Feature Friday: The Boudoir Key
This month’s feature crafts truly exquisite pieces—from period perfect corsets to sumptuously smocked reform blouses, The Boudoir Key makes beautifully detailed Victorian and Edwardian clothing for both historical costuming and everyday life!
When asked about her work, owner Elizabeth-Iryna shared that Edwardian fashion has been a lifelong love. “The driving force behind my own passionate interest in historical fashion was my mother's interest in the history of our native region and city in Ukraine. One day, when I was 13 years old, she bought an amazing book published by local historians, which included a section on the clothing of local residents. There were many old photographs, including women's, sometimes printed the size of an entire page. I examined them closely and was impressed by a hat from a photograph dated 1913–1914 (I started sewing when I was 6, so handicrafts were already familiar to me at that time). I had a desire to find and buy a similar hat, and then create a similar look for myself. In contrast to modern clothing styles, the fashion of the 1910s looked particularly elegant and made a strong impression on me,” she shared.
That love for the early 1900s has continued to this day, with most of her shop offerings falling between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “An important and partly unconscious factor in choosing my favorite direction in fashion was the dream of dressing in a vintage style in everyday life,” Elizabeth-Iryna continued. “I am deeply in love with the aesthetics of Art Nouveau and the 1900s, due to the relative compactness of the clothing (except for the trains of evening and ball gowns), its originality and unconventional design solutions, as well as the similarity of that time to ours with life-enhancing devices, electricity and automobiles.”
But she added this love of history is mixed with a modern worldview. “At the moment, I am inspired by the blend of modernity with the elegance of the past, borrowing the meticulous attention to detail that was customary centuries ago. Why modernity? I categorically do not share the old-fashioned worldview, which can be accurately expressed by the slogan 'Vintage style, not vintage values,'” she clarified.
And within this period, corsets are her true passion. “A costume cannot exist without a foundation in the form of underwear, particularly without a corset. I started sewing them one day and couldn't stop. It’s addictive. Even after 11 years of making corsets consistently, from the simplest designs to the complex, I still see that there is no limit to perfection,” she continued. “When it comes to making corsets, without a doubt, my favorite piece in my work is this type of Edwardian corset. Its shape and construction are generally flawless if you master the technique and distribute proportions correctly.”
One of her newest offerings, The Ballerina corset, has been one of her most exciting and challenging projects. “It's a corset model I created from scratch that turned out to be so anatomically correct that it is comfortable to wear for many hours with significant waist reduction,” she explained. “For context: I have severe scoliosis, and for any other corset to feel comfortable on my body, it has to be asymmetrical—whereas the Ballerina corset is absolutely comfortable while being symmetrical.”
But the Ballerina corset is just the start! Elizabeth-Iryna has big plans to grow her business in the coming months. “I have been involved in custom corset making for 7 years. This year, I am expanding the store's range and will start offering ready-to-ship items and made-to-order products sewn according to size charts,” she shared. “The new collection will include historical blouses, skirts, dresses, and outerwear, with a focus on practicality so that they can be worn not only at historical events but also in everyday life! With or without a corset underneath.”
You can find all of Elizabeth-Iryna’s offerings on her website, theboudoirkey.com, and follow her on Instagram (@marietheresaandlumieres) for even more beautiful Edwardian inspiration!