I’m sorry to disappoint those of you looking forward to your Tammy fix today, but The Rack will be back.  May I offer you a cotton candy vision of gorgeous corsets by Jane Woolrich instead?  They are handmade to order from her farmhouse in England.  Scroll past the pictures (if you can make yourself) for more information, including two shops on the East Coast where you can buy them.

Each corset on this rack was more beautiful and intricate than the one before.

Maybe it’s Little Bo Peep-like, but don’t you LOVE this?  You can tell by the detail
that Jane is passionate about what she does, and she confirmed this when I spoke
to her at the show.

In New York City, La Petite Coquette carries Jane Woolrich.  You can choose a corset from their catalog and have them take your measurements, but Jane prefers to take your measurements herself when she comes to the city for the lingerie shows in February and August.  If you’d rather a different Jane Woolrich creation, check out this gown with a low waterfall back (once again, who says we can’t wear backless . . . in the bedroom at least!).  Jane’s nightwear has more curve in the bust and some stretch, so it actually fits a fuller bust.  (Speaking of fuller busts, check out the “Curvy” section just for us in the left margin of the La Petite Coquette website–and they don’t mean “plus size”.)

You can also find Jane Woolrich at Trousseau in Vienna, Virginia.  Here’s what else I learned when I talked to Natalie at Trouseau just now:

  • Jane Woolrich corsets are spiral steel stayed and will suck your waist in by four inches.
  • If you want a corset faster than custom, they have fit a 34J into a Jane Woolrich corset and simply taken in a small dart at the bust.
  • The silk brocade corsets will run you between $495 and $525, and there is actually a 5% corset tax from Revolutionary times that is still imposed (evidently we were trying to encourage corset makers to move here).

Beautiful, well-made pieces like these make me want to be careful not to throw money away on forgettable clothing.  Jane Woolrich lingerie is going on my list of things I want to own some day.