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A woman hopes to match the record of the world’s smallest waist – by wearing a corset for up to 24 hours a day to shrink her middle to 15 inches.
Sarah Belle, 50, from Portland, Oregon, first discovered corsets in 2012 while searching for a solution to years of hunching over art projects and creative work.
The corset maker said she initially wanted help correcting her posture, but soon became captivated by the dramatic silhouette corsets could create.
More than a decade later, Sarah mostly wears corsets for whole days, sleeps in them regularly and even goes for runs while laced up in a bid to maintain her waist-training progress.
She has shrunk from a 27-inch waist to a 23-inch waist – but hopes to shrink to late Guinness World Record holder Cathie Jung’s size – of 15 inches. Cathie previously held the record for the smallest tight-laced waist on a living person before she passed away on August 19, 2025.
The smallest waist ever recorded on a person with normal stature belonged to Ethel Granger, who reduced from a natural 22 in to 13 in between 1929 and 1939.
Sarah estimates her natural waist was around 27 inches when she began and is now approximately 23 inches when fully relaxed.
Her obsession is self-funded, with Sarah making her own corsets and selling them to others.
Sarah said: “I was slouching pretty badly and I was looking for some kind of posture device when I came across a steel corset.”
“This was before corsets were everywhere. You weren’t seeing adverts for them, and it was completely new to me.”
“I ordered one and fell in love with it. It helped me stop hunching over my work, but I was also fascinated by how dramatically it could cinch the waist.”
Sarah became obsessed with corsetry and the world of tight-lacing when she tried them to help with her posture.
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She said: “When I find something new I like, I tend to go all in. I became obsessed with looking at corsets and learning everything about them.”
“I started seeing pictures of tight lacers and became curious. Today people usually call it waist training.”
“I usually sleep in it because the longer you keep it off, the more your waist will expand.”
Although critics argue that extreme waist reduction promotes unrealistic beauty standards, Sarah insists her interest comes from an artistic perspective rather than dissatisfaction with her appearance.
She said: “I was fine with my body before. What interested me was that it was unusual.”
“I see the body as an art form. Corsets are sculptural fashion. They’re somewhere between clothing, sculpture and art.”
“People don’t tend to hate; I think that is expected because I am changing my body in such ways – but people are more intrigued.”
“All the comments on my Instagram and YouTube are not mean at all – people are just curious.”
Sarah admits her early experiences were not always comfortable because she relied on ready-made corsets rather than custom-fitted designs. She now makes her own corsets and says a proper fit is crucial.
She said: “A corset shouldn’t hurt. Some of the ones I wore at the beginning felt pinchy and painful, but that was because they didn’t fit properly.”
“Once I understood how they should be made and tailored, it became a completely different experience.”
Despite remaining roughly the same weight throughout her waist-training journey, Sarah says her waist measurement has reduced significantly. She estimates her natural waist was around 27 inches when she began and is now approximately 23 inches when fully relaxed.
To maintain her shape, she spends as much time corseted as possible.
She said: “The body always wants to return to its natural shape.”
“If I spend less time out of a corset, I don’t lose as much progress.”
Her collection includes several corsets for different activities, ranging from heavily reduced styles to looser versions worn while exercising.
Sarah even wears a corset during shorter runs.
She said: “I’ve gone for two and three-mile runs in one. Right now I’m training for a marathon, although I don’t do all my marathon training corseted.”
“I wear a looser one when I’m exercising.”
Her current goal is to achieve and document a fully closed 15-inch waist.
Sarah believes she has briefly reached the measurement before but says factors such as inflammation from marathon training have prevented her from recording it under ideal conditions.
She said: “I’ve hit 15 inches briefly. I just need everything to line up at the right time.”
“It needs to be a quiet week when I’m not training heavily, and my body isn’t inflamed.”
Outside of waist training, Sarah runs a corset-making business and is currently working on an elaborate fairy-themed commission.
While she usually hides her corsets beneath everyday clothing, she occasionally incorporates them into costumes and alternative fashion outfits.
She said: “Having a smaller waist isn’t the most interesting part to me.”
“What I love is the creativity, the craftsmanship and the artistic possibilities.”
“Right now I’m making a fairy corset for a client, and it’s going to be magical. That’s the part that still excites me the most.”
English (US)