400 YEARS OF THE CORSET: FROM IRON PRISON TO 61 PARTS OF FREEDOM

400 YEARS OF THE CORSET: FROM IRON PRISON TO 61 PARTS OF FREEDOMBy Vaselika Asenova | FLAGSHIP – OUR PRIDE & JOY | BOIPI Protected 2026INTRO: WHEN A CORSET WAS A CAGEIn 1570, a corset was not fashion. It was orthopaedics. It was punishment.This is the IRON ORTHOPAEDIC CORSET, c. 1570-1600, France. Perforated iron, hinged at the sides. Used for spinal correction. Kept today in Wellcome Collection, London – Inv. No. 1572-162.Weight: 3-5 kgParts: 2Material: Hammered iron, perforated with diamonds and circles just to make it lighter.Closure: Padlock. You could not take it off alone.It didn’t follow the body. The body had to follow it. No breathing. No sitting. No dancing. A woman inside was an exhibit.THE DIFFERENCE: 2 PARTS VS 61 PARTSThat is the whole story.Iron corset: 2 flat pieces. Left and right. Hammered on an anvil. No darts, no curves, no boning, no soul. Just a shell.My corset – KORSETA VASI – FLAGSHIP ROSE:Weight: 1 kgParts: 61 pattern piecesEach piece has a reason.This is not a corset. This is architecture.• Front part: Sweetheart neckline, crossed – we call it sovrapposizione a cuore • Bodice: 24 main panels, cut on butter-yellow tartan • Boning: 18 channels – not iron, but flexible steel and spiral boning that moves with you • Embroidery: 8 red roses – hand-placed, rosa flagship – each rose is 3 layers of thread • Back: Lacing with 11 eyelets each side • Total: 61 pieces sewn into ONE dream. When you put it on the table, it STANDS. Like a sculpture. Because the boning holds it. The iron one lies – heavy and dead. Mine stands – light and alive.WHAT IT IS MADE OF?Iron corset: 100% iron. Cold. Rusts.FLAGSHIP corset:• Outer: Cotton tartan butter-yellow • Inner: Cotton coutil strength • Interlining: Canvas for shape • Boning: 18 spiral and flat steels • Lace: White tulle gonna a balze in tulle technique underneath • Details: Satin bow fiocco in raso rosso • Lining: Soft cotton so you can wear it all day WHY 400 YEARS MATTER?For 400 years we went from closing women in iron to giving them freedom with MORE construction.Iron = 2 parts = prison.Tulle = 61 parts = freedom.The more parts, the more freedom. That is couture.My FLAGSHIP – OUR PRIDE & JOY is proof: A ball gown does not have to weigh 7-9 kg like in 1860. The whole gown – corset + sovragonna (over-skirt) + crinolina di tulle (tulle crinoline 10m tulle 0.3kg) = 1.3 kg total.From 9 kg iron cage to 1.3 kg dream.Design by Vaselika AsenovaProtected Design – FLAGSHIP ROSE – BOIPI 2026KORSETA VASI