsetry!

Featured Corset: Dita Black Cotton Plus Size Corset

On the one hand, you should always love the body you have. Despite any perceived flaws or limitations, your body is yours alone, and it carries you through life, allowing you to enjoy all manner of activities and sensations. Of course, you can always engage in efforts to improve your body for health reasons or simply for personal pleasure.

When it comes to shaping your body for the desired hourglass effect or figuring out how to get a smaller waist and bigger hips, there are many options to consider, from weight management and targeted exercise to cosmetic surgery. It all depends on your level of dedication.

With that being said, such efforts can only go so far. What you might want to consider instead (or in addition) is the ease and minimal risk associated with waist training. 

When you follow a proper waist training regimen, you can not only achieve significant and semi-permanent waist slimming results over time, but you’ll enjoy the instant gratification of a more pronounced hourglass shape from the moment you cinch the lacing.

Before you get started, it’s best to understand that a corset is not some kind of magical, miracle garment. It’s just shapewear that provides outstanding compression and support. 

How to Get a Smaller Waist and Bigger Hips with the Right Corset

First, let’s clear one thing up. A corset will definitely help you to achieve a smaller waist. Right off the bat, most people can comfortably cinch down 1-2 inches. 

This might be enough for you, but with continued waist training, you can accomplish a much greater reduction, depending on your body – starting at a smaller size usually leaves less wiggle room to cinch down.

However, a corset does not give you bigger hips. What it will do, by slimming and accentuating a narrower waist, is make the hips you have look fuller and more prominent. Certain garment styles and features are better suited to creating an exaggerated hourglass than others. What should you look for?

Know Your Body

For starters, you need to set realistic expectations where your body is concerned so you don’t end up disappointed or engaging in harmful behavior as you attempt to reach goals that simply aren’t attainable. 

For example, bodies that are already voluptuous, particularly those with more girth in the hip region, are already primed to maximize the hip-to-waist ratio, whereas busty bodies or those that have a straighter, more athletic shape may struggle a bit when determining how to get a smaller waist and bigger hips.

You can always make a difference with a corset. It’s just a matter of how much you can reasonably expect to alter your natural body shape. The trick is to work with what you’ve got rather than fighting against it. This is where the style and shape of the corset come into play.

Underbust vs. Overbust Styles

Here’s the skinny on choosing the right amount of coverage – it will depend on your body and what you want to accomplish. If, for example, you’re rather busty, an underbust corset will likely accentuate this feature, making your waist look even smaller, while an overbust could help minimize the breasts, perhaps calling more attention to your hips.

What about smaller-chested ladies? An underbust model will add more oomph, which could make your waist look small but also add balance that calls out hip proportions. Minimizing a small bust with an overbust model will definitely put fuller hips on display but may not deliver the attention you want on your tiny waist. 

When it comes to how to get a smaller waist and bigger hips, knowing your proportions and prioritizing goals can help you choose the right style of corset.

Understand Corset Shapes

There is a range of corset shapes, but some of the most popular include:

• Hourglass
• Conical
• Pipestem
• S-bend

The hourglass nips in at the waist and curves outward toward the bust and hips, whereas a conical shape tapers straight down from the bust to the waist, then rounds out to the hips. 

A pipe stem is similar to an hourglass, except that rather than merely pinching in at the waist, the smallest area of compression is elongated for a short distance, creating a more defined waist. 

Finally, the s-bend corset follows the basic conical design but curves outward over the buttocks and hips, creating a bustle-like effect.

Which is right for you? The hourglass corset is perhaps the most popular shape because of the balanced proportions it works to create. However, it’s always smart to try on a variety of shapes to see which works best with your body and which delivers the small waist and big hips you prefer.

Factor in Spring

One of the most important and often overlooked factors when determining how to get a smaller waist and bigger hips is the spring of the garment. This measurement is the ratio between the waistline and the top and bottom edges of the garment.

A more pronounced spring offers greater flare and differentiation between the size of the waist and hips, but you have to make sure it fits your body, or you could end up with a gap around the hip area, which will make your hips look smaller.

Using Redistribution to Your Advantage

If you have some excess skin and fat around the bust and torso, like many women, you’ll be happy to learn that you can use it to your advantage when maximizing the effects of a corset. 

For the greatest accentuation of hips, choose a model that extends down over the belly but cuts up over the hips. This will help to push any extra soft tissue down and to the side (See: Where Does Fat Go When Corset/Waist Training?), adding the greatest emphasis to this area to offset the smallness of your cinched waist.

Also see: Do Steel Boned Corsets Work? Yes! Here’s How…

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