Cathy Hay

British costume artist Cathy Hay is the creator and publisher of both Foundations Revealed and the award-winning Your Wardrobe Unlock'd, which were borne out of a grand wish to help other corsetmakers and seamstresses to stay inspired and positive, maximise their skills and realise their sewing dreams. She is a member of both the Costume Society in the UK and the Costumer's Guild West in the USA, teaches at Costume College. Her own website is The Peacock Dress and Other Stories.

Cathy lives in England (and sometimes, she likes to think, in northern California) with a paleontologist who's not yet sure what he's getting into...

Marion McNealy

Marion McNealy is Editor for Foundations Revealed. She also takes care of all the technical details behind the scenes for both our websites.

Marion loves teaching others to draft their own patterns and explore new ideas. She has a serious weakness for the straight front corsets and beautiful flossing designs of the late Victorian age.

Marion hails from the United States, but currently lives with her very patient husband and son in Germany.

Polly Aron

Polly takes care of customer service and our social media presence.

A childhood of shopping at jumble sales and charity shops enabled her mother's discerning eye to teach Polly to spot real leather, old-fashioned tailoring and to run her fingers through the rails to feel for quality fabric. By the age of 11, necessity had become passion and Polly was saving up her pocket money to buy 1920s flapper dresses.

As old threads disintegrated and vintage clothing became more expensive, Polly's only option was to teach herself to sew. Starting 17^th century re-enactment inspired her to expand her skill base, and twenty years later, she's made everything from Vermeer-inspired bodices to 1805 naval uniforms.

Polly's vintage and antique clothing collection now fills her loft. Her costume books, fabric stash and vintage pattern collection fill the guest room. She shares the rest of her cottage in England with a very understanding husband, two small daughters, five chickens, two cats and a pair of giant African snails.

Noelle Paduan

Noelle is, as well as article formatter for Foundations, our long-suffering web guru, with knowledge and advice to offer on layout and usability. She is officially responsible for the important role of freaking out over image margins, line spacing and smooth movement around Foundations Revealed and Your Wardrobe Unlock'd. She isn't happy with the sites yet, but she’s slowly whipping us into shape.

Appropriately enough, Noelle hails from Silicon Valley, and describes herself thus: "Friend, wife, cat staff, web ninja, world-traveler, costumer, fangirl, princess of power. Generally well-rounded and interested in most things."

Beginners

• Bypass the heartache of failed experiments and get straight to results by learning it right first time from our expert teachers
• Save money by learning which tools and materials are worth buying, which aren't, and how to use them properly
• Build confidence by getting a solid grounding in the essential skills you need, with minimal trial and error
• Ask questions and get informed feedback - there's no need to try to figure it out alone!
• Regular surveys ensure that you get to tell us what you need to learn - and we'll respond with new articles
• Free articles to get you started

Intermediate makers

• Get over that plateau by exploring an unrivalled range of real Victorian patterns
• Develop a rounded view on how it's done from a trusted range of professionals and amateur artists
• Find the inspiration to keep trying by getting noticed in our annual Corset Competition
• Test out that dream of going pro by browsing our articles on what it's like running a corsetmaking business

Advanced makers

• Go the distance with meaty projects that you can really get your teeth into
• Go professional with confidence, with the support and advice of our Business section
• Become a Foundations writer, get noticed and give something back to your community
• Take 21st century corsetmaking forward, rediscovering and developing Victorian secrets into new ideas for modern times

This is one of the best sites on the net. It represents what the net can do - make available quality and usable information for everyone. Keep up the exceptional work!

Marlene Hobart, via Facebook

I joined Foundations Revealed earlier this year and it's the best investment I've made in learning to make corsets.

Hannah, UK

Hi. I am a complete newbie to your site, Foundations Revealed, and so far, I LOVE IT!!!!! I am learning SO much!!!! Thank you, Thank you!!!! Have been reading thru so many articles. So much info to take in. I have delved into the cording article. Awesome :) Thanks so much and keep up the incredible work!!!!

Jill, Florida, USA

Thank you for all your hard work making these two fabulous sites! It is easy to overlook just how much work is done by bloggers, forum admins, etc. Every time I visit your sites, I'm just amazed by what a fabulous resource you provide.

Miranda, UK

I'd like to take the opportunity to say again how much I love and appreciate Foundations Revealed. I made my first corset (from a commercial pattern) earlier this year and thanks to the encouragement and tutorials on your website, I am now hooked! I am in the middle of my third corset I have drafted myself and it's so much more fun than making from a pattern. I've also recently found the confidence to post my corsets online on my own Facebook page. All thanks to you and the great contributors to FR, especially your Corsetmaking Revolution article which set me drafting my own patterns.

Hannah, UK

Thank you. And thank you for such wonderful pages. I've let just about every costumer that I know, professional or otherwise know about them.

Mary, Florida, USA

I have to tell you how much I love this site. Not only is the information incredible, but the feeling of sharing and community is so lovely. It is so rare in a world where professional techniques are kept secret and business advice is hard to come by. Thanks so much fo a great website!

Emma, Australia

I subscribed to the websites this weekend and I am amazed and dazzled by the content within. Fantastic work!

Noelle, CA, USA

How kind of you to email me. When I receive your updates it's like receiving email from a friend. Thank you for that...

Prentice, PA, USA

It's amazing how the site feels like good friends. Your kind response is proof that I am correct.

Sherry, OK, USA

I love both sites and have grown from both of them. [They] have made me feel less alone about my passion and about my experience level, and have helped to bridge the gaps [in which] I have been lacking. For this I thank you and the entire staff.

Margaret, Illinois, USA

I really did not know whether to resub or not as I have been too busy to read all the content
soooo happy I did
the bra cutting course was wonderful
more please if you can
with all the vintage stuff going on vintage undies are in demand-I can cut stuff like bias petticoats and french knickers from the twenties onwards but am shaky on bras
wonderful stuff
my head is reeling from the wonderful info
so many thanks
love to you all

Jane, UK

When I first signed up I didnt realised how addicted you could get to your webpages :P

Elisie, Sweden

I also wanted to say thank you for doing such a great job with Your Wardrobe Unlock'd and Foundations Revealed. The content isn't always what I'm looking for, but the quality is always impeccable! I've come to understand how much work goes into planning and maintaining a website like this, keeping it updated and fresh, and making sure we get new articles on a regular basis. It's a hard job, and I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate that you and Marion are willing to put so much effort into it. As a dressmaker, my skills have grown and improved specifically because of what I've learned here. A lot of it is information you can't find elsewhere.

Lisha Vidler, USA

There's lots of information on the internet for free, but the nice thing about THIS site is the consistent quality. No need to worry about whether or not the method suggested is actually going to work appropriately. I'd rather be able to go to one source and find trustworthy information from people who've been "vetted" by the pros.

Kay, Missouri

I found myself squarely in the "can't afford it" camp for the longest time. Back in March, i received a free month's subscription to FR for submitting an interview - i immediately understood why subscribers pay for access, and i've been subscribing ever since!

[and no, i'm not being paid to say this.. it's just true!]

Sandra, Canada

I think you are fabulous,... when i was recently asked by a desperate girl in New Zealand for help, I came across your Foundations Revealed site, brilliant, brilliant brilliant! I have send her your details... what you're doing is great, I really do feel the same as you and many others, that we want to share and spread the craft of corset making, and sewing in general... Had a quick read through of your corset how-to guide, and it was great, only wish there was something like that around when I was learning, would have been much quicker! All the best and keep up the good work.

Janice, Uptight Clothing, UK

I would LOVE to thank you for actually getting back to me. Every other site hostess I've emailed in regards to their tutorial just gave me something along the lines of "I'm too busy being amazing. Go away." So you rock my socks. Hands down!!

Chance, California, USA

Thanks for taking care of this [refund, following a clerical error]! Although I wouldn't have minded credit...I'm never, ever, ever giving up my subscription! You'll have to bar the doors and throw rocks at me to get me to leave. ;)

Jonna, Oregon, USA

The first article I opened was Reproducing the Skeleton Corset Busk, and i can already say money well spent!

Anthony, Georgia, USA

FR certainly doesn't disappoint - lots of answers in the articles to things I have often wondered about. Have had a really enjoyable time over this weekend reading - really really great - congratulations again. It is so good to realise that there are others out there who are just as picky and agonise over every detail - which has just reminded me of a question I want to post!

Lorna, Scotland

Cathy, the new site is FABULOUS! Far exceeded my expecations. Congratulations.

Elizabeth, California

Thank you... from a beginner, you make it less daunting

Lorri, California

Thank you Cathy! What a fast response :) I already read some of the articles and I like them very much!!!!! Keep up the good work :)

Yessica, Netherlands

What wonderful service! No stress. Thanks for keeping me posted.

Joanne, California

Wow, you’re GOOD! And FAST! And not just in the artistry of costumes area…

Trisha, California

All the corset drafting instructions I studied previously were bewildering to me----I am not blessed with a mathematical brain. Your method makes SENSE to me. I had come to believe that I would never be able to draft my own patterns----I know now that I can and I shall. I can never thank you enough and will be honored to join your masterclasses.... It's inspiring that your meticulous care and research as well as that of your collaborators have been generous enough to share this hands on information. I think it preserves interest in the recreation of period looks, and adding the important under layer is exciting stuff!

Anonymous survey response

I think it's fantastic that you're doing this... because this is a good and worthwhile project that deserves the support of a widespread community.

Anonymous survey response

Love the content BTW... if you don't get the numbers you need I'm happy to pay double. Thanks again for the great customer service. - David, UK

yes ! your reply was exactly what I wanted to know! I appreciate your quick response, you are truly a professional and your gregarious nature is warmly felt!

Jennifer, Nevada, USA

Lisa Armstrong
Joanne Arnett
Maja Bižaca
Alexis Black
Sunny Buchler
Alison Campbell
Anthony Canney
Kelly Cercone
C. Claridge
Luca Costigliolo
Danine Cozzens
Carmène
Rosie Dennington
Jeremy Erwin
Marianne Faulkner

Mark Garbarczyk
Lara Greene
Rachel Haggerty
Rossanne Hamilton
Jenni Hampshire
Cathy Hay
Jema Hewitt
Alison Kannon
Anya Kovacs
Antje Kowalski
Sannie Kralt
Hallie Larkin
Amanda Lerum Faulkner

Laura Loft
Anna McIntosh
Marion McNealy
Cecile Magnier
Alisha Martin
Isabelle Mekel
Lowana O'Shea
Andrea Painter
Barbara Pesendorfer
Izabela Zebrowska Pitcher
Marta Połetek
Charlotte Raine
Nicole Rudolph
Kim Ryser
Jill Salen

Natasha Streit
Anna Stonestrom
Sandra Stuart
Nikki Swift
Laurie Tavan
Jennifer Thompson
Jennifer Thoreson
Luthien Tyranea
Kendra Van Cleave
Lisha Vidler
Katarina Vukšić
Carly Weggeland
Wendy Wildermoth

Lisa Armstrong

Lisa has worked in theatre throughout the UK and abroad and supplied historical sites such as Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London. Since training in design and coutoure dressmaking at the London College of Fashion, she has enjoyed over 10 years in the costume industry.

More of Lisa's work can be found on her website.

Joanne Arnett

Joanne finds the hidden structure in garments more interesting than the outer shell. Investigating the architecture required to create a desired silhouette, along with an obsessive attention to detail, naturally led to an interest in corsets. She is in the process of constructing all the Corsets in Norah Waugh’s book, Corsets and Crinolines, and is blogging about every step at Bridges on the Body.

Joanne had worked in the fashion industry for years as a stylist, but began sewing just five years ago after she won a grant to produce garments promoting a lecture by the curator of the Smithsonian Costume Collection. She has since earned a BFA from California Design College and is on her way to earning an MFA in Textiles at Kent State University.

Maja Bižaca

Since her early childhood Maja was fascinated with the corseted gowns she saw in fairy tale picture books. That is why she choose her vocation - Fashion Design and Textile Engineering on a Faculty of Textile Technology in Zagreb and graduated with honor as one of the best students in her class.  Her focus is on unique, custom made garments with an accent on the visual appearance and design and her unique style can be recognized in her own brand Contessa Gothique. She likes to experiment with a new patterns, fabrics and techniques and always strive to improve her skills to the next level.

Alexis Black

Alexis has been making corsets since her mid teens, putting her experience at almost twenty years. She was a pioneer of online custom corsetry when she started out on Ebay in 1998, and continues to maintain an international clientele by doing most fittings remotely, over the internet, using measurements and photos.

Alexis attended FIDM for fashion design for two years where she learned the basics of pattern drafting, but otherwise has taught herself the specifics of corsetry through her own research and experimentation. Alexis lives and works in Houston, Texas, USA, where she has been making corsets full time since 2004. Working under the name Electra Designs, Alexis has built a worldwide reputation for excellence.

Sunny Buchler

Sunny Buchler has been involved in historical costuming and the SCA for the last 15 years. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is a bit of a mecca for historical costuming, and moved to Cleveland, Ohio a couple of years ago. Her undergraduate degree was in costume design, after which did some graduate work at the Motley School of Design in London. She did theatre costuming semi-professionally while in college, but today costumes as a hobby, rather then a profession.

Alison Campbell

Glasgow based designer Alison Campbell of Crikey Aphrodite is a passionate advocate and user of luxury Scottish fabrics, which has meant work being recently exhibited in Moscow and is key to her current projects.

Being a trained bra fitter means a bit of an obsession with bust fitting and fit in general especially for larger sizes. A graphic artist in a previous life, she should’ve got the hint about her real vocation when she made an embroidered and appliqued poster for an early college project!

Anthony Canney

Anthony learned to sew at a young age from his mother, who made historical fashions. She shied away from corsetry, so Anthony decided to have a try and discovered that he had a natural talent for it! Since that time, he has begun to specialize in Bespoke historically inspired fashion & corsetry. Never one to shy away from color or patterns, he has also worked within the Drag industry making award winning packages for National Entertainer of the Year Bianca Nicole (2009) & NEOY Vanessa Demornay 2010.

Anthony Canney's first film credit will appear in Robert Redford's Historical Drama The Conspirator due out this Winter; for being the personal designer for Mary Lincoln Todd. He is both tailor and corsetiere at The House of Canney. Please read our case study on Anthony to learn more.

Kelly Cercone

Kelly Cercone is a celebrated full-time freelance costumer based in Los Angeles. Sewing and pattern drafting for TV, film, music tours and local fashion companies, Kelly has worked on a wide breadth of commercial projects. She also maintains her own clothing label Anachronism in Action. Highly specialized in ladies period costume, millinery and vintage inspired corsetry, her pieces have been featured in Vogue Italia, Auxiliary Magazine, and on the cover of Fixation Magazine. In addition to her original and bespoke custom pieces, Kelly offers expertly crafted standard sized, affordable, ready-to-wear corsets for sale on Etsy.

Kelly attended California College of the Arts and has taken pattern-drafting intensives at the San Francisco based Apparel Arts. In Los Angeles, Kelly studied Fashion Design and Theater Costume Design at FIDM, graduating with honors.

For the latest info on Kelly’s recent projects, check her out on Facebook.

C. Claridge

C Claridge sewed from an early age, and quickly discovered that historical costumes were much more interesting than modern clothes. She is fascinated by all the textile arts, including knitting, spinning, weaving, quilting and embroidery, as well as sewing. However, she has recently found the limit of her skills when she started to learn bobbin lace.

She can be found on Ravelry.com and Livejournal as Evelyn123.

Luca Costigliolo

Luca works as a designer and costume cutter for theatre productions and films all around Europe. He recently worked in Hungary as a cutter on the Showtime costume drama The Borgias, creating all the costumes for the role of Lucrezia Borgia, designed by Oscar winner Gabriella Pescucci. For nine years he was the Head of Wardrobe for the Spoleto Opera Festival in Italy, and he was a member of the wardrobe team at Shakepseare’s Globe Theatre from 1999-2005, cutting and hand-making clothes for award winning productions.

He teaches accurate historical cutting and sewing techniques at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome along with world famous costume designer Piero Tosi.

His knowledge on historical tailoring and dressmaking techniques have led him to collaborate with museums with important dress collections such as The Bowes Museum in the UK, where he completed the reconstruction of a Worth ball gown worn by Josephine Bowes in 1861. A video showing him dressing a model in all the layers of clothing worn by a lady in 1870 is on show in the textile gallery.

Luca was also the historical sewing expert on recent BBC programmes such as Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm.

In 2011 he completed a project with the National Trust for whom he has recreated an 1884 gown that belonged to Princess Alexandra.

Luca is a co-author of Seventeenth Century Women’s Dress Patterns: Book One & Book Two for V&A publications.

Danine Cozzens

Danine Cozzens fell in love with costume history while studying English literature at UC Berkeley. For the past 25 years she's used historic costume as a window into the past, on the premise that knowing what people wore helps a modern person to understand an earlier era. Starting as a singer at Renaissance and Dickens Fairs, she moved on to create historically-inspired events. She has served on planning boards for the Bay Area English Regency Society, the Greater Bay Area Costumers' Guild and the Art Deco Society of California.

Carmène

Carmène started to sew in 2009 when she and her friends created the “Ministere des Modes” Association in France to attend events in remarkable places. She first focused on 18th century costumes but now just wants to discover new area from Renaissance to 1940’s and find that Corsetry and Undergarments are the funniest parts of costuming.

She has a very large library on costuming - always on the lookout for a new book – but aims to use them instead of to look at them every day, she would like to learn techniques on patterning, etc...and she hopes to come to Costume College one day! Carmène lives near Paris, in France and in everyday life is an Accountant Manager.

Rosie Dennington

Rosie is a fan of all things vintage, pin-up and glam, and this is very much entangled with her love of fairytales and the fantastical. Her work nods its head to both of these. Having recently graduated with a (BAHons) First Class Degree in Fashion with Design for Performance and having just won ‘Young Designer to Watch 2013’ she is excited about her future. She has spent her time interning with corsetry companies and dabbling in theatre all over the UK, and throws what she considers to be cracking dinner parties.

Never seen without red hair, red nails and red lips, it takes little imagination as to why she has adopted the name ‘Rosie Red’. She is very partial to a well made gin and tonic, and even partial to a badly made one, if truth be told. Rosie can be found online on facebook.

Jeremy Erwin

Jeremy Erwin is a programmer and hobbyist from Northern Virginia. He collects old tailoring and dressmaking books, and occasionally fires up his Bernina. He has recently found the professional dressmaking magazine collection at the library of congress, and is eagerly perusing old issues of Revue de la mode and the French Dressmaker, in an effort to learn about techniques of the 1890s.

Marianne Faulkner

Marianne Faulkner is the proprietress of San Francisco-based Pop Antique, which specializes in innovative corsets and sustainable design.  Her interest in corsetry was first sparked as a teenager, when she surrounded herself with fantasy novels and theater buffs.  In 2005, she transferred to the American Intercontinental University Los Angeles for her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design.  There she tutored her fellow students in illustration, pattern drafting, and construction.

In December 2011, 24-year old Marianne completed her Master of Fine Arts in the same field at San Francisco's renowned Academy of Art University, devoting her thesis to the development of Pop Antique.  Marianne plans to go into teaching as well as expanding her line, which is now Underpinned™ by Dark Garden Unique Corsetry.  Pop Antique has focused on a highly comfortable and curvaceous ready-to-wear line and is perhaps best known for pioneering the "knit corset" concept.  Marianne also writes a monthly column at top lingerie blog, The Lingerie Addict.

Mark Garbarczyk

Mark started sewingin his early teens. His early sewing consisted of doing repairs and modifications to existing clothing, then making garments for friends and family from commercially bought patterns. As time went on he taught him self how to pattern draft/cut. In the early 1990’s he was going to see a stage production of the Rocky Horror Show and needed an outfit to wear, so he made a corset for himself, and thus began a passion.

In researching how to make a corset, Mark became fascinated with the history and technical side of corsetry, plus other forms of shapewear: all-in-ones, shaping slips, control pants, basques and bras. He now specialize in intimate apparel and corsets. As well as making lace up corsets, Mark is working on a range of shape wear with a retro look. One day he would like to set up myhis own garment factory, instead of just designing and making one off garments, or to work in the Intimate Apparel industry full time.

Read our Case Study on Mark to learn more about him

Lara Greene

Lara Greene is a costume and wardrobe person from New York City and a member of the Theatrical Wardrobe Union Local #764, I.A.T.S.E. She has been obsessed with and sewing historic costume since childhood. Despite her parents' claim that "no-one makes any money playing with costumes", she has been "playing" professionally with costumes for over 14 years now. Most of her work has focused around film and TV lately but she also works with theatre, opera and print media as well.

Lara has been kind enough to provide some of the photographs of her antique corset collection for use on this site.

Rossanne Hamilton

Rossanne grew up with the songs of Rocky Horror instead of nursery rhymes. When she was deemed old enough to watch it, she instantly fell in love with corsets. Since then, she has had an avid interest in cabaret and burlesque. This is why, when she inherited her grandmothers’ vintage sewing machine, she decided to teach herself corsetry.

She currently lives in a little flat in Bristol with her fiancé and cat. Her cat shares Rossanne’s love of strewing sewing tools and materials all over the floor during a project, as it makes the sitting room so much more interesting. Her fiancé however is less enthusiastic about this, but remains very patient.

Rachel Haggerty

Rachel hadn't sewn anything until it was forced upon her in junior high school... and then realized that if she loved doing something, it didn't matter if previously she thought that gender-based hobbies were the work of the dark lord...

After high school in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, she attended the Fashion Production program at Olds College in Alberta to learn more about design and pattern drafting. Life, marriage and babies filled up a few years, until a friend convinced her to make a corset for an event, and she has never looked back!

Rachel lives, loves and designs in High River, Alberta with her husband, two boys, three cats, and a dog. You can find more of her work at Ivy Rose Custom.

Jenni Hampshire

Self-taught corsetiere Jenni created Sparklewren in 2009 as she is happiest producing dreamy, labour-intensive, droplets of sparkling corset loveliness.

She works from her home-studio in Birmingham, UK,  spending dozens of hours hand-decorating and finishing each exceptionally sleek corset.

Jenni is a strong advocate for study, effort, research and sheer hard  work. She also believes in testing the received wisdom, constantly trying out new techniques and refining old ones.

Cathy Hay

Cathy Hay is the creator and publisher of both Foundations Revealed and the award-winning Your Wardrobe Unlock'd, which were borne out of a grand wish to help other corsetmakers and seamstresses to stay inspired and positive, maximise their skills and realise their sewing dreams. She is a member of both the Costume Society in the UK and the Costumer's Guild West in the USA, and teaches at Costume College. Her website can be found at The Peacock Dress and Other Stories.

Jema Hewitt

Jema Hewitt has over twenty years' experience in the film, bridal, television, museum and theatre costuming business. A published author and regular contributor to crafts and bridal magazines, she lectures at universities around the UK and runs workshops on corsetmaking and other subjects from her studio in Nottingham, England.

Jema can also be found on her website, Kindred Spirits.

Alison Kannon

Alison Kannon is a freelance seamstress and a rabid historical fashion enthusiast. While she enjoys studying a wide variety of historical eras, her primary focus is Elizabethan England and the Early Modern English period. 

Alison has been sewing and researching historical garments for the past 13 years. She is involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism and Gardiner's Company as well as the North Carolina Costuming Society. When not studying historical fashion she is a cardiovascular researcher at UNC Chapel Hill. 

Learn more about Alison’s projects and research at Elizabethan Mafia.

Antje Kowalski

Antje is a trained fashion designer with an additional degree in dressmaking. she lives in east Germany and is currently running the costume shop of one of the largest independent theater companies in Germany. She always had a "thing" for historical costumes, although she only started sewing when she went to fashion school.

Antje got in contact with the gothic scene and after being laced into a corset for the first time in 2004, and was instantly hooked and had to make one herself! With the help of information from the internet and books about corsetry, she learned corsetmaking on her own. she loves to explore different patterns and how small changes in a pattern can affect the silhouette, look and fit of corsets and garments in general.

You can find Antje on the web on her blog, atailortobecome.

Anya Kovacs

Anya started sewing when she was six, trying to make booties for her grandmother’s poodle. Twenty years later she has developed her sewing and DIY skills through many recreational projects and now works in the South African film industry in wardrobe and prop fabrication.

Living in Cape Town, South Africa, far away from the corsetry centres of the world, Anya trawled the internet for scraps of information on corsetry for years before she stumbled across Foundations Revealed in 2013, and started taking corset commissions later that year trading as The Velvet Letter.

Sannie Kralt

Sannie has been sewing for 12 years, and in 2006 she started Skeletons in the Closet, where she is both owner and corsetiere. The victorian era is her main inspiration source, as she loves the crinoline, early and late bustle periods, but is also very interested in the edwardian and regency styles.

Sannie lives toghether with her husband, cat and dog in Buitenpost, the Netherlands and can also be found on Facebook.

Hallie Larkin

Hallie is a historical costumer and owner of the 18th Century Sutlery "At the Sign of the Golden Scissors" and also blogging at 18th century Stays. Her work is based on personal observation and study of original 18th century artifacts.

Hallie lives in Swansea, Massachusestts, USA and is currently serving as the President, Costume Society of America, Northeastern Region (I), and President of Southcoast Historical Associates 501C(3). She is also a founding member of the Ladies of Refined Taste, a group of dedicated re-enactors who sponsor the "Hive", an ongoing series of workshops and lectures at the Minuteman National Park, Lexington, Massachusetts.

Amanda Lerum Faulkner

Amanda Lerum Faulkner inherited a love of historical clothing from her mother, who also taught her to sew. She enjoys researching and patterning of historical and fantastical garments as well as making and wearing them. Favorite areas of research include Ventilated Corsets and Historical clothing for expectant and nursing mothers, as well as for children, as she needs to costume the whole family for events.

Amanda hopes to start her small pattern company soon, until then, you can find her posting on her blog about costuming and crafting projects.

Laura Loft

Corsetry is a magnificent obsession for Laura Loft. She sews from so early in the morning until so late at night that her doctor wishes she would slow down for a moment.

London's best-kept secret, Laura has a prestigious client list that doesn't need a website. But as well as plying her art, she is committed to furthering corsetmaking as an art form and demystifying it for newcomers.

When she's not working, Laura can usually be found in a well-known high street retailer giving customers better bra fitting advice than the shop's employees.

Anna McIntosh

Anna mostly taught herself to sew and make patterns after becoming interested in Gothic fashions at 13 and realising that there was nowhere in New Zealand she could buy any. She is currently attending New Zealand Fashion Tech so that she can learn to sew and make patterns at industrial quality and speed. Anna watched a lot of TV shows and movies from the 1930's and 1950's through her childhood and it was only in her early teens when she realised how interested she was in the vintage aesthetic. She started creating 50's inspired garments and it soon spiralled into a deep obsession with styles of the 1900's-1960's. She discovered Dita Von Teese and soon became interested in corsetry which lead to her learning how to make them. Dita also shone a bright light on lingerie for Anna and she confesses to owning, designing and making far too much of it for her own good.

Anna also has a small Etsy store where she sells one-off and made-to-measure garments.

Marion McNealy

Marion McNealy is the freelance Editor for Harman Hay Publications. She loves teaching others draft their own patterns and explore new ideas. Marion has a serious weakness for the straight front corsets and beautiful flossing designs of the late Victorian age.

Marion lives with her very patient husband and son in Rhode Island, USA. 

Cecile Magnier

Cecile Magnier started sewing corsets in 2008 when she needed foundation garments for a dress. The dress was never made, as she quickly became obsessed with making corsets, this time as outer garments.

Her passion for corsetry brought her to the other side of the Channel from her native France to attend classes with both Jenni "Sparklewren" Hampshire in England and with Jill Salen at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Besides classes, she has learnt a lot through her own experimentation. She is always interested in trying new patterns, tools and techniques to improve her work.

More of Cecile's work can be found on her Facebook page.

Alisha Martin

Alisha began life training in forensics and human anatomy, focusing specifically on the skeletal system. Fascinated with textiles and museum artifacts from a young age thanks to a bohemian upbringing spent in the museums of Europe, Alisha found herself gravitating to jobs in museums. She has studied extant museum garments for years to gain a deeper knowledge and appreciation of historic construction techniques. By focusing on not only the desired shape, but the body's structure, she focuses on the maximum comfort as well as reduction.

She lives in Kentucky with her husband, and is constantly scandalizing the neighbors with talk of women's lacy underthings. You can see her work online at The Bad Button Corsets.

Isabelle Mekel

Isabelle is a the French corsetmaker behind the name "Eikhell Corsets".  She has been making corsets full time since 2005. Through some friends she discovered the gothic aesthethic of the corset and its beauty and soon came to realise that it was inspired by many historical precedents, cultures and references. The corset soon became a cult object, and understanding its secrets became an obsession.

Isabelle is also the proud co-founder of the n°1 french sewing talking board: "Les fées tisseuses" (translate as "the weaving faeries" ), famous for its corsetry tips and advice and its friendly atmosphere. She lives in a big house in Toulouse, south of France with her dog, two cats, her boyfriend and two more roommates (hence the big house) and has now what deserves the name of "workshop" to work properly and continue making beautiful things.

Lowana O'Shea

Lowana is the passionate and creative force behind Vanyanís. Her label specializes in exquisite corsetry, bridal couture and perfectly tailored garments made with the most luxurious of materials. Lowana began sewing when it proved nearly impossible to find the corsets (and clothes) she wanted with a fit that flattered. Taking matters into her own hands, her skills have been hard won through over a decade of self-learning. She is known for her attention-to-detail and love of subtle (but extravagant) details in her work. She works out of her home studio (assisted by her cat, Nomi) and offers a growing range of sewing and corsetry classes for those in/near Melbourne, Australia.

Andrea Painter

Andrea Painter attended the University of British Columbia, learning in the theatre costume shop while examining and coveting the gorgeous vintage costumes, especially the corsets, bloomers and petticoats! She started creating corsets for herself in 2005, and is continually inspired by the beauty of multicultural textiles found around her in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Andrea shares her expertise with other sewers, offering workshops in and around Vancouver and Seattle, teaching corset and bloomer construction.

When not sewing, Andrea also hoops with fire, gets hit with swords and sticks, dispenses keys, re-enacts ancient Greek mysteries, and implements security policies. She can be reached through her website, Luscious Pearl Designs, and through her etsy shop.

Barbara Pesendorfer

Barbara is a costume designer and corsetiere, based in Vienna/Austria. Before she founded her own Couture and Corsetry Label "Royal Black" in 2010, she worked as costume maker at theatres and worked for some other couture labels in and around Vienna.

With a degree in graphic design and a master craftsman's diploma as ladies tailor she soon found her passion in corset-making and after gathering some experience in the industry, decided to make her hobby a profession. Ever since then Barbara has created bespoke corsets and couture for her clients, always trying to develope her skills, discover new techniques and pushing the boundaries of tailoring and corset making.

More of Barbara's work can be found on her website, Royal Black.

Izabela Zebrowska Pitcher

Izabela is a professional costumer hailing from Poland, but living in the UK. Under the business name Prior Attire she provides costumes for a variety of periods from the late Roman era up to the 19th century, specializing in the medieval periods, as well as wedding clothes as Prior Engagement.Every item is thoroughly researched, and all care has been taken to render it as close to the original as it is possible, using the patterns and techniques appropriate for the period.

Izabela has made costumes for re-enactors from the UK, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany and France.

Charlotte Raine

Charlotte Raine is a third generation seamstress who has been sewing since she was a little girl. Now her designs are sold internationally to brides, theatres, museums, burlesque dancers, re-enactors, and women everywhere who want to feel special. Her father has always taught her to put love & care into all she does and her mother has always taught her to make the inside as good as the outside. "I'm sure she didn't just mean sewing," Charlotte muses.​

Nicole Rudolph

Nicole Rudolph began sewing at an early age, quickly becoming enraptured with the world of costuming. She attended Ball State University, where she focused on costume design. Soon after graduation she moved to Williamsburg, Virginia and began working in Colonial Williamsburg’s Costume Design Center as a tailor. Two years later, taking the knowledge and experienced gained from that position, she ventured to open up a historical sewing business. She continues to seek out research and knowledge through original texts and images, extant garments, and workshops.

Nicole can be found at her website, Golden Hind Millinery.

Kim Ryser

Kim Ryser is also known by her steampunk alter ego of Baroness Violet von Mickelsburg. Her love of Victorian costume led her to the steampunk community, where she contracted the incurable Disease of Steam. A self-taught seamstress and corset maker, the Baroness embraces the steampunk ethos of sharing knowledge and teaching others what she's learned. She runs a steampunk costuming and corsetry blog, Steam Ingenious, and teaches introductory corset making at conventions and workshops. She sells a line of sewing patterns for steampunk accessories as well.

Kim lives in the middle of the woods in Central Texas with her husband and a literal colony of cats. In addition to all her steampunk crafts, she enjoys knitting and playing video games, often doing both at the same time. Follow her adventures at steamingenious.com.

Jill Salen

Jill Salen is a lecturer in costume, and has been producing patterns of corsets from private and museum collections for many years. She is widely employed in the theatrical costume industry and the author of Corsets: Historical Patterns and Techniques.

Jill has been a lecturer in costume at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) for 14 years. Between 1975 and 1982 she was the ladies' cutter at the Welsh National Opera (WNO), where she worked on 54 operas for designers such as Maria Bjornson and Tim Goodchild.

From 1982 she combined being a mother with the role of freelance costume maker, specialising in ladies' period costumes. She now combines her freelance career with teaching. Always interested in fashion and costume, Jill is pleased to be a member of various costume societies, particularly the Costume Society, of which she is the secretary and archivist.

Anna Stonestrom

Anna moderates the long-running Corsetmakers LiveJournal community. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her bicycle and her grandmother's Singer sewing machine. She has been in love with historical costuming since her very first Renaissance Faire.

Natasha Streit

Natasha was gifted her first sewing machine in 2001, but it wasn’t until 2007 that she really discovered her love of sewing and historical costuming. Originally concentrating on Italian Renaissance costumes, she now focuses primarily on mid-Victorian sewing. At her best when working on large, ambitious projects, she is currently working towards making at least 25% of her own clothing and is recreating a 1906 evening gown for her wedding in late 2013.

Natasha lives in Rodeo, CA with her fiancé and two cats, Boris and Winnie, and can be found at Brass and Lace.

Sandra Stuart

Sandra has been sewing ever since she was old enough to be (responsibly) allowed to play with scissors, pins and needles. Largely self-taught, through a hilarious series of trials and errors, she may even be allergic to formal instruction.

Her love of corsets sprang from a penchant for dark Victorian-gothic style. Although her eyeliner is less dramatic these days, her passion for corsetry has never waned. She is currently working away at the near-impossible task of creating a corset based on each of the teacups in her extensive collection. Recently, she quit her job to start her own home-based sewing business. She is fueled by endless pots of strong black tea.

Sandra lives in a tiny crooked house, right next to the Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada.

Nikki Swift

An avid Live Roleplayer, Nikki had never picked up a sewing machine until 9 years before she first wrote for Foundations Revealed. As she couldn’t afford to have her kit made, she had a go herself, and her very first creation was the corset foundation for a full Victorian costume! Since then she hasn’t stopped and has continued to upgrade her skills, earning a Distinction in the UK City and Guilds certificate in Corsetry in 2013 and attending the first Oxford Conference of Corsetry. She is now working to get her brand, Narrowed Visions, into the public domain with new and unique designs.

Laurie Tavan

Laurie was thrust into the costuming world when asked to not only play Mary, Queen of Scots but also to design and construct a gown fit for such a queen. Having dabbled in sewing her whole life, she found her passion in historical garments. As news of her skills spread through the historical re-enactment community, more and more commissions and awards came her way. With a reputation for unrivalled attention to detail and uncompromising standards, she started a website, took commissions, and now maintains a waiting list for gowns, accessories, and corsets, her fondest specialty.

Outside the sewing studio, Laurie SCUBA dives in Monterey and worldwide, fences frequently in the classical Italian style and dances almost every night of the week. She lives in Northern California with her husband Jeremy and a parrot named Percival.

Jennifer Thompson

Jennifer has a masters degree in studio art, specializing in drawing, printmaking, and painting, but she has a true passion for creating historical clothing. She is an entirely self-taught and rarely uses patterns. Costuming is a hobby for her as she dones't want to screw up the fun by turning it into a job.

Jennifer currently lives in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas with her husband Mike, who she married at the Texas Renaissance Festival in 2000, and their son. She is an officer in the The Dallas/Ft. Worth Costuming Guild and also volunteers at the living history days at Chestnut Square in McKinney. She can be found on the internet at Festive Attyre.

Jennifer Thoreson

Introduced to sewing at the tender age of 9 by her mother, Jennifer Thoreson launched herself whole heartedly into the world of sewing. Discovering the world of costume design in college, the idea that income could be generated from sewing opened a whole new world of possibilities.  A few short years later the Purple Pincushion, Custom Sewing & Alterations was born and hit the ground running.

Ten years and thousands of dresses later, the time for change has come. Now Jennifer’s sewing focus has turned from her customers’ demands to the demands of her heart as she embarkes on the adventure of motherhood. You can follow her adventures and misadventures at One Stitch At A Time and Sweet Ginger Vintage.

Luthien Tyranea

Luthien was introduced to the world of corsetry when she was twelve, and has been hooked ever since. She loves to use traditional techniques in corsetry to create new and innovative looking corsets, and is willing to take months completing one piece if it means it is how she envisaged it.

She collects vintage dressmaking books and has over 100, with a few Victorian ones, but mostly books from the 1940s-50s. Her favourite period for corsets (and clothing) is the natural form era, and she collects women’s clothes from this period.

Kendra Van Cleave

Kendra Van Cleave has been sewing since she was a wee lass, when her mother taught her sew on her Singer machine. She studied European history as an undergrad, then received a master’s in history focusing on American social history (along with one in library science). She now works as a librarian at a university, and pursues scholarly research in the history of fashion. She has published two scholarly articles, both on fashion among students at Smith College (a Northeastern US women’s college) in the 1920s. She’s now working on a research project on the 18th century robe à la polonaise (with Brooke Welborn), and another on the robes à la turque and circassienne.

Kendra has taught numerous workshops on the history and how-to of fashion and costume, primarily for the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild and Costume College. Kendra can be found at demodecouture.com.

Lisha Vidler

Lisha Vidler discovered the joy of sewing doll clothes at a young age. She didn't even own a sewing machine — until she found a number of online costume diaries and became jealous of all these people accomplishing great things. Envy propelled her to start sewing her own historic costumes.

Writing is her other obsession in life. Once she began drafting articles for Your Wardrobe Unlock'd and Foundations Revealed, she uncovered a passion for teaching others about sewing. In addition to becoming a sewing instructor, she launched a website to help others learn the tips and tricks of dressmaking: Yesterday's Thimble, which features articles, tutorials, sewing diaries, and regular blog posts.

Katarina Vukšić

When it was time for Katarina to chose a high school, she decided that she wanted to learn to make clothing so that she could make clothing for herself that she couldn't buy in stores in Croatia. She was in love with Lolita Fashion but when she started my education as a Clothing Technician she discovered Lolita's grandmother... Victorian Fashion. Katarina was (and still is) so fascinated with the bustle dresses that shelearned how to make them for herself and weasr them almost every day.

Katarina enjoys drafting patterns, making and wearing corsets and dresses, and hopes to open her own corsetmaking firm to share her love with the world.

Carly Weggeland

Carly Weggeland has been sewing and interested in historic fashion for at least 10 years but didn't start puttingit all together until 3 years ago when she taught herself how to sew. She became interested in corsetry when finally venturing into the historic costuming world, and while still learning, enjoys the challenge of figuring out problems and construction as well as sharing that knowledge with others.

Originally from Alaska, she now lives in Boston where she works for Harvard as a Rare Book Conservator.  Historic costuming and sewing is a hobby she does in her free time and she calls herself a "selfish sewer". She also enjoys reading, listening to music, eating chocolate, and learning about "old things". You can follow her sewing progress on her blog bellamissella, or on livejournal as bellamissella.

Wendy Wildermoth

Wendy has sewn most of her clothing from a young age, and learning new techniques is a passion for her. She loves shoes enough to study and get formal qualifications in custom shoe making, and in footwear design + pattern making. She then studied fashion production to fill in the gaps in her garment pattern and construction knowledge. Despite early self taught hobbies of embroidery and needlepoint she really hates hand sewing, and avoids it if at all possible. Convinced that sewing for other people as a job would take the joy out of sewing for her, she's happy to let her day job to fund her creative life.

Wendy now lives in Sydney, Australia and wishes she had more luck keeping goldfish alive. She decided it was in the fish's best interests if she stopped buying them as pets. More of her work can be seen at Costumes from a Shoebox.