Sarah: Getting down to 18 inches was pretty smooth and easy.
Like it's not about the aesthetics anymore. It's about the challenge.
I am not concerned that I'm doing anything to damage my organs.
I'm just curious like how small I can go I like to push myself.
Yeah, the main thing is the middle, like, I don't care if there's a gap
at the top and bottom a little bit. Male Speaker: We're getting there.
Sarah: Okay, I prefer a little bit of a gap at the top.
Male Speaker: A little gap at the bottom.
Sarah: Yeah, I might loosen it back up at the top.
Because that's where my lungs are.
My name is Sarah and I want to match the world's smallest waist record or maybe beat it.
I've been corseting since 2012, now I’m at 16 inches.
I had to quit for a while when I got pregnant with my daughter.
So I started up again, after she was born late 2014.
And I've been consistently wearing a Corset since then.
I think I was hooked on corsets right away.
As soon as I tried one on for the first time,
I was immediately delighted with the hourglass shape that it gave me.
Hold still. I am not concerned that I'm doing anything
to damage my organs. Because I just don't think there's any evidence that that can happen.
The current living record holder, she is in her mid 80s.
Now and apparently healthy and active.
I'm not concerned.
This is was my very first course it is 24 inches.
And I think I lucked out, it's actually a pretty good quality.
At the time, my natural waist was fluctuating around 27 to 28 inches.
Early on in the process, a lot of soft tissue just being moved out of the way
just like fat and skin and muscle.
And then you go closer and closer and you're actually having to move
floating ribs and it's a little trickier.
It's because it’s hard to breathe, it's very uncomfortable.
I started doing a little modelling but I've never seen myself
as being particularly sexy or being the kind of person
who would pose for a pinup shot.
So it was a way of kind of trying out a different persona.
And I've enjoyed that it's kind of funny, amusing midlife crisis.
Once I started getting really interested in corsets,
I started looking at a lot of historical examples.
This one is based on historical pattern;
it is in a silk brocade. That's pretty special fabric. This one was made at 18 inches.
Now I can get to 16 but not super comfortably.
I do it gradually throughout the day;
I can stay at 16 inches for a couple of hours at a time.
Pretty comfortably.
If I want to loosen it back up.
So I'm able to be a 16 but I wouldn't say that I'm like at 16 like not full time.
Once I'm really comfortable at 16 it just feels okay, feels natural.
And then I think I want to go for 15.
In terms of like the restrictions how tightly I lace changes depending on what I'm doing.
I didn't change my lifestyle much until I started going under 18
going as tight as I am now I'm having to eat a little differently. I sleep in the corsets.
So I have to have a moderate dinner I have to spread my calories out
throughout the day, which I find a little tedious.
Ron likes the look of a corset it if it's not too, too extreme.
I think he aesthetically prefers something in the range of
18 to 20 inches and I got a little past that.
And that's for me, doesn't all have to be for him.
When I first started was a little bit worried about the health aspect.
Ron: I wasn't I wasn't into it at all.
I guess at the time, you know, before Sarah started with it.
It's not like a must have for me, I guess you'd say.
But yeah, no, I think it looks really good.
She's super into being a mom, you know,
she really does a great job encouraging Castro
to just find her own way and find her own voice with things.
Sarah: A big chunk of my life is my family.
Ron: Yeah I made a Rainbow for you it’s beautiful.
Sarah: Castro doesn't particularly take notice of the corset.
She has noticed that she can punch me really hard and it doesn't hurt me.
So that's fun. She thinks it's like a piece of armor.
I think chances are she will have absolutely no interest in corseting whatsoever.
Ron: When other people are judgmental I get a little bit defensive.
I mean, I think it's just natural when it's someone that you care about.
It's usually so badly informed that it's basically
you're probably hurting your insides. And that's not really a medical opinion.
But for the most part I mean, these are just people on the internet.
I hear a lot of people say things like it's unnatural for her to do this.
to my mind. You know, shoes aren't natural, or
you having a job where you sit down all day is, is unnatural.
It's demonstrably bad for you sitting down all day is worse for you than corseting.
Sarah: What I see for my goal in corseting
isn't just the challenge and at least meeting the official world records.
And if I can get there, maybe see if I can even surpass it.
And once I reach that I'm not sure
I'm not sure if I'll stay interested in being corseted, that extremely, at least moderately.
It's just one part of my life. It's one part of the balance.