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The Valisere bustier on a mannequin torso, black floral lace over sheer mesh with the boning already doing its quiet work underneath.
Back view of the bustier on the mannequin, the long row of hooks and eyes running the full seam.
Close view of the centre front bust, a small cluster of faux pearls sitting where the lace panels meet.
A second close view of the bodice, sheer mesh showing through the lace beside the same pearl detail.
Front view of the bustier on the mannequin from a slightly different angle, the structure visible even at rest.
Close view of the black floral lace over mesh, patient work guiding the pattern edge to edge.
Close view of the bustier on the dress form, structured cups holding their line under the lace.
Close view of the lace and satin panelling across the bodice, the cups still firm under a decade or more of storage.
The bustier laid flat, lace trim and stitching catching the light along the seam.
Close view of the interior lining, a finger holding the Valisere label steady to read.
Close view of the fibre content label, nylon and elastane, stitched into the seam beside the care instructions.

Second Skin · Valisère by Triumph International 1990s Black Lace Bustier

A$95.00



Nylon and elastane · black floral lace over sheer mesh · boned structure with multi-row hook-and-eye back · Valisère by Triumph International · 1990s · 41cm length · tagged 14C, stretches generously · excellent condition

Press a finger to the boning and it pushes back exactly as firmly as it did new, no give, no bend, doing the quiet structural work that the lace on top gets all the credit for.

Boning wants to be felt before it is seen, cool then warm as it takes the shape of a ribcage, doing its work in private under a decoration that gets all the attention. Someone guided this lace over black mesh with real patience, close enough that from a distance the two read as a single fabric, structure and ornament sewn into the same breath. She is Valisère, a French name already old by the 1990s, made for Triumph International in a factory in Thailand that still bothered to hide good engineering under something this pretty.

The floral lace sits over a black mesh panel down the centre back and front, so the structure beneath is visible through the pattern rather than hidden by it. She closes with a long row of hooks and eyes up the back seam, and the nylon-elastane blend gives real stretch, 66cm at rest, out to 83cm under tension, without asking the boning to compromise. Tagged a 14C, and by these measurements she runs true to that size.

Material

Nylon, elastane, lace

Care

Warm hand wash only, do not iron, do not bleach, dry in shade, exactly as the original care tag instructs. The boning and elastane both prefer air drying laid flat rather than hung.

More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.

Size

Measured flat: Measured flat, she runs 41cm in length. The total width sits at 66cm at rest and stretches to a generous 83cm, true to the shapewear construction. Tagged a 14C, and she wears true to that size.

Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.

Condition

Excellent. No flaws throughout, the lace and mesh are fully intact, and the boning is still strong and straight with no bending or give. The multi-row hook-and-eye closure functions cleanly. This one reads exhibition condition.

Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.

Before it reaches you

Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.

She keeps her structure a secret, the way certain things are only ever worn for oneself, never quite explained to anyone who asks. The boning has learned a shape by now, not a body exactly, more a suggestion of one, held in memory the way water remembers a glass. Somewhere underneath all that lace is the plainest, most honest garment in the room, doing the unglamorous work nobody applauds. She does not perform. She holds.