I had a vision, and I need your help to help reel me in!
What I saw was this: a corded Elizabethan stay (inspired by the shaping of the tabs on this one by Alys Peacocke), which is then painted with latex.
Why? Well, I really want the finish to match that of the group I'll be LARPing with as their armour is very eye-catching. I've never done anything with latex except minor make-up effects and coating foam with it, but google tells me people paint fabric with it, at least for waterproofing purposes. The only things I've managed to spot about making clothing uses latex sheeting, but I think it might be harder to get that corded effect with gluing rather than sewing? I have no experience with latex sheeting so not sure that would be a good option?
If I was to paint finished stays with latex, would I run into trouble when wearing them? Would it wear off too easily under the arms from friction? Would it wear off quickly due to being taken off/put on going from flat to curved? That sounds like such a dumb question in my head, of course latex is flexible but it does curl/crack when abused (e.g. repeatedly sticking your sword through your belt rather than an appropriate holster). Should this put me off, i.e. would the work involved outweigh the time it will last? I don't mind the odd top up but would wish for it to last for a 4-day weekend, at a minimum. How will this work, re a smooth finish at the top and bottom edges, as I wasn't intending on coating the inside?
Is there another way I could get a virtually identical effect, that's more sane? Patent or stretch Vinyl? PVC? Is there a way to make them less shiny? What I've seen of the corsets posted here, it seems to be prone to wrinkles, with the two million channels of a stay and not being especially experienced in corset-making - would this be asking for trouble?
I'm not quite sure what my question is, I'm mainly just looking to see how realistic the think tank of corsetmakers judge this project to be.
Thanks in advance for any advice, warnings, and idle speculation!
xx Stormwindz
Why? Well, I really want the finish to match that of the group I'll be LARPing with as their armour is very eye-catching. I've never done anything with latex except minor make-up effects and coating foam with it, but google tells me people paint fabric with it, at least for waterproofing purposes. The only things I've managed to spot about making clothing uses latex sheeting, but I think it might be harder to get that corded effect with gluing rather than sewing? I have no experience with latex sheeting so not sure that would be a good option?
If I was to paint finished stays with latex, would I run into trouble when wearing them? Would it wear off too easily under the arms from friction? Would it wear off quickly due to being taken off/put on going from flat to curved? That sounds like such a dumb question in my head, of course latex is flexible but it does curl/crack when abused (e.g. repeatedly sticking your sword through your belt rather than an appropriate holster). Should this put me off, i.e. would the work involved outweigh the time it will last? I don't mind the odd top up but would wish for it to last for a 4-day weekend, at a minimum. How will this work, re a smooth finish at the top and bottom edges, as I wasn't intending on coating the inside?
Is there another way I could get a virtually identical effect, that's more sane? Patent or stretch Vinyl? PVC? Is there a way to make them less shiny? What I've seen of the corsets posted here, it seems to be prone to wrinkles, with the two million channels of a stay and not being especially experienced in corset-making - would this be asking for trouble?
I'm not quite sure what my question is, I'm mainly just looking to see how realistic the think tank of corsetmakers judge this project to be.
Thanks in advance for any advice, warnings, and idle speculation!
xx Stormwindz