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Bulletproof "tactical" corset

Cory Doctorow at 8:55 am Sun, Jun 14, 2009

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Tactical corsets: a corset that's bulletproof, comes with pistol holster, pepper spray holster, and an "interrogation pouch."

Tactical Corsets (via @richardkadrey)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

  • EH

    This is for when European LARPers are invaded by Chinese LARPers and their newfangled gunpowder.

  • Takuan

    oh darn, it’s already been written:
    “Hieronymous Snogg and the Sex Vixen Factory of the Post-Apocalypse”

  • elfspice

    now if only they’d let girls into special forces hehe… girls in the military do wear those vest things, having one made to show their shape is kinda cool…

    really mainly this is fetish/cybergoth type clothes tho. i like it cos my own personal style is military/milspec, i have bates boots and truspec pants and huss! shirts and pants i wear a lot, ESS goggles, and a heavy utility belt type thing (i once had a shotgun belt that had straps for putting rounds in), usually combined in some way often with a shirt from some kind of harsh electro/futurepop artist shirt.

    by the way also, being shaped and clipping up like that does make it a corset, it’s relatively rigid isn’t it? has some sort of spines i’m guessing plastic ones… that’d make it airport friendly… i wonder what airport security would think if you rocked up with one of those on with all your gear strapped to it, wallet pouch, mobile phone pouch, water bottle, hehehe…

    i have considered off and on to get myself one of those tactical vests, can’t get actually ballistic vests but i guess more of a sorta carry thing (there’s some name for it), it’s nice to not have to use your pockets for stuff, i strap my leatherman and phone to my waist, frees my pockets up for things like hankies and glasses cleaners.

    i dunno about anyone else but chicks that are strapped is quite sexy… this thing would have been perfectly suited to being on the lead character of the underworld movies.

  • Daemon

    A modern update to the chainmail bikini.

    #11 – Actually, a rather large chunk of LARP games are in modern settings.

  • hokano

    I’m the designer. The chest will be covered by an optional chest piece with a second layer of armor that can be adjusted by halter around the neck to show an inch or two of cleavage between armor panels or to fully overlap for when you’re done showing skin and you’re ready to draw blood.

    Careful. You may find yourself sued by Paramount Pictures.
    http://jc1701.com/barbaramarch_as_lursa_x.JPG

  • 23

    Always necessary in the Unhallowed Metropolis.

    http://www.hallowsevedesigns.com/

  • Anonymous

    As a woman who likes both being sexy and carrying around all my gear, MOLLIE style, this I am interested in. I’ve known about it for a little while, and while not bullet proof, it would be nice to have in place of a tactical vest. I could attach all my pouches, etc, since my belt runs out of room quickly.

  • Telecustard

    “…when you’re done showing skin and you’re ready to draw blood.”

    I’m pretty certain these will be worn by people who do not consider these activities to be mutually exclusive.

  • jfrancis

    Reminds me of that Russian bodyguard…

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-511139/Russias-famous–glamorous–female-bodyguard-killed-Porsche-carjacked-Moscow.html

  • Dewi Morgan

    I hafta say, it’s nice to see clothing design that’s sexy, utilitarian, and innovative.

    Not what I associate with normal clothes designers at all, and that’s a good thing.

  • Anonymous

    A “tactical” corset? Aren’t they all?

  • Takuan

    real killers look like sacks of elderly potatoes.

  • Anonymous

    Shouldn’t Xeni be posting this?

  • Anonymous

    Ah, the female version of the utilikilt.

  • Takashi Omoto

    Well, now they’ll be hourglass shaped sacks of elderly potatoes.

    The FastEx buckles are actually a nice idea, even for regular corsets.

  • Amphigorey

    They’re very cute, but they’re more like bustiers than like corsets. I don’t see busks being used, and they don’t appear to change the shape of the body the way a proper corset does.

    Yeah, it’s nitpicky, but I’m a corsetier. Probably nobody else will care about the distinction.

  • Lobster

    That woman’s head is gigantic. The tactical corset won’t do much when a headshot is so eeasy.

  • Anonymous

    According to David Kunzle’s Fashion & Fetishism, you can ultimately trace the corset’s ancestry back to male body armor. This is part of a Western historical trend of men adapting military garments to civilian life, and then women adopting them in exaggerated forms when men abandon them. So, militarizing the corset is actually the corset getting back to its roots.

  • Anonymous

    how big is that woman’s head?!

  • Anonymous

    Ooh, Tactical Dominatrix. yummy.

  • Anonymous

    Next thing is bulletproof speedos:
    http://www.explosm.net/comics/1684/

  • Anonymous

    Do you hear that? It’s the sound of every video game art director at once yelling “See? It IS practical!”

  • KZM

    Sruli Recht does a “bulletproof” pocket square!

    http://www.srulirecht.com/index.php/projects/THE-DAMNED-2009.html

  • Fef

    Waiting for the bulletproof thong.

  • CommieNeko

    Looks like British Library agent Nancy “Ms. Deep” Makuhari from _Read Or Die_.

    http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/readordie/images/thumb/5/52/Miss_Deep_at_her_best.JPG/200px-Miss_Deep_at_her_best.JPG&imgrefurl=http://readordie.wikia.com/wiki/Nancy_Makuhari&usg=__n6FUKWKFk1WCFGtQVb_mkQI6B4k=&h=435&w=200&sz=17&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=al0Y0hisoMnL6M:&tbnh=126&tbnw=58&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmiss%2Bdeep%2Br.o.d.%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

  • AirPillo

    how big is that woman’s head?!

    If cartoons have taught me anything, it’s that the answer to that question varies according to how much the corset is tightened.

  • Alpinwolf

    IIRC, there was something about the Czar’s family (the ladies at least) being initially saved from the firing squad by their corset-like bodices. ‘Course, it helps that they were jewel-encrusted, but as I understood it, kinda like motorcycle racing suits, the tightness to the body helps make the most of the material for penetration resistance.

    Either way, still makes me *squee!*

    Also reminds me of foil fencing and the first time I tagged a female opponent in the chest. There was a *tink* that made my brain list to starboard. Armored boobies?!

  • malex

    I see a themecamp in the making.

  • Bonegnawer

    At Maker Fair, there was a very cute blue haired girl with one of these on.

  • Anonymous

    How soon before we see this in a vampire film?

  • Anonymous

    You know, if the designer was willing, I bet a fair number of policewomen would be interested in ones that have that shape but continue up to the neck to protect the chest. It may not be any kind of hot fashion, but it’d probably help those gals feel better through having better fitting gear (as well as looking better).

  • Anonymous

    I’m pretty sure these aren’t bulletproof. They’re just corsets with the milspec buckles and tactical webbing to attach stuff to. Pretty cool anyway; especially if you have a lot of stuff but don’t want to carry a purse.

  • bradybd

    Amanda Coolong, you are such a badass!

  • Anonymous

    *taking things too seriously for the sake of humor* It seems to me that a serious problem remains in the possibility of getting shot in the chest or upper back…
    Also, I was glad to learn from there website that the interrogation pouch is handy for storing whips.

  • mellon

    So, I have to admit that this is loads of fun, but wouldn’t it be better if it were a little more… victorian? I mean, the corset in the picture wouldn’t actually protect you from a shot to the heart.

  • dainel

    Too much is exposed. Isn’t the idea to cover as much as possible?

  • SeppTB

    #2 Dainel, if video games have taught us anything, this level of armor on a woman will bestow the same protection as being fully covered. In fact that may be a bit too concealing.

  • Uhclem

    I’m kinda tempted to click and find out what an “interrogation pouch” is, but I know it would be an anti-climax.

  • sushispook

    Before you consider purchasing a tactical corset, please check out this discussion: http://blog.sinthetik.com/please-re-post-and-help-boost-the-signal

    Unfortunately, I am to understand that this is not a unique situation – which is truly sad.

  • Takuan

    just a holster for your flogger.

    Perhaps an improved design with ceramic/titanium Deflecto-Kones?

  • Takuan

    and sometimes a burka is not enough
    http://discuss.itacumens.com/gallery/1457_15_01_09_8_57_55.jpeg

  • Ugly Canuck

    Gee.
    Somethings aren’t bulletproof, nor ought they to be…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKY3s8-c3Q

    …but things are what they is.

    PS Condolences for Catfish Collins RIP.

  • Anonymous

    I’m the designer. The chest will be covered by an optional chest piece with a second layer of armor that can be adjusted by halter around the neck to show an inch or two of cleavage between armor panels or to fully overlap for when you’re done showing skin and you’re ready to draw blood.

  • sworm

    I’ve always wanted to involve shooting people into my sex life. Now I can. YAY!