Tina's waist measures just 18 INCHES thanks to custom made corsets

Tina Warren (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

Her waspish midriff already shrinks to an astonishing 18 inches when she dons her favourite corset.

She has spent years training her hourglass figure with one of the controversial girdles so beloved of Victorian women.

Now the shapely 44-year-old has set her sights on developing the world’s smallest middle, a record currently held by US based Cathie Jung, who has a 15 inch waist when she wears a corset.

“I have been asked if I’ve had ribs removed to make my waist so small,” said Tina. “But that would be just ridiculous.”

She added: “I never set out to be a record breaker. I trimmed my waist for me and me alone. Now I hear that the world’s smallest waist is 15ins. Would I take the challenge to beat that?”

Tina laughs: “Well I’d never say never.”

Her super pinched waist is believed to be one of the tiniest in Scotland.

Her measurements are actually more in step with those of Barbie, the popular childrens’ toy doll.

Scaled up to human size, Barbie would have measurements of 36-18-33, similar to Tina’s, compared with the typical 19-year-old girl’s measurements of 32-31-33.

Tina has worn a corset for years to get her figure.

“Nothing makes a woman’s body more beautiful than a made-to-measure corset,” said Tina, whose waist measures 23 inches without a corset – the same as a seven-year-old, and some 11 inches smaller than the average British woman.

Her figure comes with a cost, however.

She has to carefully watch what she eats and her corsets – which cost hundreds of pounds – have to be custom made.

“When you think of how many clothes most women have in their wardrobes that they never wear, buying a good corset is great value for money, because it can be worn over and over again,” she added.

“I would never recommend that anyone spends 23 hours a day in a corset, though. Just be sensible.

“I’m very lucky because I find my corsets comfortable and I have no discomfort.”

Demand for corsets is soaring thanks to TV period dramas like War and Peace.

Earlier this month, 16-year-old schoolgirl Tilly Green sparked controversy when she revealed she wears a waist-training corset to school every day under her uniform to give her a better shape.

Parents are apparently up in arms over the risk of immature bones being deformed and organs squashed by the latest trend for hourglass perfection.

Alison Campbell, 45, one of Scotland’s top designers and manufacturers of bespoke ladies undergarments, is of the belief “every generation tries ‘waist training’ whether it’s a pantie girdle or an all-in-one roll-on like our grannies wore”.

She said: “It doesn’t do any harm, in fact it can help improve posture.”

But Tina – founder of Glasgow burlesque night Club Noir – has sobering advice for any Kim Kardashian wannabees.

She said: “Leave the steel-boned adult corsets until you’re at least 18. Corsets are meant for women, not children. And even then they’re not suitable for everyone.”

Diet is key

CURVY Tina said: “I do watch my diet which is mainly all stir fries and salads.

“I tend to follow the Kimberly Snyder eating plan – it’s the one that Dita Von Teese and Channing Tatum follow. It’s all about beauty, de-toxing and not over taxing the body.

“I eat very little wheat, sugar or coffee but I drink loads of liquid including water, herb teas and pure cranberry juice, and exercise four times a week. By that I mean I plod away at the gym or swim for an hour – nothing too strenuous.”

Tina – who’s never had children – added: “But I love my cocktails and tend to scour the lists for new ingredients to sample.

“I try to be good but I have wicked people around me and I’m easily led astray. My sister often tempts me to visit with her home made cakes, and my partner Ian is a master of conjuring up champagne and pizza nights – but just not every night.”