ROMANIE SMITH: I probably wear my corset two–three times a week.
ROMANIE SMITH: I just think it’s very feminine. The shape it gives you is more of an hourglass
figure and it makes your waist look smaller, your bum look a bit bigger, and your boobs
look a bit bigger!
COMM: Forget weight training, some people believe the secret to a perfect body is waist
training. Romanie's been wearing corsets for the past 18 months, but says it’s
a craze that can be taken too far.
ROMANIE SMITH: Wearing a corset, 24 hours a day, when you can snap ribs, problems with
kidneys sometimes. It also can damage the bottom of your lungs but that’s only doing
it to extremes.
COMM: More and more women are returning to the age-old method of corseting in pursuit
of an hour glass figure, including fetish model Romanie Smith.
ROMANIE SMITH: My shape before was like a
fashion model. I was very straight, up-straight down, and to be honest with you, I didn’t
feel feminine at all, I didn’t feel sexy, I felt like a little girl and the whole reason
I started wearing them was because I wanted to look more like a woman.
COMM: Romanie shrunk her natural waist line
by three inches, and when she's wearing a corset her tummy measures a tiny 18 inches.
COMM: At the moment, she wears a corset for
up to six hours at a time. But Romanie wants to up her training regime despite sometimes
finding it painful.
ROMANIE SMITH: Wearing a corset, if it makes you feel uncomfortable when you’re out and
about and stuff, it’s kind of like getting a stomach ache and you put your power on for
it anyway. I would like to waist train because, it's quite nice to not wear a corset and
still have the same shape. Wearing them all the time, it trains you to have that shape
all the time.
COMM: Extreme corseting though doesn’t come without risks.
ROMANIE SMITH: Wearing a corset 24 hours a
day, all the time, it does tend to damage your ribs and you can snap ribs, bruising
occurs, problems with kidney sometimes, it also can damage the bottom of your lungs because
obviously it is bringing in all your ribs so yeah, they're the problems you can have but
that’s only, doing it to extremes and doing it too much.
COMM: Romanie's making a name for herself
as a fetish model.
DAN TIDSWELL: She's vey able to slip into character and to produce a variety of different
looks for a given situation. It makes her very good at fetish fashion corsetry, lingerie,
whatever you put in front of her.
COMM: And Romanie’s mom is her right hand woman when she needs to strap up for a shoot.
SUSANNAH SMITH: I think it’s okay, it's another string to her bow
it’s part of her, what she has to model, so yeah, I’m fine with her wearing corsets.
Would I consider a corset myself? If I was younger, definitely I would consider it, but not now.
COMM: But Romanie doesn’t always get positive
feedback on her appearance.
ROMANIE SMITH: I had a few people criticize me, but that was mainly on like social media
sites where people can hide behind a computer.
ROMANIE SMITH: I had a few people go, “Oh, that’s disgusting, it’s unnatural.”
But it’s been quite biggish women I suppose that obviously are going to be like, well
that’s not right.
LADY: Anybody as old as I - who's lived in the 50s - wore corsets. They weren’t as extreme
as that. But they sort of helped you, sort of look nice.
LADY 2: I think she looks quite nice and I think it’s good if it makes her happy.
MAN: Yeah, lovely, lovely waist. It’s very curvaceous. Yeah, I love small waists. Why? It’s just sexy.
COMM: Romanie's got some words of warning for young girls wanting to follow in her footsteps.
ROMANIE SMITH: I don’t think girls, they
should start wearing them as young as some of them are. I’ve seen a couple of girls on like Instagram and stuff and they're
like 15, wearing corsets. Their bodies aren’t fully formed yet so it’s going to disfigure
them in later life.
COMM: But she's going to continue wearing corsets, in pursuit of an even tinnier tummy.
ROMANIE SMITH: I'd love to shrink my waist into
a 17, maybe a 16, maybe a 15, I just don’t really know. Just go with it and see what happens!