Help & FAQ's

Anywhere and everywhere. Our wide selection allows you to choose a corset depending on wherever you wish to take it.

OFFICE: We can recommend our waistcoat style Juliette underbust corset, which you can easily wear with your favourite blouse or shirt. Combine it with suit trousers or jeans and you’re ready to go to the office with a finely defined waist. And if you prefer a skirt, we make some in the same fabric as Juliette corsets. Have a look at Emily, Leila, Eva or Pencil skirts.

PARTY: Dress up party? Halloween party? Fancy costumes and birthdays? Look through our corsets and skirts sections to combine various colours and fabrics to see what you like the most. For something extra look for capes, boleros and shirts in the Clothes section.

WEDDING: If you want to walk the aisle in an alternative style, look for white or cream corsets and skirts using our online store search at the top of our main page. Optionally take a look at our Dresses. Hint: Ophelie dress in cream taffeta is particularly beautiful. You will feel like a real princess! And if it’s not you getting married but your friend demands coming to the ceremony in particular style, take a look at our latest Steampunk collection – it combines alternative with elegance.

Theatre, opera, a night out with friends, fantasy and sci-fi conventions, LARPs, Halloween and more. There are as many options to wear a corset out, as there are places that you wish to visit. Our corsets work well with other, more often worn clothes. Don’t be scared to try them out with what you like in our Camden boutique in London, or to ask us for advice using one of our social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr.

You can do it on your own but first you may want to check with a mirror.

Lacing a corset looks complicated at first sight. The best way to make sense out of those laces is to put the corset on a hanger and take a good look at its back. There’s a loop on each side approximately in the middle of the corset. That’s where you want to start pulling. It’s the place where your waist is and therefore the lace from the top and the bottom need to be pulled and brought to the middle. In order to gain the hourglass shape, the waist must be smaller than the areas above and below it. Try to close your corset while it’s hanging, pulling the cross-shaped sections of the lace towards the imagined waist. Don’t forget to check the modesty panel – the fabric separating your body from the lace.

When you put the corset on, either close the front basque with steel clips, latch the C-locks, hook the hooks and eyes, zip it up or pull it over your head depending on the design you chose. Now stand with your side towards a mirror the way that you can see your back. Put your hands on the back, check the modesty panel – make sure it’s lying flat on your back under the lace. Locate the loops on each side – spots where the lace isn’t crossing through to the other side but entering the hole below. Pull the loops bringing the sides of the corset closer together. Now work with you fingers – pull the lace from top towards the middle, adjust the loops, then pull the loops from bottom towards the middle and again adjust the loops. It doesn’t matter whether you start at top or bottom, just keep bringing the lace to the middle where the loops are, making the corset sides coming closer together, embracing you tighter. Once there is no gap between the modesty panel and a side of the corset, you have reached the minimum closure. Now you can continue closing the corset to the tightness and comfort of your preference.

If you select correct size for your body and don’t tight-lace yourself, you will still have enough space to take a breath while showing off the gorgeous feminine figure of yours.

Please e-mail us at info@burleska.co.uk with measurements (in inches) of your waist, bust and circumference right under your bust. (1 inch = 2.54cm) Include information about the corsets that you are interested in.

Yes, we do. Please take a look at our PLUS SIZE section. Check with our ‘Sizing Information’ or e-mail us your enquiry before making a purchase.

When selecting from steel-boned corsets, measure your waist and choose a corset 2 – 5 inches smaller. If you’re looking for a fashion corset, select the one 2-3 inches smaller than your natural waist.

If you have never worn a corset before, you can start with a fashion corset. Its inside consists of plastic bones that are flexible and allow you to move more freely than steel-bones. However, if your aim is a beautifully shaped figure with tiny waist, that is best achieved with a steel-boned corset. When choosing a corset, please consider the size of your bust too. Ladies with smaller busts (cup A, B, C) look excellent in underbust corsets of any boning or plastic-bonedoverbust corsets. If you wear D cup or higher, any overbust corset should fit you well. Remember to check our ‘Sizing Information’.

Definitely a steel-boned corset. If you’re starting with waist-training, we recommend Candy underbust corset, Sexy Waspie or long-lined Athena underbust corset. Make sure to select the correct size. If you’re not sure, don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you’re experienced in waist-training and wish to continue to the next level, please e-mail us at info@burleska.co.uk asking for a double-boned waist-training corset, including your desired size. We will let you know what we have available in stock.

If your corset has a front or side fastening (steel basque with clips, C-locks, hooks/eyes, a zip), you can cut the lace short with scissors. The lace goes around the corset through the holes and ties into a knot usually at the bottom. Pull the knot out making the loops in the middles of the corset shorter. Once you’re happy with their length, tie another knot at the bottom closer to the corset. Try your corset on before you cut the lace!

If your corset doesn’t have any other fastening and you have to pull it overhead to get in, you will have to deal with the excess lace in a different way. You can tie a double bow at the back to make the lace shorter. If you don’t like the bulge, hide it behind the criss-crossed lace – that will make the excess lace look flat and invisible. Another option is only tying one bow and hide the tail between your body and the corset at the bottom.

If you wish to have your corset cleaned fully, it would be best to take it to a dry-cleaner. Ask them if they’re experiences in treating corsets before you give it to them, though!

If you have a small stain on your corset or you just want to refresh its look, using make-up removing tissues/facial wipes has proved effective. You can also try a bit of soap on a sponge with a tiny amount of water, BUT only if your corset is NOT steel-boned. Corsets are not machine washable.