Inch By Inch, This is a Cinch!

The Satin Princess Cinch is fully boned with stainless steel, and it's REAL boning – not the rather unfortunate clothes hanger type boning one sees in “corsets” in popular clothing stores. The boning is done in doubles, with each bone being approximately a centimeter in width, making the overall boning width of about two centimeters/one inch, with a strong seam along the midsection of the boning (as well as on the outside of the boning, of course) to increase the strength and robustness of the cincher over all. I quite like this design element; all corsets I have worn in the past feature single bones, which will eventually bow due to the fact that they are so slender and easily mold to the body's shape. Bones with a width over a centimeter would be way too rigid to wrap correctly around the waist – this cincher manages to provide thick bones that have flexibility. After a handful of wearings for at least four hours at a time, I have noted no bowing or bending of the bones, and no unraveling of the seams that hold them in place. In short, this cincher is boned extremely well.

The cincher laces up at the back via standard metal eyelets anchored between two thin bones. This is a smart way of anchoring the eyelets, as they take the lions share of the strain during lacing, and are typically one of the first places that a corset starts to degrade. Again, through repeated wearings I have seen no fraying of slippage of the eyelets. The lacing is done with a very simple black polyester cord, reminiscent of a shoelace. It is very strong, but it slips easily through the eyelets, making it a tad difficult to lace-up solo, but reducing any friction based fraying of the cord.

The front of the cincher does up via a standard metal busk (called “hook and eye” in its properties on Eden Fantasys). The busk is doubled up with a single bone, emulating the other boning all over the corset, and being awesome for the reasons I've outlined above. The busk shows no bending or bowing from my wearings, which is something I've noted with other corsets I've worn in the past, so it appears to be high quality as well. Busks are for doing up and releasing a cincher, but are not meant to be done-up/released at laced up tightness. Whenever possible, it's important to loosen the laces at the back before releasing the busk – but the busk will also allow you to get out quick if you really need it – perhaps after an exceptionally big meal or a moment of unbridled lust?

The cincher is made of shiny black satin that is lined with some sort of artificial fleecy material. It feels very nice against your skin, and it really pops with shine when worn as an outer garment. There is a simple flap of the fleecy material that can lie beneath the lacing to hide any “back-phat-cleavage” resulting from a tight lacing, and the busk is lined with a small additional flap of satin that provides a black backdrop for the ever-so-tiny gap between the hooks and eyes of the busk. These are both nice touches, especially if you plan to wear this undergarment as an outer garment. The lacing flap can be very very easily removed, trimmed back or just folded back if one wishes to show some back cleavage.

Size wise, the Leg Avenues size chart tells me I should be in a medium, large, or extra large (thanks, right?), which is a standard issue I have as I am pretty curvy with a very small waist for my bust and (particularly) hip size. I am generally best described as a “Size 10” or “Medium” when I buy clothes, but it varies a hell of a lot, which is why I tend to avoid buying clothes on line. This cincher only really sits around your waist, so when looking at the size chart I recommend ignoring the bust and hip measurements and focusing on the waist measurement. And because this is a cincher, if you find yourself deciding between two sizes, go with the smaller. I think corsets look way sexier with wide lacing than they do laced to their max. My waist size is 28 inches or so, but I opted to go with Medium and I am so glad I did. I can cinch it down pretty darn tight, and it actually looks like it could be potentially too big if I were to drop ten or fifteen pounds. Which I won't be doing anytime soon, because honestly – who needs to diet when you have a corset?

The question that remains, of course, is how does it look and wear? Well, this is an underbust corset, which is my preferred type of corset as I find over-bust corsets squash my bust down, giving me awesome cleavage but make me look a size or two smaller, and damnit I like my boobs. The underbust-ness of the corset is such that it could be paired with a bra with very little issues of chafing or strange overlaps, and as an added bonus, the fact that this cincher sits under the bust means that it won't squeeze out a strange lump of breast fat around the armpit – any squishing up of fat pushes the boobs up – huzzah, right? This also makes this corset an ideal candidate for men looking to rock the cinched waist look (which is totally hot, FYI), because it complements a man's build a lot better than an over-bust corset, which is made, of course, with accommodation of boobs in mind.

The cincher looks great as both an outer and under garment. Either way, it gives you amazing posture – straight as a board – which isn't ideal for driving or playing twister, but makes you look hot to trot at all other times. As an outer garment, it would be nice paired over a blouse and perhaps also under a blazer to bring a touch of classic chic to a relatively plain ensemble. If you're feeling a bit racier, it also looks great paired with some pasties, a very tiny bra, or even just a black tape “X” over the nipples. Or hey, just wear it with your girls out if you're going to that kind of party – you're SURE to turn heads. Under clothing, the cincher is very sleek and does not create any awkward new curves. I have worn it under very tight sweaters that I *ahem* am not able to fit into regularly, as it really slims down my waist and part of my upper torso. Obviously it is black, so that somewhat limits what it can be worn under, and unfortunately it ONLY comes in black. If Leg Avenue made this cincher in “nude”, I would be first in line to by one to have on hand as my secret weapon for wear under white.

This is just a plain fan-freaking-tastic piece. In the time I've had it, I've worn it as a top to parties (lots and lots of compliments), and as a piece of lingerie under a sexy dress. It still shows no signs of bending and bowing in the bones, and no fraying at any attachment point. This is well worth its price.