IMAGINE MAKING small talk at a party with Anna Metzler-Murray, a German corsetiere living in the Highlands. "So Anna, what do you do?" "I make corsets.""That is what I say," she laughs, "and literally everyone around me stops talking. They don't know what to say."Admittedly, traditional corsetry isn't exactly what you'd expect a 32-year-old mother of one to be doing, especially when you discover she is based in ruggedly beautiful - but relatively remote - Easter Ross.

"Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a fashion designer," she says, her fluent English accented with a quirky Scottish-Teutonic twang. "I used to make clothes for my dolls and myself, not using a pattern, just cutting out material and sewing."

Nowadays, Metzler-Murray uses traditional Victorian patterns adapted from her small library of corsetry books to create striking bespoke corsets and lingerie for private clients, who range from blushing brides-to-be to transvestites. Lately she has also teamed up with textile company Anta, crafting corsets from their tartan silk shawls.

As well as undergarments, her most popular commissions are corsets worn as outerwear - with a full skirt for formal occasions, or over a white shirt with jeans for a contemporary look. Made from 12 individual panels, each boned with flexible yet stiff spiral wires, Metzler-Murray's corsets do for women today what they did for our Victorian ancestors: sucking in the waist and tummy while pushing the bosom up and out.

"Not only does it significantly reduce your overall size but because of all the boning, you can't slouch in the middle," Metzler-Murray points out. "You have to stand up straight and that immediately makes you look taller and slimmer, so it's great for your posture."

The number of eyelets at the back varies for each client, but rather than being fastened at the base of the corset, which you might expect, the archetypal criss-cross ribbon ties with a bow at the middle of the back. "This is to achieve an even hourglass shape," Metzler-Murray explains. "If it was tied at the base, it would be tight over the hips."

Each corset takes about eight hours to make (using a regular sewing machine and finishing by hand) although this varies enormously because each garment is tailor-made. "It depends on the size of the lady and what the function of the corset is," Metzler-Murray says. "If she has a large chest, I'll put in extra wiring for support; if the function is to achieve a flat tummy, I put in an extra panel; to disguise saddle bags, I make the corset longer. And for someone with no particular body issues, I just make sure it fits snugly."

Is it not fairly intimate, tailoring a corset for a complete stranger? "I think that today people don't generally have a problem with nudity and my clients pretty much know that they're going to have to get undressed when they come here - it's so secluded, who's going to see? Besides, once they have the corset on they don't care."

So is that why she makes corsets - for the reaction? "Obviously I love the garments and I feel good when a customer gets excited, especially wedding clients. So many women have said to me, You've saved my life' because they've bought their wedding dress and not even thought about their underwear. They come to me for a corset and it completes the dress."

Born and educated in Leipzig, Germany's second-biggest city, Metzler-Murray spent her first 16 years living behind the iron curtain. When she finished school, she took a gap year to improve her English and applied for a position as a German language helper in a Scottish high school.

She was posted to Golspie. "I loved it. Going from a big city all dirty and full of traffic to walking along a beach to get to work; it was beautiful and so romantic."

Metzler-Murray's intention had been to return to Germany and train as a teacher of German, Latin and ancient Greek. Instead she did an art and design access course at Inverness College, then applied to Heriot-Watt's School of Textile and Design in Galashiels where she was accepted for an honours degree in textile and fashion design management.

"We did some lingerie design in first year and I really loved it, and I guess at that time I became interested in nice underwear and thought that a lot of what was on offer was rubbish.

"Then when I was in third year I decided that I would set up my own business and have a baby," she says unexpectedly.

Metzler-Murray is very open about the fact that if she was going to move to the Highlands, where her husband was based with his job, there had to be what she calls a "sweetener". "I needed something for me," she says, adding, "and I thought it would be better for a baby up here rather than in a big city. I also realised that if I had a baby, no-one would employ me - not with the skills I had anyway. I had no choice but to start my own business so I could work from home and be with my baby."

She graduated in the summer of 2002 and daughter Franziska was born three months later. By this time, she had already attained some specialist lingerie design training, at the De Montford University in Leicester.

Early in 2003, Metzler-Murray established Inner Strength - a luxury lingerie and loungewear business - from her purpose-built workshop next to the family house near Invergordon, and soon began to specialise in corsetry.

But although she believes there is something "magical" about corsets, she found that running a new business with a new baby was no fairytale. "Although it was a conscious decision to have Franziska, I really struggled in the beginning," she admits. "She was in nursery for two and a half hours in the morning but by the time I dropped her off and came home, I would only have about an hour and three-quarters to work before I had to pick her up again. It's horrible to admit but I began to resent her because I was frustrated I couldn't spend as much time on the business as I wanted, and then I would feel incredibly guilty because I loved her so much; I felt it wasn't fair on her. It was a really hard time."

After a few challenging years, however, mother and daughter have turned a corner. "Both our lives have changed dramatically since Franziska started school - she's really enjoying it and we're both a lot happier now."

With more time to nurture her creative talents, Metzler-Murray has started work on a new business inspired by the Scottish landscape coupled with a growing interest in environmental concerns. Hinterland will be an online boutique selling a mix of Metzler-Murray's work - luxury lingerie, organic children's wear and yoga wear - and ethically sourced goods such as handbags and accessories.

"I'd also like to use my photography to print more of my own fabrics." She points to a picture of a pretty floral-print corset: "My cherry tree blossoming in the summer."

And what plans for Inner Strength? "It will be linked to Hinterland, but separate," she says. "I want to develop a more funky ready-to-wear range for 2008; I think there's a big market in corsetry for transvestites and burlesque dancers all over the country. I just need to reach out to them."

And in this body-conscious era, she believes the corset can prove a useful alternative to working out and dieting. "There's so much pressure in modern society and I think it's quite a relief to know you can just put a corset on for a few hours, and afterwards you can take it off and let it all hang out.

"A corset gives instant femininity," she adds. "It makes you feel sexy and the boning makes you stand tall. You feel like you can conquer the world."