Ask the expert - lingerie

Allie Baker is the creative genius behind lingerie business, Tutu Corsets.

Allie currently lives in Neyland with her three youngest children.

Allie loves sewing, but setting up Tutu Corsets has a heart-warming story behind it.

As Allie explains: “I came back to Pembrokeshire to spend some time with my parents as I intended to emigrate, but tragically my partner was killed after going out to India ahead of us to set-up my business.

“After some time passed, I decided to stay and try to rebuild my business and so I initially set-up Tutu Corsets around three-and-a-half years ago, but had a break of around a year.”

Allie has always been a keen sewer. She started when she was about 10 on her grandma’s Singer machine.

“I always loved it and found that I was good at it straight away,” explained Allie. “I lived in Europe for a while and had some success at showing my clothing and also started a line in soft furnishing and interior design.”

Allie continued: “Last year, I went to the County Wedding Fair and there was a lot of interest regarding the corset top. Brides there liked it for the top of their wedding dresses, so I have now naturally

progressed on to add the bottom of the dresses and have brought out a few examples of skirts to go alongside my

lingerie.

“I make overbust and underbust corsets, waspies (under bust corsets with suspenders), suspenders, knickers and garters. I also make a selection of glittered glasses and champagne glasses inspired by weddings.”

Most popular corsets seem to be the diamantied overbust corsets, for which there was a lot of interest last year.

The materials Allie generally uses are a mix of satin and tulle, while the lining is usually cotton.

She says: “I use ribbon to decorate and also diamantes and hand-embroidery with beading work. All corsets are boned with spiralbound metal bespoke bones.

“There are a lot of colours used in my work. I don’t stick to any particular colour, each item is bespoke, so they all take different amounts of time depending on complexity. They can take between three to eight hours to make; some take more than this.

“I also make wedding lingerie, as well as steampunk clothing, men’s suits and hats and period costumes, as I have previously worked in theatre in costume.”

So what’s Allie’s advice to a bride choosing her corset for her big day?

“The comfort aspect would be paramount. The whole item would all depend on the fitting and the bride’s requirements really - if the corset was to be worn in the day or not, then underwear to match. There is an option to buy a complete set or pieces, and also in the future, I want to be able to offer boudoir shoots for a pre-nuptial present for the husband-to-be or just generally anyone who would like a chance to try the corsets and get some great photos done, complete with a pamper day and hair and make-up... so watch this space.”