[This is the fictional account of life in corsets by a woman who found out about my special interest in corsetry and figure control. It is based on a the memory of an evening spent with a senior colleague, earlier in my career, when I could not help but notice that his wife was tightly laced. I have wondered ever since how it affected their marriage and their pleasures. This is interpretive. The names are altered but the location and other details are accurate.]
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OK. I live near Sevenoaks in Kent, England. I work in the local council offices. I'm an office supervisor; been there about three years. Before that, I worked in the finance department of a store in Tunbridge. I'm 33 years old and married for five years. We have no children yet. Don't know if we will, in fact. Our life is pretty full and I suppose we've got a bit selfish. My husband Tony works in property management; he's a surveyor and valuer.
Well, about six years ago, I got really depressed about my figure and how I was getting older. I know I was only 26 but I'd been so happy as a girl and pleased about my appearance, but then I was suddenly approaching late-20s and looking older! For no reason, I seemed to be putting on weight and losing my shape. Mind you, I had a few boyfriends and none of them ever said anything; it's just the way I saw myself. I could have become anorexic but I didn't. Instead, I went to a lingerie shop and bought some girdles and things. To hold me in, you know? I wonder how many women do that.
There were two things about it that I have to mention and things had to go further. One was the fact that they showed when I wore them, especially under my favourite clothes, which fitted quite well. You know; a bit tight on me. So I was sometimes even more worried that people would say, "She's overweight; look at her girdle". I was caught between feeling fat and uncontrolled on the one hand, and slimmer but a bit obvious on the other.
The second thing was when I knew that I could be slimmer in a girdle, I wanted something even stronger. I bought myself a proper corset by mail order, to really hold me in place. It wasn't a very attractive corset, that first one. It was pink brocade and laced at the front. It had six suspenders and it came about two inches above my waist line. It was Twilfit, by mail order like I said. It was a lot tighter than the girdles.