Where do you buy your bodices?

[Taffy Saltwater]

I'm a Moresca woman.  I'm a very large woman and not all of their styles come in my size.  My favorite is the Pirate bodice - it dips in the front & back and has a little peplum to help cover the waist of your skirt. It also does wonders for the girls & makes your waist look teensy (have one in black and one in wine). I also have one of the Max bodices to wear under a coat & a Phillipa, which they are not going to continue to make.  

[HannahLeeDee]

Thank you all for your advice! I don't know why I didn't just ask here in the first place. This has been such a help... well except that all of the bodices are so beautiful I can't decide which one I want. Well I have about 43 days until Opening Canon... but who's counting.

Thanks again and talk to you later.... I need to get back to looking.

[tigrlily64]

I wanted to get a bodice from verymerryseamstress.com, but unfortunately she's booked until August.  I though her pricing was good(45-80? $), but since I never got the bodice, I can't really say much.  I believe she's a forum member.

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

Yes VMS is a forum member that does awesome work in my oppinion... and many others. But there are others so ask around. To get a custome boice it will most likely take until August or latter as most are very busy this time of year.

[HannahLeeDee]

How much does boning on the back of the bodice add?

Is is recommended?

[isabelladangelo]

How much does boning on the back of the bodice add?

Is is recommended?

Speaking as a seamstress myself, and not from prices I've seen, I'd say that it shouldn't add much to the price ($5~$10).  As long as you aren't talking about boning the bodice all the way through (aka, boning it channels like a pair of bodies), it doesn't take much more effort than boning the front.

As for it being recommended, no.  A good bodice should have a heavy innerlining.  That tends to help keep everything where it should be, even the back rolls that a few ladies (and gentlemen!) have.  The problem with having boning in the back is that too many people have different backs and it's not hard for the boning to be slightly off place and cause it to hit your spinal cord.  That hurts like anything. 

A properly boned back only is boned lightly and typically only at the back sides.  So, basically, no; don't bone the back.