There are many measurements to know, but we’ll stick with the 4 main measurements:
1) waist
2) underbust (rib spring)
3) hips (hip spring)
4) torso length
CORSET SIZE
1) To find your corset size, measure your natural waist, then subtract either 4 or 6 inches.
So say your natural waist is 30″ and you subtract 4, your corset size is 26″.
But if you subtract 6, your corset size will be 24″.
It all depends on how much of a reduction you want.
RIB SPRINGS
2) Next is underbust & rib spring: this is measured around your rib cage, usually on or right below your bra strap.
Mine is 34″, so to find our rib spring we’ll do our underbust minus our corset size: 34 – 26 = 8.
So my rib spring is 8 inches.
You need to know your “rib spring” so that your corset is not forcing spillage (back fat) and you can breathe 😉
HIP SPRINGS
3) Now let’s do hips & hip spring: you have your upper hip (where your hip starts) and your lower hip (where it meets your pubic bone & hip flexor).
Your upper hip is usually 4″ below your belly button.
My upper hip measures 36″ around, and my lower hip (about 6″ below your belly button) measures 38″.
So for the hip springs, you subtract your hip size to your corset size: 36 – 26 = 10″ upper hip spring and 38 – 26 = 12″ lower hip spring.
TORSO LENGTH
4) For your torso length, you measure from your underbust to your hips; either your upper hip or lower hip, depending on how long you want your corset to be.
If you sit down majority of the day like I do, then sit down to measure your torso length.
My torso length is 8.5″ sitting down from my underbust to upper hip.
But when I stand up, my torso length is 9.5″ from my underbust to my upper hip, and 10.5″ from underbust to lower hip.
Use my measurements/example to measure your torso length and get an idea of how much of your torso you want the corset to cover and whether or not you will be sitting or standing most days.
This measurement will determine if you need a short torso corset, an average torso corset, or a longline torso corset.