Deep into the Nexus

dancing-betta:

opiate13asphyxia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tightlacing

I have just purchased my first proper corset (after years of wearing crappy plastic boned ones) i intend to use it for the purpose of reducing my waist and change my figure to a more hourglass shape, i am quite slender but i’m unhappy with the way my…

Firat things first - a corset only works as long as you wear it. It may help with weight loss simply because you eat less, but it does’t specifically help shrink your waist.
If you wear a corset that reshapes your ribs for a VERY long time (think Cathie Jung), these results may be more permanent, but some former tight lacers who stopped altogether reported their figure went mostly back to “normal” once they kept the corset off for a couple of hours (most prominently a girl by the nickname “Spook”, her site is now offline though).

You say you are stuck at a desk for most of the time. Speaking from personal experience, waist cinchers or short underbust corsets are your best bet then. Anything longer (especially from the waist down) will end up riding up over time and digging in your lower ribs, which becomes VERY unpleasant after a while.
Wearing a sufficiently short corset however can help with the discomfort caused by sitting (incorrectly) at a desk. 

I have also purchased an underbust specifically for waist training, so i think i may start with that because i will be sitting for quite long periods of time - this is a long term plan, so i wouldn’t expect my results to stay as they were once i achieve them, just like any weightloss goal you have to keep up exercise and healthy eating to maintain stability.  Thank you for your advice!