Identifying Hyperlordosis

Since I began making and wearing corsets the biggest hurdle for me has been drafting comfortable corsets for lumbar hyperlordosis, also known as sway back. For people with more lumbar curvature than average, many off the rack corsets and standard straight backed patterns will create pain in the lower back, and their natural posture will fight against the corset.

There are many types and causes of hyperlordosis, both congenital and acquired. I don’t feel qualified to address them all, so for the purposes of this article I will be discussing the fit issues concerning the more common forms of lordosis associated with muscle weakness/tightness and posture. I will lay out how to identify hyperlordosis in a client, how it affects fit, and different approaches to problem areas in the pattern.

Unlike scoliosis, lordosis in a client should not be viewed as curvature of the spine itself to be straightened out. Being a corsetiere and not a medical professional capable of diagnosing and correcting spinal deformities, I would not feel comfortable trying to ‘fix’ such an issue without approval from a client’s doctor. From my layman’s understanding, the most common form of lordosis is caused by an imbalance of muscle tightness and weakness between the lower back, hip flexors, abdominals, and gluteus maximus. Rather than a distortion of the spine itself, tight hip flexors and weak abdominals pull the pelvis down and forward, creating anterior pelvic tilt.      

This means that a person with hyper lordosis often cannot straighten out their posture. If the client stands with their back to a wall or lays flat on the floor, their shoulders and bum will touch the surface but there will be a significant amount of space between their lower back and the wall/floor. As a result, a corset which tries to force the lumbar flat can cause pain and even damage to the corset. Hyperlordosis is common in dancers and weight lifters, and can be addressed through physical therapy and stretches. Our job in making a corset for these cases is only to accommodate the clients’ involuntary posture.

Comparison of a normal lumbar curve vs. hyperlordotic curve against a wall. Left: Normal, Right: Hyperlordotic

 

 

Problem Areas

There are three major problem areas in a corset for a hyperlordotic client. First, when thinking about the back as a three dimensional shape the straight backed paneling of many modern corsets work contrary to the natural curve of the lumbar. This is okay on most people, but with higher degrees of spinal curvature you will find wrinkling in the back at the location of the waist line. Pinching and pain in that spot will make it difficult for the client to wear their corset for more than a few hours at a time.

 

Secondly, the anterior pelvic tilt pushes the stomach forward and the butt out. This creates a tummy shape which is not comprised of compressible fat, so we have the same issue with a straight front as we do with a straight back. The busk will often jut forwards and away from the stomach at the lower edge, making it difficult to conceal under clothes. In a "normal" corset the waist line is parallel to the floor, whereas here you will find that the waistline is more diagonal, along with the hips, so the entire corset will be thrown forward. Interestingly, despite the exaggerated lumbar curve of Edwardian styles, the famous S bend posture they create is partially oppositional to this (breast forward, tummy tucked in, bum out).

   

 

The final problem is sneaky and often overlooked. It might be evident in a mockup that there is some 'muffining' on the upper back edge, a common fit issue easily fixed with some added ease. In this case that solution will help aesthetically, but doesn’t address the core cause that will heavily affect the comfort of the entire corset. I’ll expand more on this later.

 

Comparison of hyperlordotic and normal posture: notice the angle of the upper back. Left: Normal, Right: Hyperlordotic.

  

 

Solutions

There aren’t any hard and fast tricks for lordotic patterns, but they can be approached on a case by case basis. I’ll lay out the variety of methods I’ve tried over the past two years, what has failed and what has shown some success. My personal corsetry work has improved by huge strides in that time period, so some of the results may correlate with my skill level at the time and other factors. There was a period where I would hit something that worked with one corset, and then the result would not be replicable. I’m going to focus on the methods which have given me repeated success recently both with clients and personal corsets.

Because of my prominent rear, my early instincts were to add a lot of ease into the back panels at the hip. This does help to an extent, because it reduces pinching at the lower edge and pressure on the kidneys, but there are a few drawbacks to this approach. My main problem was that I tended to assume I should make the back panels curvier, and as a result took too much reduction out of the waist between the 4th and 5th panels. While that would seem to make a shape closer resembling a dramatic lumbar curve, it only worsened the pinching. Frequently, when I used this approach the back bones would twist and dig into my spine. For this reason I also recommend drafting a 1 inch lacing gap into the back. This method should not be completely scrapped, but toned down and combined with other techniques.  

 

Instead of reallocating the hip curve to the back, we should be contouring the back curve between panels 5 and 6 to the spine (when talking about a standard 6 panel pattern). It should be noted that the lumbar curve is usually a little lower than the waistline, and the curve should be placed lower and less dramatically than in the other panels. In order to see how this should look I went through the process of creating an insulation foam dress form from a plaster cast of my body. It’s not of my corseted form, but draping on it helped highlight the differences from my regular patterning. Unlike the bell shape of the hips, the back two panels in particular should have a sloping parenthetical shape, kicking out the hips. This component is the foundation of our lordotic pattern.

  

 

Early on, it was frequently suggested that I place wide spiral steels in the center back (on either side of the grommets) as opposed to flat spring steels. This was probably the most disastrous solution over the course of a few pieces. While it does make the back more flexible and a little more comfortable, it warps the boning channels and creates wrinkling. With wear, the corset gained a permanent parenthetical shape to the back edges and the flexibility made it almost impossible to close. Instead of totally abandoning this as a failure, we can learn something from the shape that the corset tried to make in response to the body, which can be recreated in two ways.

Bending the back bones manually helps a lot. You can do this by hand, bending spring steels to sit along the slope of the spine. The nice thing about this method is that it accounts somewhat for the varying degrees of curvature. The second way (which can be used in conjunction with bending the bones) is curving the center back of the pattern. This may seem very counterintuitive, since the center back and center front seams are usually straight, and straight bones are inserted in the channels there, but trust me. Curve out the center back seams parenthetically much as you would between panels 5 and 6. When you place a flat spring steel in the center back casing/channel the edges will straighten and as a result the back hip will kick out. This is common in S curve corsets and exactly what you want. This way it will curve along the spine, accommodate the back hip area, and still close with a parallel lacing gap.

 

Now for the tum! I mentioned earlier that the anterior pelvic tilt pushes the stomach out in a way similar to pregnancy. That’s not all squishy tissue, but just another curve of the body. It goes without saying that a spoon busk does wonders for the tilting issue, but you can also bend the lower edge of a wide busk just like the back bones. That way it will cup the tummy a bit and stick out less under clothes, but it still doesn’t quite do enough work to accommodate the posture.

    

 

My corsetry friends helped me realize after a time that I cannot only be focusing on drafting the curve of the back; other parts of the body affected by lordotic posture are equally important. So instead of drafting straight vertical seams in the front of the corset, it really helps to make nearly diagonal sloping seams from 1-2 and 2-3 that curve around the stomach. It’s not an extreme shape, and the final corset still appears fairly flat fronted, but the tilt of the corset works with, rather than against, the body this way.

 

  

 

The final element of the pattern is the upper back of the corset. This is the component that’s going to make it comfortable for the number of hours typical of waist training. Just as the tum is pushed forward, the mid-back is thrown backward. In a regular corset pattern this area is much more vertical, so the 'muffining' is created more by this than solely a fleshy back. As stated before, rather than the typical goal of straightening out this area, this client is going to be most comfortable ‘leaning back’ into the corset.

Adding more ease to the back is the first strategy in this situation, potentially even more ease than you think you might need. On a straighter backed person, all of that extra ease will gape away from their back. The distribution of this extra width is important: the panels should extend diagonally above the waistline in panels 4, 5, and 6. This shape should angle towards the direction of the center back, like this /. Think of it as if you were leaning against a wall with only your shoulder blades touching it.

  

 

Results

My final pattern uses a curved center back, added diagonal ease in the back, and a sloping front with a curved busk. I made a single layer broche corset which was extremely comfortable for me but had some construction issues. After I wore it to death I took the corset apart to examine how the shape of the panels had responded to my body with extended wear.

 

 

The overall forward tilt was exaggerated, bringing out the sloped front panels and creating a gentler curve at the waistline. I liked the result so much, I used these salvaged panels as the basis for my ‘perfect’ pattern. The main changes I added were the ease to the back and the curved center back. Now I have corsets that sit smoothly against my lumbar curve and don’t fight my posture, so comfy!

  

  

  

 

It’s still a work in progress, but combining these techniques I think I’ve really gotten a comfortable result that is flush with my body and compatible with my lordotic posture. It’s a huge relief to finally be able to wear corsets for more than just a few hours at a time. There are varying degrees and types of lordosis, meaning that what works for one lordotic posture may not be the right solution for another, so I encourage you to experiment using my experience as a starting point. Keeping these ideas in mind has helped me to develop better patterns for my clients and relieve back pain. I would be really interested to know anything other corsetieres find helpful in approaching this kind of pattern - I am receptive to learning new things about it, so please let me know about your experiences!

 

Some more successes!

 

   
  

       

 

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