Burda Bustier Top

I haven't seen anyone in blog-land jump on the Burda 2/11 bustier top, which seems odd to me.  It looks well-drafted, and is very au courant with the current interest in the Dolce and Gabbana S/S collection.  I love the saucy little dash of Linda Evangelista in the early 90s plus a bit of Madonna in the 80s.  It's got that great sexy Italian widow thing going on.  Nice. I don't have much use for a bustier top, but I do have a lot of uses for a summer dress that is a little sexy, but also functional.

I'm hodge-podging the top together with the high-waisted skirt from the same issue.  The darts in the skirt will have to be moved to align with the seams in the front of the top.  Ideally I want to cut them as one piece, i.e., a dress rather than a skirt and top.  I wonder if I really needed boning for this?  I ask primarily because I just moved to a small town in North West Wyoming, and there's no boning to be had for at least three states in either direction (that sounds a bit odd, but never mind).

I'm a little peeved at Burda for recycling this top in the next issue - it makes it onto the cover as a strapless dress.  Anyone else catch that?