Don't expect to bend over!  I cussed up a storm every time I had to bend to get my purse. :D  I've never worn before this a corset and I'll say it was certainly an experience.  I got it for two reasons - to wear under a 50's rockabilly dress for a wedding and to help my back (arthritis / scoliosis).  It will be sufficient for both purposes.  I had no idea the ribbons in the back would allow for so much play.  I would have ordered a smaller size had I known.  5'5" 130 - 135 lbs (depending on water retention, curse you Mother Nature!) 32 C (my weight is definitely not in the chest area!).  I'm fairly evenly distributed for weight with the typical you're-no-longer-a-teenie-bopper waistline.  I'm not heavy, I'm not thin.  I have about 1", maybe 2", in the back that I can still cinch up.

I had a dickens of a time getting the flippin' closures in the front to work.  Doing the top and the bottom means you can't get the middle closed.  Doing just the bottom and moving up kind of worked.  Closing the top and working down also kind of got the job done.  I haven't a clue if that's normal.  I do know that closing the top and the bottom first made it to were the middle closures would not move at all.  I'm sure I looked something like a gorilla attempting to knit while I was wrestling with the closures.

It was slimming for sure and it felt nice not to have the tummy pooch when I bent over, though as I said, bending over caused me to cuss because there's little mobility - I was rather robotic.  As far as helping my back, yes, yes it did.  I felt a definite relief as the corset prevented me from slouching and offered spinal stability.  Normally I get pain radiating through my back when we go over bumps in the car but today it didn't bother me.  Would an official back brace type thing work better?  Probably.  Would it be as fashionable?  Certainly not!  It looked pretty darn cute with jeans and though I opted to wear a conservative shirt over top of it today, I do have a gothy blouse this would look nice over.  That was an added bonus as I didn't even consider that initially.