The curvy block
Circumference out fast at the waist, released just as fast above and below it. This is the reason a deep reduction stays comfortable on a fuller figure.
Twenty-four bones. A curvy block.
Built for the reduction, not around it.
Ivy is an underbust waist trainer cut on a curvy reduction block — a hard nip at the waist and a wide, generous release over the rib and the hip. Twenty spiral steels through the body, four flat steels holding the lacing edge, and a 100% cotton lining. Made for fuller figures and for the reductions that ask the most of a corset.
A curvy block asks more of the boning than a straight one. Ivy answers with twenty-four steels.
Ivy is drafted on a curvy block: the circumference comes out fast at the waist and is released just as fast above the rib and below the hip. That is what makes a deep reduction wearable on a fuller figure — the corset takes the waist without flattening the shape either side of it. On a straight-cut block, the same reduction has nowhere to go, and the wearer feels it at the ribs and at the hip bone rather than at the waist.
Twenty spiral steels run through the body of the corset. Spiral steel bends in two directions at once, which is the only sensible answer to a curvy seam: it follows a line that is travelling inward and downward at the same time, instead of trying to straighten it. On a high-spring block the seams curve harder, so there are more of them and they need more support — hence twenty, not fourteen.
Four flat steels hold the lacing edge, two to each side. A twenty-four grommet back under a heavy reduction pulls with real force; a single flat steel per side will bow under it and the lacing gap goes hourglass instead of parallel. Doubling the flat steel at each back edge keeps that gap straight from top to bottom — which is what makes the reduction measurable and repeatable rather than approximate.
The detail that matters most is the one you can't see from outside: every bone runs under its own cotton casing. Twenty-four bones, twenty-four casings. A bone in a casing floats slightly and stays where it was put. A bone stitched straight into a seam allowance works against that seam and eventually distorts it — and on a curvy block, where every seam is doing shaping work, that distortion shows. You notice the difference after a month of wear, not on the first day.
Front 11.75", side and back 11.5". Ivy is deliberately short. A high hip spring and a short torso are the same fitting problem from two directions, and a long line simply cannot clear both — it rides on the hip when you sit and digs under the bust when you stand. The 10.5" busk sits well clear of a full bust; the near-level hem means the lower edge lands in the same place all the way round instead of dipping into the lap.
Inside, a 100% cotton lining. Unglamorous and decisive: at this level of reduction, the layer against the skin is the one that decides whether Ivy gets worn for six hours or taken off after forty minutes.
Every piece in the Ivy block, drawn to an inch scale. The curve on each shaping seam is the reduction — read them side by side and the waist-to-hip spring is visible before a single stitch goes in.
Circumference out fast at the waist, released just as fast above and below it. This is the reason a deep reduction stays comfortable on a fuller figure.
Spiral flexes in two directions and follows a curved seam instead of fighting it. A high-spring block needs more of them, so Ivy carries twenty.
Two to each side of the lacing. Twenty-four grommets pull hard under a real reduction — doubled flat steel keeps the lacing gap parallel top to bottom.
Twenty-four bones, twenty-four cotton casings. Nothing stitched straight into a seam allowance, so nothing distorts with wear.
11.75" front, 11.5" side and back. Clears the high hip when seated and the bust when standing — the two places a long line fails a curvy figure.
A 100% cotton lining, breathable enough for the hours daily training actually takes. Honest, and the reason it gets worn.