THE LOOP — Heather Garry loves a clothing challenge.
The owner of Corsetiere usually spends 60 hours designing and then constructing her custom-made corsets for clients. In business since 2011, first in Wicker Park and now in the Loop, Garry has built a customer base in the hundreds that includes women and men. In the coming months, she's expanding Corsetiere to add an exclusive line of lingerie.
"Corsets to me are very interesting," said Garry, a Gold Coast resident who also has lived in Lincoln Park, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Wicker Park, Pilsen and Bucktown. "They're fun to make, and they're difficult to make. Not everybody can construct a corset."
Each corset takes weeks to produce. She meets individually with clients, who help her dream up a custom design. Garry then takes measurements and drafts a paper pattern that is perfectly fitted to the client's body. Soon after, each client returns to her shop at 410 S. Michigan Ave. to try on a mockup corset — an unfinished shape of what the corset will look like for final measurements.
Justin Breen says Garry also works somewhere that widens your waist:
Finally, the actual corset, usually made of cotton coutil fabric with steel "bones" sewn into the seams for added vertical stability, is created.
Garry charges around $300 for a standard corset, and between $470-$500 for custom works.
"A lot of my clients are regular everyday people who want a smaller waistline, but I do make several corsets for weddings," Garry said.
Garry, a Florida native, came to Chicago to attend DePaul University. She eventually transferred to and graduated from International Academy of Design and Technology. Garry also is a server at Kuma's Corner and sponsors a local burlesque troupe called Vaudezilla.
Garry said she's always appreciated the history of the corset, which dates back to at least the 1500s.
"Corsets," she said, "play a huge role in the history of underwear."
For more information on Corsetiere, click here.
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