"Hi Ann, I activated my account on your website. So, if you can obtain the account information and bill it to the credit card that would be great. Thanks. I like the way its set up. Easy to use!" Sarah, San Francisco 11/26/00

In This Issue From The Editor Photos from Phil Smith's 50th Birthday Corset Dream Makers Wanted How to get the Corset of your Dreams A bit of San Francisco Corset History Guest Column by PH/London We Get Letters and Kudos And in Conclusion

Ever hear Nat King Cole croon his love songs? He's the best, and might put you in the mood for planning a special corset-related event for your sweetie--especially now that Valentine's Day is coming up on February 14!

Like the special candlelit corset consultation we planned for Paul and Johnelle last fall. It was a surprise for her birthday by this loving husband! We had delicious hors d'oeuvres prepared and ready, a special bottle of California red wine open and breathing when they arrived, Nat King Cole in the background, candles everywhere and a wonderful evening of try-ons and eventually THREE corset orders, all for Johnelle. Plus, we had three presents wrapped in our corset-paper and waiting for her, from Paul! Just call us and we'll delight in working with you to create something really unique for Valentine's Day.

DON'T FORGET VALENTINE'S DAY: WE'LL SEND A GIFT CERTIFICATE AND $20 CATALOG, WRAPPED IN HEARTS WITH A CORSET PIN AT NO CHARGE ($10 VALUE) FOR ALL CORSET GIFT CERTIFICATES VALUED AT $200 OR MORE, ORDERED AND PAID BY FEBRUARY 14!

ENJOY OUR NEW HOME PAGE CORSET AUCTION -
BIDS CLOSE AT 8 PM PST JANUARY 15, 2001
Try your luck and bid on the gold and black underbust Victorian corset, we feature there (terms defined on home page link). You may bid by email, fax to 415 585-1212 or letter to: 2912 Diamond St., Ste. 239 San Francisco, CA 94131. We now take your corsets on consignment so try this auction process. Our consistently high level of website traffic will provide you with valuable, qualified buyers and true corset enthusiasts!

"WhatWomenWant.com is a firey communication portal for men and women! Exhange thoughts and ideas about intimacy, sex and relationships in a mature and tasteful environment. We are an informative yet provocative and entertaining site promoting health, quality and pleasure. Do it your way!"

Miles prepares our customer-model Chelsea for her time in front of the camera. The Results! Don't forget - we're looking for models!

TWO FINAL PHOTO SHOOTS HELD/SCHEDULED FOR THIRD CATALOG After intending for over a year to produce our third corset catalog, "The Love of Corsets," we have taken steps to complete our collection of new images for the website and print catalog! Stay tuned.....we really are going to print soon with some lovely and provocative corset shots. We hope in the not-too-distant future to publish a book of our images created together over the past eight years! Our October 17 shoot was fabulous: three models, six corsets and scenarios. Ask about our 'naked cowboy'....more later on that! You can see our makeup artist Miles, getting Chelesa ready for her time in front of the camera...And we miss regularly seeing Miss Christine--another ROMANTASY model and our saleslady from our retail venture, modeling BR's lovely white bridal corset, showing off her smashing hourglass profile.

Christine in a white lace-covered BR Creations Corset.

NEW WEB JOURNAL FORMAT
We are going to try something a little experimental which may serve to keep our newcomer or busy visitors informed about new programs, styles, and special sales, yet provide more detailed information to the serious corset enthusiast who has some experience, plus more time to spend reading, and delve deeply into a wide variety of corseting issues. Our journal with this issue then, becomes a "NEWSLETTER" of briefer comments, while our WEB JOURNAL becomes a subscription-only item.
We invite you to jump now to our Shopping Cart and complete the order for our journal to become a subscriber. We will publish as expected, on a quarterly basis with each issue $15, or all four for an annual pre-paid rate of $50.
We invite, as ever, your photos, submissions, questions and articles, including fiction (subject to editorial rights) for both the newsletter and the journal. Please write for submission guidelines, shopping credit and publication schedule.

Here is our adorable Julie. Slim waist!

AND TO CONCLUDE WITH A CUSTOMER'S TIP OF THE DAY: In conversation with Jody of Calgary, Canada, we thought of a solution to her problem: allergy to nylon, thus she could not wear our CorPro corset protector top, and seams of other tube tops that dug into her skin when she tight-laced. Our solution: purchase a teenaged boy's 100% cotton tank top or tight t-shirt, cut the shoulders off and voila! your own version of the CorPro. Wear it inside out with seams out! Thanks, Jody, for your inspiration for this one! And speaking of new styles and customers...we were happy to assist dress Julie, our customer wearing a lovely Isabella corset under her wedding dress, at a fabulous Chinese and Vietnamese wedding! You can also see Cliff in his Isabella Valentine, his Halloween outfit.

Our Isabella customer Cliff, on Halloween.

Happy spring to all!

Webkittymistress Tata helps with gardening and Valentine present wrapping!

PHOTOS FROM PHIL SMITH'S 50TIETH BIRTHDAY BASH CORSET FASHION SHOW
Enjoy these great photos courtesy of Doc Flash Gordon, an erstwhile guest. Fashion show produced by...yours truly of course...ROMANTASY!

The Birthday Boy as sheriff, in his red brocade. CorVest		Football anyone? Model shows off her 49er PCP Cincher.
Miss Chelesa in a BR Creations hourglass-- o la la!		Miss Ann leads the fashion show.

Cat (from Taiwan) entertains Phil with her Elvis-print fringed PCP cincher.		Phil is captivated by our model wearing a True Grace burgundy and sequin Lily Corset.
Ya Got to Know When to Hold 'Em...Ann watches as Sin models Sheri's black leather Valentine Victorian.		Sin in a Sue Nice Victorian.

CORSET DREAM MAKERS WANTED! (District Sales Associates) CALLING ALL CORSET ENTHUSIASTS AROUND THE WORLD: NEED A REASON TO COME TO SAN FRANCISCO?

ROMANTASY is seeking international sales associates who might like to represent our wonderful corset makers and take orders around the world! For preliminary information about how we select, train and prepare our Corset Dream Makers, and for an outline of the financial rewards for promoting these exquisite garments in your area or locale, kindly send email to , or write us expressing your interest: 2912 Diamond St., Ste 239, San Francisco, CA 94131. We'll be happy to hear from you, as our workload and client demand is ever-growing, and many web visitors would appreciate coning to see YOU in person! However, an 8 hour (minimum; 16 preferred) intense and informative training session in San Francisco is required, so we hope to give you a reason to come visit our lovely city and meet the ROMANTASY owner, a corset maker or two, associates and corset models.

HOW TO GET THE CORSET OF YOUR DREAMS --
BUDGET SUGGESTIONS

A customer wrote us asking for advice on how to find the wherewithall to purchase the corset of his dreams. Here is how we replied:

Thanks for your message to us regarding the issue of price and payment for a custom corset. Please consider a few points set forth below, when contemplating ordering a quality custom corset from ROMANTASY.

The first point is set forth in this article about cost vs. value.

The second point is that corsets require only a 1/2 deposit to get started, with the balance due upon deliver about 2-6 months later, depending on when your corset maker delivers, or what time table you set.

The third point is that you can extend the delivery date to extend your payments! It is up to you.

The fourth point is that after the initial deposit, I have had customers arrange to send us a little each month, rather than face a large balance payment upon delivery. Coupled with a delayed final delivery, even up to one year, this eases up on the pocketbook quite a bit.

Finally, in some special cases, we can arrange for than a 1/2 deposit to get started, and work out a plan that suits your individual needs and budget.

We hate to see you not commence an order, as delivery takes time in any case, and miss the enjoyment and benefits! Truly, these garments are worth the investment and planning it may take. We definitely advise that you not waste money in the meantime on insubstantial lingerie that just doesn't last or do what you want it to do!

And always try to invest in the best garment you can possibly budget for and afford.

Please let me know if there is some way to work out something for you, and thank you again for sharing our love of corsetry!

Last fall we had the pleasure of meeting and chatting in detail with an attorney colleague and fellow corset enthusiast from Los Angeles, FA. For most of his 50-odd years since he discovered corsets at age 15, "he had tried the rest, now he came to ROMANTASY to try the best!" :-) Despite his fascination with our wide variety of corset styles, construction techniques and choice of fabrics and embellishments, he chose to return to waist restriction after a 2 year leave of corseting absence, by selecting our black satin Simple Pleasures cincher. We had the perfect size in stock for him, so gratification was immediate! Some of the fascinating bits of local history are summarized below and we can only regret that he had not kept the many now-historical corsets from his prior collection to show us. That his story lacked some details made us quite curious, so we hope to do some investigation and continue with more in future web journal editions. Please enjoy his story.

Our visitor concluded our afternoon interlude with a personal note dropped off in our mailbox the next day. "Dear Ann, It was a pleasure to visit you in your charming home and enjoy your hospitality. The free and unrestricted conversation with you was for me exhilarating. I want you to know that I slept last night with the new (Simple Pleasures) waist cincher tightly laced around my waist for about 8.5 hours. It was wonderful. I'll do so tonight, tomorrow night and all future nights. I hope to soon reduce my waist so that I will have to obtain a new and tighter fitting corset from you! Thank you for the enjoyable afternoon and hope to hear from you and see you soon. Sincerely, F."

Ann in (BR Corset) and friend at former Coronation.

The Cotillion and Coronation First we visit the Cotillion February 3 (sponsored by San Francisco TGSF organization) and cheer the new Miss TGSF on, then we delight in the Coronation, a huge social occasion a month later, to celebrate the charity efforts of the outgoing Emperor and Empress of San Francisco. And who's our fave candidate for Empress this year?????? Need you ask? Our very own model, Chablis, is hugely in contention and we will be there to cheer her on! Enjoy our photos and in the next newsletter, we'll post photos of her special white and silver outfit created by Chablis and Ann, produced by Sheri of Creative Corsetry! Starting with the Cotillion, please call (707) 824-0864, or write www.tgsf.org/cotillion, to make a reservation, and let us know if you'd like to sit at the ROMANTASY table and enjoy "Carnivale Brazlia"! Dates Thursday, Feb. 1-4, with the big bash on Saturday night, Feb. 3 at 6 pm at The San Francisco Design Center for a light dinner, then the show!. You can use PayPal to make and pay for reservations.

GUEST COLUMN:
THE PLEASURES OF NIGHTTIME CORSETING
by PH/London (8/15/00)

Our waist-training student from London, shared some of his observations and feelings during his three-month coaching program, to reach his waist reduction goal. We will feature in our Corset Web Journal additional photos and several more detailed columns by PH, who has our admiration and congratulations for his success!

"I think the enjoyment of nighttime corseting, once acquired, has partly to do with an element of reassurance, namely, that one is always in contact with something else. This gives tactile pleasure derived from both light tension and from the extra warmth one feels around the waist, kidneys and the ribcage up to one's underbust. "I now find it pleasurable sleeping with a corset on after getting over the initial discomfort at the beginning of my training. (Ed note: This client began a three-month coaching program with ROMANTASY in early August and wrote this on August 15. We may report on his progress and descriptions of his experience with his permission in a subsequent web journal).

"Perhaps a longer style, laced more loosely than for day wear, but a little more restricting that a typical Victorian may be, can also at times be used (successfully while sleeping). Since lying and sleeping do not require the corset to be discreetly worn or disguised under clothing, nor require it or the wearer to tolerate a wide range of movement as typically required for day-time activities, more frequent ware during the nights may be tolerable.

"My primary purpose of sleeping in a corset is simply to train my body to accept its presence more comfortably during the day and for longer periods of time."

"For example, I have read that Roman soldiers used to wear leather underpinnings under their armor and I think some Roman general felt it beneficial that his troops sleep in these vestments, so that they are more at home when wearing their day armor.

Older, well-seasoned corsets suit our purpose ideally. Personally, I return to a well-worn corset for evening wear."

TO PROVE THAT OUR CORSET MAKERS REALLY DO WORK HARD...

Here's The Man: Michael Garrod! Enjoy our page of photos from the October, 2000 Bal de Gracieuses in Germany.

WE GET LETTERS... AND KUDOS!

"Wonderful website. Very sexy with great corsets. Number one on my lists!" Carrie 7/29/00

"Wonderful product. I look forward to many wearing of this corset and to continued business with you." Tammy 5/18/00

"Ann, I had another look at the web site and it really is so good now, it knocks a lot of other sites out of touch both in 'human' content and ease of navigation. Congratulations to you and your team...keep up the good work." Abby, England 11/12/00

"What a WONDERFUL site. We both love anything related to corsets etc." Mistress Jazmine and Veronica

"Thanks for the time and effort you put into developing this beautiful and informative site! J" 9/20/00 7/4/00

"Artistry, thy name is Isabella! Thank you. I love my corset. The construction transcends craftsmanship to achieve pure artistry. Dee" 8/15/00 (Ed note: Thank you Dee! But this is 'craftspersonship'... Isabella is on the cutting edge as a WOMAN corset maker! :-) )

"Thanks for taking the time to visit with me and get me measured. I thoroughly enjoyed it, feeling the snugness of the corsets and visiting with you as well. I will admit I was a little nervous but not as nervous had we not had our phone and email conversations. Being dressed enfemme probably made me little more nervous than usual. You're just as pleasant to chat with in person as you were on the phone. :-) DSL" 8/12/00

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AND IN CONCLUSION...

Whew! It was a busy fall and winter to be sure. With a huge push three of us got our new Shopping Cart up and running, just in time for the holiday rush. We are hoping our visitors find it convenient to shop for our ready made corsets and related products, but as ever, we stand ready to consult over the phone or email, and always welcome your personal visit when in San Francisco, Cologne or Newport Beach! with Corset Dream Makers, Robby Cannedy and Martina Ostermann

Ann making a smashing appearance in our Corset of the Month, a peacock blue BR Creations piped corset, escorted by her favorite High School buddy, Davie, at her 30th high school reunion!