Lace taffeta corset - corset discontinued by Coquette - review by Coralbell

I got the Lace Taffeta Corset to wear for New Year's Eve. Paired with a black pencil skirt, I thought it would be the perfect outfit; festive, sexy and classy. I got a lot of compliments on this corset, but I wasn't happy with the way it fit and functioned.

I'm at the upper end of small or lower end of medium on Coquette's size chart. I'm a size 6, 34 B and have a 28 inch waist and 38 inch hips. I usually go back and forth in my head between ordering a small or a medium. For this corset I went with the small since I have the Polka Dot Mesh Corset in medium and wished it was a little smaller, especially in the bust. After ordering I worried that the small might be too tight in my waist and that I wouldn't be comfortable dancing in it all night. When I tried it on, I was surprised to find that I actually wished it were smaller. It fit well through the bust and I was able to get some cleavage going, but it didn't cinch me in at all even though I'm at the top of the size chart and had it on the tightest setting. The lace is quite stretchy and just fits me like a regular top would. I recommend ordering this in a size smaller than you normally would. Unfortunately, for people my size or smaller this just isn't going to work as a functional corset.

The corset is made from stretchy black lace with a subtle floral pattern. The cups and the strips over the boning are red taffeta. The bones are made from plastic and there are 11 of them. Based on the picture I thought there were no bones on the sides of the corset, but there is a pair on either side of the cups that is not covered with the red fabric. The cups are described as padded on the product page, but they just have a thin lining of foam that provides structure but doesn't add size. There is no underwire. The corset has 2 sets on hook and eyes, which makes it slightly adjustable. Inside the corset there is a strip of elastic a bit over an inch wide that is meant to help nip in the waist. There are 3 red satin bows which are removable, and just attach with safety pins. I removed the bottom two and left the one between the breasts on. It comes with removable garters and shoulder straps. The shoulder straps are like regular, adjustable bra straps. The loops that they hook onto are quite stiff and I found that the ones on the back poked me at times and had the be tucked back into place. The garters are also adjustable and have plastic closures. I tried to use the metal garters that came with my Polka Dot Corset with this one, but they wouldn't fit into the loops.

The corset is 100% nylon, exclusive of trim. It should be hand washed and air dried. After wearing this corset once and gently washing it there are a couple of pulls in the lace and there were a few threads coming loose from the red fabric over the boning. I snipped off the loose threads and the pulls aren't very noticeable so it still looks okay, but I'm a little worried about how this will hold up over time.

I've only worn this the one time since I got it, and don't really plan to wear it again. I don't find it to be as flattering to my body as other lingerie I own, and I'm not happy with the way the material held up. Even after wearing it once and before I ever washed it, red threads started coming loose from the material on the boning, and the elastic fibers in the lace pulled. I've been very happy with the materials used in all my other Coquette pieces, but this corset didn't seem to be as high in quality.