Elegantly Waisted

PARIS—It wasn’t hard to miss Velda Lauder’s flashy Swarovski crystal-encrusted and red glittery corsets while walking down the aisles at the Mode City lingerie and swim trade show in Paris. Though the designer is based in London, she could have a second home with the Hollywood crowd. Lauder has made corsets for burlesque performer Dita Von Teese and musician Courtney Love and custom corsets worn in Victoria’s Secret fashion shows by Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova, Marisa Miller and Miranda Kerr.


As opposed to some corsets that are based on 18th and 19th century patterns, Lauder said her handmade designs are based on a 1940s corset cut that “doesn’t oppress the hips, doesn’t oppress the ribcage. You work on the waist.”


The corset, skirt, jacket and hat ensemble that Lauder made for Dita Von Teese was inspired by the 1944 movie “Brief Encounter,” which is about “repressed post-war love.” In reference to the film, the sweetheart neckline and boning on the bodice form a heart design in shiny black. “She just loved it because she’s such an intellectual,” Lauder said of Von Teese. Lauder’s corsets typically trim the waist by four inches, but she was mum on the waist size of Von Teese’s bespoke piece. It is rumored that Von Teese’s waist is a tiny 16 inches in a corset.