A Guide To Tightlacing & Corsets For Men

Tightlacing (or corset training) is the practice of wearing a tightly laced corset to experience physical restriction or achieve long-term body modification.  Although corsets are widely associated with sex and looking sexy, it's not only women who wear them for this purpose. So, we asked MadameZ to give some top tightlacing tips. 

Tightlacing for long-term body modification

For some men, the idea of a corset goes along with a sissification fetish, or ‘forced feminization’ at the hands of a dominatrix, but a quick search for ‘man corset’ brings up plenty of images of corsetry that are undoubtedly masculine in appearance.  One of the best-known male corset enthusiasts goes by the name of Mr Pearl: after years of full-time corset wearing, he has apparently reduced his waist measurement to 18 inches. To do this takes a lot of dedication, and not everyone wants to go that far. 

Corseting for long-term body modification has a long (and not always terribly healthy) history, but if the idea of reconstructing your figure along these lines appeals, there is plenty of guidance on how to do it.

RELATED: Tightlacing – Past and Present

To put it in the broadest possible terms, waist training involves a combination of how tightly you lace your corset and how long you wear it for every day. Some devotees prefer to focus on the lacing, starting with a two-hour session and working up to more extended periods of time; others aim for staying corseted for longer and adjusting the tightness as and when it feels necessary. 

A consistent theme on the various websites offering advice and instructions is: don’t overdo it and don’t try to go too fast if you are aiming to reduce your waist measurement long-term.


Corset maker and wearer, Mr Pearl.  Image: www.michaeljamesobrien.com

Cinch that waist 

For many people, a simple waist cincher is just a way of giving themselves a body shape that’s more aesthetically pleasing when they are dressed up for a night out. There are several subcultures where a corset is regarded as part of the overall look: plenty of goths wear them, and a steampunk corset looks terrific with the rest of the top-hat-goggles-and-boots image. 

Corsets worn in this way are often bought off-the-peg, and quite often they are the sort that fastens with clasps or hooks-and-eyes rather than the wearer needing the help of a friend or lover to pull the laces to the required tightness. 

Worn for fun, fashion or now-and-again sexy dress-up, corsets can be overbust (with shaped cups for the tits) or underbust (with no such thing): there seems to be a general preference for underbust corsets for the serious waist trainer.

Even if it’s only for a night out, there’s something potentially arousing about wearing a corset. Some people report feeling turned on when they're laced up tight: this possibly works on anyone responsive in the same way as shibari or kinbaku rope bondage: the feeling of being restrained and constricted sets off those little signals in the sex-loving part of your brain. 

Tightlacing tips 

Want to try it for yourself? Here are some top corset and tightlacing tips…

1. If you’ve never worn a corset before, it’s okay to start with something ready-made that’s relatively cheap and cheerful. You can buy a waist cincher online, but it’s probably best to go somewhere you can try a few on to see what’s most comfortable for your body shape.
    
2. For waist training, you will need to have your corset made to measure. There are plenty of corset-makers online, pretty much all of whom have websites full of detailed guidance, including videos.
    
3. Don’t hurt yourself. Every corset lover or corset-maker emphasises the fact that corsetry should never hurt or make you feel ill: if you’re laced into your corset and feeling like you’re going to puke or pass out, then those laces are too tight.
    
4. For long-term corset wearing, you’ll need to take good care of your skin, and probably get yourself an under-corset garment to prevent any chafing (a nasty rash is not erotic.. well, not to the majority of people, anyway).
    
5. Don’t combine tightlacing with stuffing your face. Overeating while corseted will make you feel hugely uncomfortable. It’s also probably not a good idea to eat anything that gives you wind: having your waist cinched in WILL impact your digestion.
    
6. Being tightlaced also affects your lung capacity and strength. So, no matter how lovely you look in your corset, you may want to loosen it before you embark on a vigorous fucking session. And, given that many corsets are dry-clean only, it might be worth removing yours altogether if there is any risk of spunk splashing onto it.

MadameZ is a veteran pervert, writer of erotica, top/dominant, fond of rope, impact play and experimentation.

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