Chanel, Haute Couture, AW14, Paris.
Examples of back fastening details that were used in the Chanel Autumn-Winter 2014 couture collection that appeared to be based on the same hardware that would normally be used as a closure on the busks of corsets. The busk section is usually used in the front of corsets, while the corset lacing is used at the back.
To make it easier to recognise what the busk hardware looks like, the images above show examples of different types of corset busks from MacCulloch and Wallis»
Busks would normally be used on the front of a corset where they would be fairly hard and straight on the body, whereas in this case the fastenings have been used along the back of the Chanel garments where the centre of the body has more pronounced curves. This may mean that the fastening hardware has been mounted onto more flexible “bones” or attached to the garment in a different way.
There are many tutorials online for inserting busks into a corset that will give you an idea of how this detail would need to be inserted, but essentially you need to insert the row with the tabs through holes along a seam lines, while the “nipple” sections will need to pierce through holes in the fabric created with an awl.
Some tutorials also mention that you could use a line of buttonholes to create the slits that you need in the fabric to insert the tabs through a single piece of fabric.
Chanel images from Vogue.co.uk»
