Period Corsets' Top 9 Looks for 2017

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Period Corsets' Top 9 Instagram looks for 2017

The votes are in! Based off of our highest ranking posts in Instagram, these are the top 9 Period Corsets photo stories for 2017! 

1. Undressing the Green Silk Cavalier Ensemble

Our fabulous bespoke forest green corset gown and the many layers needed to create the look

2. Revealing the layers of the 17th century 

Our simplified 17th c. ensemble constructed for designer Todd Thomas. Read more about this outfit in our blog post:

Designer Todd Thomas Dresses up with Period Corsets

3. Dressing Salem

One of our many looks created for television's Salem with designer Joseph Porro:

Period Corsets and Salem

4. Brocades for Every Woman

Our perfectly vintage inspired Dusty Rose brocade, a fabulous choice for any of our corset styles.

Ode to Brocades

5. The bigger the hair, the wider the pannier...

Part of our 20 Year Retrospective, these extra wide panniers were made for Marie Antoinette, a co-production by the American Repertory Theater and Yale Repertory.

6. View From Below

Part of our Period Corsets Vintage Corset collection, this fan lacing girdle corset caused a stir.

7. Interchangeable Renaissance Wear

Our Renaissance Faire boned bodice with removable and reversible stomacher

8. Behind-the-scenes with our Pannier Cage

This turquoise version was made for a custom ensemble for Teatro Zinzanni. 

9. Embroidered Stomachers for Salem

These two custom boned bodices were constructed for the television's Salem for their final episode. The center front stomacher area was adorned with intricate embroidered insects with beaded details. 

Period Corsets and Salem


Thanks to all of our fans and followers for the amazing support and kind words. We love sharing our work with you and giving you a peek behind-the-scenes at what goes on at Period Corsets.
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Period Corsets and Salem the final season

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Period Corsets said a fond farewell to working with some of our favorite costumes and characters on Salem, Season 3. This year brought a close to the series, and to this wonderful project that we felt so lucky to be a part of.

The Witches of Salem, all wearing Period Corsets bodices, designed by Porro

 Heavy with embroidery, beading and fine details, Porro put his talents to the test and created some of the most elegant ensembles yet.With full wide skirts and off the shoulder corsets with exaggerated sleeves, each actress was made to look rich and fabulous. The costumes were certainly a more elaborate version of the original colonists but no doubt a more pleasant version to lay our eyes (and hands) on! As Porro said, "...our producers wanted us to have a little more fun with the stuff, make it a little sexier, a little more fashionable for modern audiences".

Anne Hale as played by Tamzin Merchant, wearing a Period Corsets made bodice

Mercy Lewis, played by Elise Eberle, wears a customized Marie Antoinette corset by Period Corsets

Salem's main character, Mary Sibley, was again the prime focus for the majority of the rich costumes. She started the season wearing bodices constructed of natural fibers in plain, understated colors with no embellishment. The design of her corsets was based on ones worn previously by the character Tituba. The corset was a tabbed style with half lacing down the center front made of different shades of linen.

Mary wears Period Corsets linen corsets

The costumes played an integral role in the storytelling. Mary's simple linen corsets represented Mary as a woman beaten down and struggling to find her footing in the world. As the story moves on, she is presented with her full wardrobe that had been kept from her, allowing her to transform herself again into the powerful witch she once was.

Mary wears a beaded boned bodice constructed by Period Corsets, designed by Porro

This year, Salem's signature looks involved an elongated center front stomacher, so long that it required Period Corsets to commission an extra long wooden busk specifically to fit each garment. This also required some artful patterning around the extreme length of the embroidered fabrics.

Inserting the extra long wood busk to give structure to the elongated center fronts

As with previous seasons, fabrics came to Period Corsets in uncut yardage with embroidery and beading already applied. Using these designs as guides, we shaped and patterned around the decorations to create the custom boned bodices. Some of the more elaborate pieces had the embroideries extending over the straps and shoulders creating elegant shaping and framing for the final bodice.

left:Mercy Lewis in her Period Corsets bodice with off the shoulder detailing
right:The un-cut beaded and embroidered materials sent directly to us

Another change to the silhouette this season was to allow for a different scoop in the armscye to accommodate the billowy sleeves traditional for this era. For his designs, Joseph Porro has said that he was inspired by paintings from the early 1600s. The Cavalier style dresses were a big influence on the overall costumes, with their extreme shapes and embellishments.

From left to right:
Mercy in a Period Corsets Marie Antoinette corset; a classic example of Cavalier fashion from painter Caspar Netscher

To adhere to a more historical path, the garment designs were closely matched to images found through research and supplied to us by the designers.  By matching the beaded fabric and referencing  archival paintings and photos of actual preserved bodices of the time, our team was able to achieve the extremely pointed long silhouette of that era. The black and white beaded bodice, shown below, was our most extreme version. For this piece, we required the longest wooden busk we've ever made, coming in at an impressive 18". A beauty to look at, but impossible to sit in!

left:Period Corsets boned bodice with 18" long front wood busk
right top: un-cut beaded fabric with design notes and photos to guide our pattern making
right bottom: Ladies "Jubón" Barroco, ca. 1670-1695 Spanish doublet

Another amazing element to these gorgeous costumes were the embroidered and beaded materials that were sent to us. The embellished motifs this year were like a story unto themselves. A golden god emblazoned across the chest, swirling vines, and blooming flowers accented with many decorated bugs. Each one a piece of artwork sewn to beautiful silks and velvet.

Full ensemble with bodice by Period Corsets, detail of gold beaded design for the center front stomacher

One of our favorite pieces this season was Mary's jaw-dropping wedding gown. There were three duplicate bodices for various scenes and stunts.  Throughout all 3 Salem seasons, Period Corsets constructed multiple sets of the same pieces, as most of them would be getting stained with various things relevant to the story-line. So, not only did they create these heavily detailed works art, but they made multiples of them!

Mary's wedding dress with  amazing embroidered flowers and bugs

"Being put into a corset instantly changes the whole way I move. Immediately I have power, just from what I'm wearing"- Janet Montgomery (Mary Sibley) on the transformative power of costumes

Dressing the Coven, Period Corsets® and Salem

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   For Salem, Season 2, Period Corsets® outfitted the dark world of the Essex witches coven.  Each character had their own unique signature silhouette and colorway, which quietly molded their personality for the screen. The costume's role in theatre and film is to help build the character presented before us. The use of color and subtle details silently sways our perception of a character and allows the actor to truly become that person. Salem was no exception in utilizing the costume to further develop each character.

The cast of Salem, Season 2

Mary Sibley, the Withering Queen-

   As we delve into Season 2, we find Mary Sibley trying to retain her grasp over the town and the witches of Salem. She faces power struggles and questions of morality as her position as head of the coven is threatened by a new powerful witch, the Countess Marburg. 

Mary's corset by Period Corsets®, shown with lace collar and skirt by the Salem costumers.

   As the reigning witch, and a lady of high standing in the community, Mary's bodices needed to convey her wealth and power. Her ensembles were elegantly decorated with intricate beading and delicate embroidery, as compared to those of her ostentatious counterpart, the Countess Marburg. Mary's ensembles were more subdued with fine detailing and modest shaping. Mary's signature shape was a rigidly boned bodice with a high neckline. She had set-in three quarter length sleeves, and tabs at the waist that spread out beautifully over the full skirts at her hip.

   Mary's colors remained mostly black with occasional touches of brightness highlighted by various embellishments or unique fabrics. As the season went on, her costumes evolved to be darker and more spare as her status in the town was lowered.

Some of Mary's wardrobe of boned bodices by Period Corsets®

   One of the most beautiful creations this season was our gold lame' bodice with intricately beaded monograms. Designer Joseph Porro used the talents of hand embroidery masters in India to create many decorated stomachers, sleeve cuffs and skirts. The stomachers would come straight to us on an uncut piece of yardage which we then cut and fitted into our boned bodice design.  The handiwork on these pieces was astonishing with its elaborate beading and bullion embroidery.

Gold lame' beaded boned bodice for Mary by Period Corsets®

Anne Hale, Coming into Power-

   Anne Hale came to us in Season 1 as a meek and innocent young lady. In Season 2, she makes surprising discoveries and insights into her own personality and family history. We watch this character as she awakens the witch inside her, embraces her new found power, and tests her limits to finally gain the strength to stand on her own. 

Designer's sketch, boned bodice by Period Corsets®, on screen with finishing touches

   Anne is a mostly quiet and well-respected figure in town. Her wardrobe consisted of the usual period shaping but in much more demure examples as compared to her sister witches. The cut of her boned bodices was less revealing, having more coverage across the bust and shoulders with three quarter length set-in sleeves. Her color palette primarily remained within navy blues, blacks and an occasional splash of purple. Her fabrics were a collection of fine silks, foulards, and boucles.
   Only slight touches of finery were added to Anne's finished ensembles, thus keeping her look simple, but socially above that than the average villager. It will be interesting to see how she blossoms and moves into her new role as one of the "power witches" of Salem, and how that will affect her wardrobe for Season 3.

Anne Hale in quiet blues and purples

Tituba's Secrets and Lies-

   In an attempt to further her own goals, the mysterious former slave, Tituba, continued her backstabbing ways by manipulating Mary Sibley . Her standing as Mary's handmaiden kept her clothed in less extravagant clothing appropriate for a character of little means.
   Titubas corsets were constructed in rough, natural fibers such as linens and chenille, all in darker hues of navy or black.  Although she has a low-standing position in society, she still conveys an alluring air about her. Her tightly-laced corsets, worn over loose, off the shoulder chemises, featured seductive front lacing and cleavage enhancing support.

Tituba's signature corset with front lacing and tie-on straps, all by Period Corsets®

Period Corsets® constructed several of Tituba's signature rugged corsets from various kinds of distressed leather, some with tattered leather trim.  Her well-worn wardrobe gives us a sense of her history.  It's suffered along with her and survived through a long life of hard work and troubles. 

Some of Tituba's many leather corsets made by Period Corsets®

Mercy Lewis, to the Depths and Back-
   Mercy continued her struggle to gain power, uniting for a time with the Countess Marburg. Together she hoped they could steal the witch throne from Mary Sibley.  For Season 2, Mercy's rise from the ashes was a grand one. We see her go from dirty rags to elegant silks in heavily-decorated gowns fit for a princess or protege' of the Countess Marburg.

Mercy in a coral brocade "Marie Antoinette" corset with tie-on sleeves by Period Corsets®

   To exemplify Mercy's rise, designer Joseph Porro created gorgeous ensembles in rich pinks and sweet lilacs. Her attire exuded femininity with added bows, ruffles, flowers and trims.
   Once they reached the design teams costume shop on location, our corsets and boned bodices-much like Mercy's transformation- underwent a dramatic change of their own . Based on the designer's requests, Period Corsets built many bodices that were base garments for the costumers to embellish. Although initially the bodices were beautiful on their own, the addition of multiple layers of ribbons, trims and other details, created pieces that are works of art.

Mercy's corset by Period Corsets® before and after the many bows, lace and trim added by Salem costumers.

For more on Salem Season 2, see our Pinterest album:
https://www.pinterest.com/periodcorsets/salem-from-design-to-finish/
and our related blog post:
http://periodcorsets.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-witchs-wardrobe-period-corsets-and.html

The Witch's Wardrobe, Period Corsets® and Lucy Lawless

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    Period Corsets® again had the pleasure of working with gifted costume designer Joseph Porro for Salem, Season 2. This year brought us an awe inspiring collection of embroidered and embellished Corsets and Bodices with exquisite stomachers. The luxurious and unique materials graced a new character played by the fabulous Lucy Lawless.

Lucy Lawless as "Marburg" wearing a boned bodice by Period Corsets®

    Entering the second season of Salem, we meet the commanding Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg, the last true sorceress in an ancient line of powerful German witches. The Countess is determined to dethrone Mary Sibley through a power battle, bring the devil to Earth, and leave a trail of death and destruction behind her. Her past, rife with scandal and rich in misbegotten evil schemes, is perpetuated through her power of resurrection.

    The storied past of Countess Marburg's complex character is reflected in the textured layers of her intricately  constructed costumes.

Lawless in bronze lame boned bodice with captive Tituba in leather corset, both by Period Corsets® 

  "I have had so many names: Hecate, Medea, and  Bathory are just a few. I'm the Swallower of Souls, She who flowers from her wounds. I'm the last of the first, I am the last of the true witches."                            -Countess Marburg

Marburg preps her potions while wearing a Period Corsets® Kristina  corset in purple silk.

    A third of the custom boned bodices Period Corsets® made for Salem this season were for the Countess Marburg. Her wardrobe consisted of rich jewel tones in lush fabrics- silk, velvet, lame, fur and leather.  As a Countess, her wardrobe had to be dripping with emblems of her wealth and power, which were evoked by heavily beaded and embroidered stomachers.

A few of the fabulous embellished stomachers for "Countess Marburg"

Gold beaded and embroidered Period Corsets® custom boned bodice with sleeves

    It was a true collaboration between Period Corsets®  and the Salem costume designer, Joseph Porro, and his talented costuming team.

    Period Corsets® tailored every bodice to showcase the hand embroidery of the center front panel. The stomacher, as it is called in historic garments, is usually a removable piece, but for this series we decided to build the stomachers into the garments.

Fitting in the custom embroidered stomacher to a velvet boned bodice. 

   The raw and uncut lengths of yardage of each type of fabric arrived from India, where artisans had masterfully embroidered the custom design motifs specified by Mr. Porro and the Salem design team. These fabrics exceeded our wildest imagination. They were exquisitely hand embroidered with thick coiled bullion and beaded in fantastic ornamental designs sometimes incorporating the character's monogrammed single initial.

Embroidered real silver lame yardage from India 

Detail of silver embroidered bullion stomacher in a Period Corsets® bodice

Lucy Lawless wears a custom boned bodice with embroidered stomacher by Period Corsets®

    Period Corsets® then had the challenge of fitting these extraordinary pieces of artwork into the pattern of each particular bodice and stomacher shape. Every garment was pinned or tucked and altered to perfection, depending on the length and width of these fabulous embroidered one-of-a-kind works of art.

Marburg's golden bodices with heavy embroidery and beaded monograms. 

Marburg's ensembles are heavily laden with detail, overtly displaying her weighty role in society. Her color palette consisted of romantic jewel tones and golden hues in contrast to that of her nemesis Mary Sibley's less ostentatious darker tones. Her fabrics capture the bold and the passionate, with deep Gothic touches; a kaleidoscope of shimmering facets, from added embellishments or fibers in the fabric itself.  Seeing her stroll into a scene gives you the immediate sense of the power and importance she embodies.

Burgundy velvet bonded bodice with tie-on sleeves and embroidered stomacher

 Period Corsets® bodices and corsets provided the base palette for the Salem costumers to build on. After  the bodices arrived in their studio, their design team added more detail.  Period Corsets® applauds Mr. Porro's talent in combining unique base fabrics with  overlays of sheers, nets and textures to create  dynamic  ensembles that encapsulate the feeling of  the character.  He  creates depth to his costumes that intrigue the mind of the viewer.

Unique Materials- left, green satin with webbed sequin lace overlay
right top, navy and silver bodice with navy velvet bullion embroidery
right bottom, tie-dye velvet in greens, blues and black

For Marburg's finale, we see her in a black on black leather and fur ensemble made from no less than four types of material. The front stomacher piece was crafted of embossed leather, to give the appearance of crocodile skin. The rest of the bodice used various textured furs that had been trimmed to match the pattern of the leather. Sewing with leather requires its own unique set of skills and tools.

 By choosing such exotic materials, Mr. Porro's designs literally mold Countess Marburg into the tough-minded and fierce character we see on screen, transforming her into the wild animal she truly is.

Marburg's Finale- boned bodices made of embossed crocodile leather with textured fur sides.

For more photos of our work with Joseph Porro and Salem, see our Pinterest Board "Salem, From Design to Finish"

and our related blog posts:
Period Corsets and Salem; Witch War, the battle of the stomachers!

Period Corsets and Lucy Lawless in Salem

Period Corsets® and Salem; Witch War, the battle of the stomachers!

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In the series Salem, season 2 there is a witch war.  The main opponents are the Countess Marburg, a newcomer to Salem played by Lucy Lawless and Mary Sibley, played by Janet Montgomery.  In an interview with the New York Times, Ms. Lawless says, "The countess is no wall stain; she will be an integral part of the witch war that is to occupy the second season.“I’m here to give Janet’s character a hard time,” Ms. Lawless said. “A very, very hard time.”  

Bodices made by Period Corsets®,
 trimmed and finished by the Salem design team

  Here at Period Corsets® the witch war consisted of the battle over who has the most gorgeous stomacher.  A stomacher is the center front panel of  a bodice or corset. Historically it was a removable panel, but its primary definition is that it is the showpiece of the garment, filled with delicate and intricate embroidery.  Joseph Porro, the costume designer and his design team at Salem outdid themselves with the luxurious custom embroidered fabrics they sent us to make each corset or bodice. Every character seemed to have one more beautiful than the next.

 Here Ms. Lawless seems to agree,
“When I went to the costume fitting... when they dressed me up and made me so glamorous, I was shocked.”

Pictured above and below are my two favorites, one for each witch, in the fabric, in the bodice and then on screen.

Marburg Stomacher in the works at Period Corsets

Marburg Bodice at Period Corsets

Mary Sibley Stomacher fabric

Mary Sibley Bodice finished at Period Corsets

Countess Marburg and Mary Sibley in their dueling Bodices

Which do you like best?

 There are many more to come!

To keep up to date on a daily basis of our parade of elaborate stomachers, bodices, and corsets follow us on our Period Corsets instagram 

Period Corsets® Gets Witchy with Salem

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Grab your broomsticks and suspend your sense of disbelief! We're off to Salem, Massachusetts circa 1692.  This production provided us another great collaboration with an amazing design team for this latest supernatural drama, "Salem".  The series focuses less on the historically accurate side of the infamous witch burning events in the town, and more on scandal, sex and incantations.

The costumes designed by Joseph Porro are provocative and decadent. Period Corsets® garments figure prominently throughout the series from episode 5 though 14 and are often seen on screen as outerwear and under wear.

detail of our custom brocade corset

Though many liberties are taken in the plot with the re-telling of the famous witch trials, it does reference actual historical figures. We had the pleasure of costuming many of the characters involved, most notably Tituba, Mercy Lewis and Mary Sibley. These were all real women involved in the trials, who now play a larger, if not more scandalous, role in the series.

Mercy and the witches of Salem in our front lacing custom corset

The costume designer, Mr. Porro has brought his usual skill and knowledge of the period to this project. He combines details that nod to the fantastical side (ie: embroidered iridescent green beetle wings seen below ),  with his solid historic underlying silhouettes. Together they evoke the world of the show eloquently.

Mary in our custom green brocade bodice

As with all costumes, Salem's wardrobe is a valuable player in portraying the personality and role of each character. Mary's wardrobe consisted of a lot of rich fabrics and elaborate brocades. Her costumes create a very lady-like and grand feel, being one of the most prominent characters with an important background in the community. To represent Mercy's dark story, the designer chose a lot of heavily textured, black on black materials balanced with some neutral pieces. Tituba is more exotic with a lot of jewel tones and more natural fibers.

"Mary Sibley"

"Mercy Lewis"

"Tituba"

Period Corsets® was in four months of production with Salem, providing us with an incredibly creative collaboration with  their design team. They inundated us with a huge range of materials, everything from vintage silver lame herringbone kimono fabric to eyelet faux leather to burnout velvet silk overlaying satin. Every day was filled with anticipation to discover what rich materials they had in store for us next. Our finished garments where often the base for Mr. Porro's design team to take them to the next level of fantasy. They used luxurious trims and feathers, or distressed them with dirt, and of course lots and lots of blood.

Corsets and bodices in every fabric possible

Close to 40 pieces were created for the first season of the show. Some were stock items, such as our Marie Antoinette corset and our Kristina corset. Other items were completely custom created from the designers research images. Many of our creations were bodices with sleeves. A fitted corset look with either inset sleeves or tied-on sleeves, with or without cuffs in varying shapes.

Bodice with sleeves

See the full first season  of "Salem" streaming on Netflix. See our cauldron full of corsets in our slideshow below! Stay tuned for Season 2.

Slideshow not working? Follow the link to see our album.