Shapes and construction techniques have varied and so have the materials used. In order to reproduce the correct shapes you need to have an understanding of the materials available to you on today's market. I have written this a general guide, not as an historic text. The earlier corsets tend to be those with the least amount of shape or curves. The breasts tend to be flattened and their shape diminished.
Success depends on two things strength of boning used and tightness of lacing.
Spring steel boning is nylon-coated steel that is white in colour and comes in different widths, thickness and length. Spring steel of this thickness is somewhat flexible but is quite difficult to bend. It was wider than previous bones and was important to the corset for pushing the breasts upward. Opening busks came later. As the latter part of the 19 th century arrived the corset became more curvaceous.