
I bought this one size too big, so there is just about no gap in the lace section in the back. I was looking for a piece to use for my halloween costume (I won!) and this one worked perfectly due to the zippered front. I wore it as an overpiece with lace camisole and a spaghetti strapped tank and bra underneath. I did this for the look of my costume and the fact that I would be wearing it out in public and at work.
When I put it on, it definitely makes bending over hard, so being able to unzip it and take it off was great. I found I could not drive with it on, since I couldn't sit back in the seat properly, so I zipped it off leaving my tank top. My only complaint that since I am short (5' 1") the boning tends to dig in under my arms unless I pull the piece down a little bit lower than shown in the pictures.
The quality of this item is excellent. Although the care label says to hand wash, I placed mine in a large lingerie bag and used the Ultra Delicate setting on our front loading washing machine. I would not recommend washing this in a conventional top loader. For soap I used Dreft (it recommends mild soap). Some of the red and black ended up on the lingerie bag, but the color of the piece remained vibrant and did not appear to run onto the piece itself. I tried tumble drying it in the lingerie bag using the air and extra low heat temp settings but found that didn't dry it completely. I didn't want the piece to get stale and stinky, so I had to fully dry it. I put the rack accessory into my dryer (usually used for tennis shoes) and laid the corset inside out on top of the non moving-rack. I used extra low heat, timed for 20+ minutes to finish drying it (after 2 previous cycles in the lingerie bag).
I would buy this item again, and I may have to if I lose weight and want to use this piece again.
My costume was my Vampire Wars avatar, this piece was the closest I could find in terms of style in my rather large size (46, which is no longer available here). This piece probably is one of three reasons why I won the costume contest at work. The second reason was this wig: New Asian Geisha Girl China Doll Halloween Costume Wig Adult. The third part of my winning ensemble was this cloak: COLOR CHOICES!! Beautiful Crushed Panne' Velvet Hooded Cloak Great for Many Themes! POPULAR!. My long black velvet skirt is not sold here (split with a "mini" skirt panel with a few rows of rhinestones peeking out of the split).Get more detail about
Long Line Zip Front Red Rose Corset.