a bitty bit 'bout boning
Before you buy a Renaissance Faire bodice, be sure to ask your seamstress what type of boning they use in their bodices. We use 1/2" coated steel boning in most of our our bodices, and through our experiences of trying all types of boning, we have found it to be superior for appropriate shaping, lift and support in bodices and corsets.

Please click here and scroll to the bottom of the page for more information about the boning products we use to make our bodices. If you do not like 1/2" steel, we're happy to use another type of boning, and all available options are listed on the link provided. If you have no objections, we will use 1/2" steel.

Lighter boning is available by request. If you're thinking about buying a bodice, we recommend that you ask what type of boning is used before you make your purchase. The type of boning used in your bodice will make a difference in the level of support, comfort and sturdiness of construction.

If steel is used, it should be coated, shaped and raw edges coated with tipping fluid, or capped with a metal u-cap.

If plastic boning is used, it needs to be shaped or capped with plastic tips. We do not recommend Rigilene as a supportive type of boning.

NO ZIPPERS ON OUR Renaissance or Elizabethan BODICES. If your seamstress wants to use a zipper in a Renaissance, Tudor or Elizabethan bodice, you may want to reconsider your purchase. Zippers were not invented until the 1930s, and even well concealed zippers still look like zippers. That's something you just can't hide. We offer a multitude of other closure options for your bodices. And we'll use zippers on other clothing items (such as movie repros and more modern garments) but we only use them when noted on the description, or if you specifically ask us to.

Bodices vs. Corsets
Corsets and bodices are two very different garments. While a bodice can be supportive, it is not always designed to do the work of a corset.

Corsets tend to be made with sturdier fabrics, using sturdier construction methods, with much more boning for support. They tend to use less decorative and delicate fabrics than bodices.

Bodices tend to use much more delicate (and, quite often, more expensive) fabrics. Wearing a corset under your bodice is not only historically accurate in most cases, but it will lengthen the life of your bodice by taking the strain off the finer, more delicate fibers and putting all the stress on the more functional (and sturdier) corset fibers.

Corsets are often boned and shaped much more differently than bodices.

Historically, corsets were used to shape and smooth the lines of the body to give you the correct period silhouette.

During the Elizabethan and Tudor eras, the corsets would flatten the torso to create a conical shape. Later in history, corsets became curvier (thiink of Victorian corsets)

Modern faire attire is not always historically accurate, and while we do use 1/2" steel boning in all of our bodices, we often recommend the use of a corset if you're hoping to achieve the proper historical silhouette of any era.

We can customize your bodice and use extra boning for an additional charge.

If you purchase a corset, you will need to take new measurments with your corset on to make sure your new bodice fits. You may order both the corset and bodice at the same time, you will just need to send a first set of measurements for your corset, then a second set while wearing your corset.