EarShot 1997



Bound for Pleasure
Philadelphia's Delicious Corsets wants to tie you up.

"This is possibly the smallest elevator in the world," says Psydde Delicious as we ride up to his apartment, squeezing into an old 19th-century lift that barely fits two people.
But what could be more perfect than a teeny elevator for a guy who squeezes people into corsets?
Delicious, 27 and partner/seamstress Amy Schmitz, 28, have been crafting corsets out of Delicious' Philly apartment for almost two years now. The two met while design students at the Philadelphia College of Textiles. At the time, Delicious was making straightjackets.
"I've been hung up on this entrapment thing forever," says Delicious, who doesn't want to get into the psychoanalysis behind that sentiment, but often wears a corset himself. He wears one when he goes out at night, over his clothing (gotta show off the merchandise, y'know) or during the day when he works at Ballyhoo, a vintage clothing store. Schmitz, who also has a daytime job, works at a fabric store which helps the duo get good prices on materials.
We sit and talk at their home office - just a tiny kitchen table with a sewing machine next to plastic bins filled with corsets. Schmitz, with cropped, bleached hair and pierced with a brightly colored ear plug, sews a hot-pink satin corset as we chat. Delicious, in black spiky hair, dark makeup and just about everything pierced, sips some English Breakfast tea.
The first corsets they made were for themselves and "didn't fit at all," says Delicious. But after reading up on books on the close-fitting undergarment (though there wasn't much, says Delicious) and thumbing through fetish magazines, they started to create their own styles.
"We're not doing all black leather or vinyl corsets," explains Delicious. Their corsets are made of vibrant colors in silks and satin and brocade or clear plastic. They're reinforced with stays, lace up with tightening strings and are lined with cotton. They have five different styles for men or women, all named after erotic-themed writers like the "Anaïs" or the "Cocteau." And they aren't exactly cheap, starting at $220. But the handiwork is intense for each custom-designed garment. The purpose of the corset is definitely fashion before comfort. Delicious' goal is "waist training," or body modification. Their motto? "The tighter it is - the better it feels."
"It's not like a pair of slippers," says Schmitz. "They're not designed to be comfortable."
Delicious adds, "You do feel comfortable in that your posture is very straight. It makes you completely aware of your body."
They recall one customer who went from a 35-inch waist into an 18-inch one. The training is rigorous.
"When you first wear one," says Schmitz, "you find you have trouble breathing and sitting down. But after an hour or less, the laces can be tightened a lot more."
Ouch!
Delicious went from a 31-inch waist to a 25. He says he would like to see himself at a 21 or 20.
"Some people who are really serious about it wear them for 15 years, only take them off for a few hours a day for bathing. If you wear it in excess it's dangerous," notes Delicious.
Of course, historically, women wore corsets that reshaped their ribs and sometimes the ribs collapsed.
"In the Edwardian days, they'd put women in corsets as early as two years old. There would even be gestation corsets for when women were pregnant and needed the back support."
But Delicious won't go that far. Still, haven't they offended anyone with their waist-shrinking ideas?
"No one yet," says Schmitz. "You're doing this to yourself. It's about taking control of your body. You're not doing it to impress someone else."

- Margit Detweiler