A day in the Life of Gillian Wesley..by Warwickshire Life Magazine

I met Gillian at a networking do, being striking and compelling I was drawn to her but unlike the rest of us who were dressed suitably corporate chic; she was looking very sophisticated in corset, one it transpired she had made.

Now having a corsetiere in my social set appealed, so I quickly ingratiated myself and coffee and a show-around at her studio in Kenilworth were swiftly agreed.

I turn up at her door having given great consideration to my foundation garmentation. I find her betwixt and between finishing a rush job and giving direction to her lady-that-does in the garden. Gillian is a Warwickshire girl and dress making and tailoring is in her blood. I am fascinated to learn that her great-grandmother ended up a single parent raising five children, taking in tailoring work to feed them. She was unable to manage so she sent Gillian’s grandfather to an orphanage. Whilst it did sound rather Dickensian, the positive aspect was that he was educated and taught his trade, to be a tailor. Then he too found himself raising a family single-handed after his wife died. He would make his daughter dresses so she would not miss-out on the things a mother would do. At this point Gillian roots around a box of mementos and finds an old picture of her mother in a dress her grandfather had made.

Whilst Gillian is taking a call from a client, I have a quick snoop round her box and find her school report from Thorn school in Kenilworth. Gillian laughs as she catches me in the act and tells me that she kept this particular report because whilst her grades were generally mediocre, in dressmaking she was marked as outstanding.

I am keen to understand why she had specialised in corsetry. She tells me that when she had her son, she was taking in dressmaking for pin money but she really wanted to be properly qualified and have her own business. She went to college as a mature student to study fashion design in her early thirties. She developed an interest in making wedding dresses and in particular, the corset style tops. Her passion developed from there because there is a great opportunity for personal expression in decorating each of the corsets, she designs for her clients.

I want to play now so she lets me try a couple on. The first thing I notice is my bosoms suddenly look magnificent and low and behold, I have a waist. Interestingly I do not feel the slightest bit like strumpet but really quiet sexy and powerful.

“What is your typical client?”

“They are normally women who tend to be slightly older, thirty-something’s. Women who are already confident or those who want to be more so.”

Gillian enthuses that it is so rewarding seeing the transformation that takes place when a woman views herself in a corset for the first time. I have to admit I agree. I have been quietly trying to work out which of my potential gentlemen suitors would stump up for one of Gillian’s bespoke corset. I will work on that one!

Interestingly Gillian’s youngest client is just 15, she has curvature of the spine and Gillian has made her a special corset, which helps her to sit upright. It has been a blessing to this young woman because the alternative was metal braces. She wears her new corset everyday because she feels so ‘trendy’ in it

Just then, a text comes in for Gillian and she starts to chuckle, a woman who came to see her a week ago is tipping her off that her boyfriend will be ringing shortly to commission a ‘surprise’ corset for her birthday. Of course, Gillian is to be completely surprised and congratulate him on his initiative when he rings -oh the ways of women!

Gillian invites me to pop off for coffee with her, as she has to go into Leamington to get some more thread and fabric. Whilst we drive in, she tells me she was  short-listed for a national award for ‘Female Inventors and Innovators’, not bad going for a single parent who started out sewing for pin money.

Whilst she is delighted to be acknowledged in this way, she tells me that her greatest pleasure is really seeing the difference her corsets make to a woman’s esteem. Just recently, she dressed Zelda Wilson in one of her corsets for a charity fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. Zelda is a local woman recovering from breast cancer and the ravaging effects of chemotherapy. They raised £7500 on the night but most importantly for Zelda she felt feminine and sexy again after such a harrowing time.

Having browsed through buttons, bows and lots of glamorous fabric we head off for coffee. Two lattes later, we are musing over our coffee when Gillian realises that it almost 100 years ago that her great-grandmother was using tailoring to provide for her family and now Gillian is doing the same but with a garment that hails from her great- grandmothers era.

It causes me to reflect that on one level Gillian, like many Warwickshire women is carving out her niche and developing her business, using her talent and determination to support her children. On another level in developing her skills, she has enabled a varied array of women, of different ages and experiences, to feel confident, powerful and esteemed when wearing her corsets. The only challenge I face is how am I going to get my hands on one, I think a call to my current beaux is in order after all I am only doing it for women!