This entry is a summary of the video “PaperCats Overbust Review” which you can watch on YouTube here:
| Fit, length | Center front is 14 inches, princess seam is 16.5 inches (10″ from the waist up, 6.5″ from the waist down), side seam is 14.5 inches, and center back is 14 inches long. The size Small is equivalent to 23″ in the waist. The bust spring is 10 inches and the lower hip spring is 12 inches (slightly curvier than their size chart). |
| Material | Two main layers: The fashion fabric is a poly-cotton toile de jouy, and the lining is white twill (also poly-cotton blend). |
| Construction | 6 panel pattern (12 panels total). Panels 1-2 give room for the bust, and panels 3-4 give space for the hip. Constructed using the welt-seam method with one bone on each seam. |
| Binding | Made from navy blue cotton bias tape. Machine stitched on the outside and inside (topstitch on the outside, stitched in the ditch on the inside). No garter tabs. |
| Waist tape | None. |
| Modesty panel | 6 inches wide, unstiffened, finished in matching toile de jouy on the outside and twill inside, and sewn to one side of the corset. There is also a ¾ inch wide unstiffened modesty placket in front, also finished in toile de jouy. |
| Busk | 13 inches long. 6 loops + pins, equidistantly spaced. It is a heavier busk (1 inch wide on each side), with a bit of flexibility. |
| Boning | 14 bones total, not including busk. Single boned on the seams, using ¼” wide spiral bones. Beside the grommets, the outer bone is flat while the inner bone is spiral, giving some flexibility to the back. |
| Grommets | 30 two-part grommets, size #00 (very tiny), with a small flange. Finished in silver, and equidistantly spaced about 1″ apart. Small washers in the back; splits in the back but they don’t catch the laces too much. |
| Laces | Navy blue round nylon cord – a little springy, but difficult to snap or break. It’s long enough and holds knots and bows well. |
| Price | This particular style is $90 USD in their Etsy shop (now sold out on their main website). Shipping to North America was ~ $17 USD extra. |
Final Thoughts:
Papercats is part of the “Polish OTR Corset Trifecta” (along with Restyle and Rebel Madness). Lately Poland has been dominating the niche of curvy budget corsets with pieces that start from less than $50 for certain underbust styles.
I love the gently curved ribcage, and how the bust of the corset curves over the top of the breast to ‘cup’ the tissue and keep me secure within the corset. The only thing I would change of the pattern is to make it a bit longer from the waist up, and shorter from the waist down so it covers more of my bust but doesn’t hit my lap when I sit. However, someone with a higher waistline would fit this corset nicely.
The super lovely toile de juoy fashion fabric has Japanese inspired imagery (temples, cherry trees, birds and flowers) and the color scheme indeed makes it resemble blue and white porcelain.
I would use this corset for special events and occasional tightlacing; its lightweight construction and flexibility may make it a good “starter corset” for someone who is unsure if they want to dabble in wearing corsets and they don’t want to break the bank – but I wouldn’t train in it regularly (besides, its more difficult to train in overbusts in general).
This design is currently sold out on PaperCats Corsets, their newer website reserved just for their limited corset collections. However it is currently available in their Etsy shop along with other new styles as well.
Do you have this corset or another PaperCats corset? Let us know what you think of it in a comment below.
