GQ Magazine
"A new photographic book salutes the lady-morphing genius of the corset. There was a time - oh heady, heady days - when every woman from the royal to the wretch enhanced her embonpoint by means of a constricting corset. That era, sadly (for us, at least), is gone : the only 21st century dames to favour corsetry tend to be either sex-trade professionals, actresses under the direction of James Ivory, or a little on the large side. Thanks to photographer Alwyn R Coates, however, the period when an elegantly cantilevered cleavage was common a sight as an underage chimney sweep is far from forgotten.
This month, Coates publishes an arresting new book consisting entirely of beautiful women bursting out of stiff undergarments, all of which were manufactured by British corsetière, Voller. As you can see, the results are seldom less than spectacular. But why this fascination with such an outmoded item ? "They're just beautiful items to photograph," says Coates, before coming clean. "And I like the way they draw in a girl's waist and shape her figure." Funnily enough, so do we."