When I was 14 (5'2", 90 some pounds) my waist - sucked in, un-corseted was 16" (that was in the days when small waists were a big item)
Patty -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Penny Ladnier Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 8:48 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] Catherine's waist measure Luann, I understand what you mean. My grand-daughter is thin like yours and one year old. She has food allergies. She is very low in the percentile on the growth chart. I just measured her and she has a 19" waist. I have always thought the adult under 20" waist was a crock. If you look at children's pattern sizes, the waist sizes are larger than 19". http://www.sewingpatterns.com/simplicity-charts2.html#babies My DIL said her waist was 20" before having children and was a size 0. She is very petite built. When I was a teenager and very thin, I had a 24" waist. I started sewing with patterns in third grade and do not recall my waist smaller. The Valentine Museum has a lot of corsets in their collection and the smallest waist is one corset at 20". OTOH, The Corset book I mentioned has a chapter that about small waists in the late 1700s or early 1800s. The author took quotes from Parisian magazines/newspapers of young ladies writing the newspapers about their small waist sizes. I took the chapter with a big grain of salt. The author only does this in that one chapter. His style of writing changes completely in this chapter. Penny Ladnier, Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com www.costumelibrary.com www.costumeclassroom.com www.costumeencyclopedia.com _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
