End of the Armor (for now)

I knew it would happen. It was inevitable, and in fact has happened before.

Corset season has ended.

As you may know from previous posts, I don't lace every day of the year. It gets too hot in New York, and the perspiration is good for neither my true skin nor my second skin, and so from about May to September I let it all hang out and give the corsets a break. They need it, too--my two solid standbys will be spending the summer in rehab, as I reinforce their casings which have been worn down by friction.

This time of the year is always bittersweet for me. Although I love lacing, there's a part of my personality that is inherently lazy and doesn't mind not having to perform another step while dressing and choosing an outfit. It's also nice to be able to eat what I want without regard for the constriction of the corset. I don't mean that these months are spent eating fast food every day; there are some foods that are fairly healthy but still make me uncomfortable if I eat them while laced. Sushi is a good example, as is most soup, since both tend to be high in sodium. And then there are times when I'm cramped, and the corset just increases my unease. Don't get me wrong, I understand quite well that discomfort is a big part of lacing, but that's not the reason why I do it.

I do it for the hourglass shape, for the discipline of sitting up straight and eating smarter. It always takes some time for me to get used to how I look when I'm not wearing a corset--it's a little like getting your braces removed in that they were foreign and unnatural at first, but then they became a part of you and something seemed off kilter without all that metal in your mouth.

I also do it because my man really enjoys it, and the end of corset season is hard for him too. He misses the shape, and does his best to understand--since he doesn't wear one himself, and never has worn one, he can't really know the full toils and joys that are involved, but he gets that all the sweating is a bad thing. He does his best to be patient for the weather to cool off again, but in the meantime, my exposed flesh is subject to extra tickling.

I've tried to find a way to wear a corset in heat over about 75 degrees, but nothing has worked. My "summer corset" is made with fabric with breathes, but the liner I wear between my skin and the corset is decidedly hot on its own and so nullifies the benefits of wearing a light corset. I've tried drinking lots of water, lacing a bit more loosely, staying in air conditioning as much as possible...but there's no getting around the fact that seasons change, time marches on, and this, too, will pass.