Feature Friday: Natalisa Designs
This month’s feature, Natalisa Designs, creates beautifully detailed corsets and stays for both modern and historic wear. Her work includes pieces that look like they’ve stepped directly out of a museum collection, as well as pieces that would fit in with a contemporary cottage-core wardrobe.
“The start of my sewing journey coincided with Covid,” Natalisa shared. “After the full scale invasion of Ukraine began, we had to close our family business and I had to search for other means to keep going. Not just financially but mentally—it was a tough time, and sewing helped me to stay sane.…After all the problems Covid and its restrictions caused, instead of looking for a more traditional job that is in my field I decided to follow my childhood dream of becoming a seamstress/designer.”
As Natalisa herself succinctly put it, “I was always fascinated by 3 things: history, art and fashion. And in my corset obsession I was able to combine all the things that I love together.
That love has led to a deep admiration for historic clothing specifically. “I always look in awe at the elements of clothing in museums that have survived the challenges of time,” she shared. “Most of these items have no names of their creators, but they are such a great example of craftsmanship that surpasses anything and defeats the oblivion of death. People don’t usually think of clothing as art or as an important part of history of humanity. But I do. And I know that clothing and fashion in this context often get overlooked. But as an information analytic, I know that clothing is a clear representative of how society of any period worked and where it was moving towards. And it’s incredibly fascinating how modern times mimic the past and how our perception of reality is intertwined with the way we dress.”
And while Natalisa loves making original corsets, her true passion is crafting meticulous museum reproductions. “I like creating something that I have designed myself, but more than that, I like to make replicas of museum exhibits. I jokingly call it ‘ethical stealing’,” she explained. “And my favorite place to ‘steal’ from is Met Museum. I have copied a couple of their items. I also copy corsets from private collections. I love to come as close as possible to the real thing. However, it’s important to remember that 1:1 copy is impossible due to differences in modern materials and parameters of the original corset and the one I make for me or the customer.”
“One of the most interesting and difficult projects I have completed is the replica of 1870–80s corset,” Natalisa continued, elaborating on the specific challenges that come from making an accurate copy of a period piece. “I only had two front facing photos of it, and it was difficult to figure its pattern and design from having just two source images. But in the end everything worked out just fine. Another difficult one I’m working on right now is a 1880s corset from Kyoto Costume Institute. For its replica, I found a 1900s lace that looks very similar to the original one. Finding right materials is not easy, but I think it’s worth it.”
But even though she loves a detailed reproduction, Natalisa encourages her clients to express their own unique sense of style when commissioning a corset. “More than anything I love when people get creative,” she explained. “It gets repetitive when you do exactly the same thing every time. So I have many options for the fabric and lace and other elements. I always encourage people to choose something interesting. And I always say, that you can order anything you want and I’ll do everything in my power to make it well—but please don’t make it boring.”
“I mostly work with sustainable materials,” she continued. “My fabric stash is 70% vintage, antique, or dead stock fabrics. I try to minimize impact of my passion on the environment as much as I can. This is a small thing, but it is very important to me.”
You can find Natalisa’s work in her Etsy shop, www.etsy.com/shop/natalisadesigns, and follow her on Instagram (@natalisa_designs) and on YouTube (@NatalisaDesigns) for more inspiration.