On Indian leather

A corset is only as good as the leather you cut it from. I work only with full-grain Indian leather, vegetable-tanned, sourced direct from tanneries I've known for years. Full-grain means the densest layer of the hide is intact. Anything less is corrected grain or 'genuine leather,' and neither holds shape under tension.

The tan matters too. Chrome-tanned leather is soft and stretches — useless here. Vegetable tanning uses natural tannins from tree bark, takes months, and produces a hide that holds its shape. Under tension, vegetable-tanned leather remembers.

For my base patterns, I pick hides between 3mm and 4mm thick. Heavy enough to hold structure. Soft enough to break in to the body that wears it.