19th century = 1800s, 1801 to 1900. The spoon busk was used in the
19th century. The gores in the soft corset are used in 1820, which
sounds like "early" for the time span you are looking at.
Early and late Victorian are different shapes. I don't know that
there is an average customer!
There are, however, may women who wear corsets for steampunk (not as
strict for accuracy) and goth fashion (also no need for historic
accuracy). Maybe you are aiming for that market? But once you are
talking about reenactors, I consider them to be more interested in
accuracy and the look of the dress worn over the corset, so "generic"
will only go so far.
You might also want to look at longline bras and other such modern
lingerie. There have been garments, both mainstream and special-
occasion, that have bra cups built in.
-Carol
On Mar 24, 2011, at 11:26 AM, R Lloyd Mitchell wrote:
Which century are you researching?? I think you can perhaps start?
with wikipedia if you don't have Waugh, yet. The spoon busk was
quite before the 19th C. so it wouldn't be considered for the
Victorian period anyway.? If you mean to be historical, I think the
"wheel" has already been invented for the common man (woman).
Kathleen, who has been there already
.
-----Original Message-----
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent 3/24/2011 7:10:43 AM
To: "Historical Costume" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [h-cost] Corset patterns and research questionsFirst,
that book is one of the top ones on my wish list! Perhaps I can
scavenge the money for it bow that I've a specific reason!
While I'm aiming for Victorian, the style and shape will be geared
more towards the "average customer" who really wouldn't care if it
was early or late victorian. It's the hourglass shape, cinching in
the waist, while providing support and lift and perhaps some
cleavage (which would rarely been shown or desired to my knowledge
in the days the style would be worn!)
But even though I'm aiming for a general "dumb" wearer, I want to
have the historical aspect influencing the corset. I hope I'm not
contradicting myself! Dare I say that my vision is a corset that,
with the use of different sized gores, be sewn to fit a wide range
of sizes and be historical accurate enough for re-enactors to wear,
but suitable for any woman to wear in place of a bra? Does that
help any?
I do know that I plan on using a straight busk not a spoon, so if
my memory serves right, that puts me in the earlier eras... But you
mentioned that gores didn't fully show up till the later eras... Is
it possible to breed the two together and still work? Thus the
research!
Michael Deibert
OAS AAS LLS
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 24, 2011, at 6:45, Carol Kocian <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Michael,
What era are you aiming for? Victoria was around for a long time
and the "ideal" shape changed through those decades. Gores first
show up in the softer corsets of the early 19thC. Having the right
shape of the corset makes a difference in the finished look of the
outfit.
My favorite book to start is Corsets & Crinolines by Norah Waugh.
The pattern drafts are taken from extant corsets, and it's easy to
see how the construction and shapes of the pieces affect the
resulting shape of the body.
-Carol
On Mar 24, 2011, at 5:15 AM, Michael Deibert wrote:
Good morning everyone!
I'm doing some research into corsets, and thought it best to
start on here
where many of you already have research. While I know a lot
regarding
corsets, I have two main focuses.
The first is regarding corset patterns. I am hoping to develop a
corset
pattern and thus would like to be able to have as many corset
patterns to
base it off of as I can. While any corset pattern works, I am
specifically
hoping to find Victorian era corset patterns with hip and/or bust
gores.
From the many companies out there currently selling commercial
pattersn,
there are few who focus on corsets with gores. I am looking at
trying to
simplify the process of grading for different sizes, and believe
that there
might be a way to accomplish this with gored patterns. So if any
of you have
or know of patterns that I can get, please direct me in that
direction!
(Remember copyright laws and direct me to where I can find
things, rather
than just copy and paste.)
Second, the little research I've done so far indicates that
during the
Victorian eras, there were many corset patterns that used gores -
yet many
of the current commercial patterns focus on those without. Is
there a reason
for this that anyone might be aware of? Is it easier to fit
without gores?
Are gored patterns more difficult to make up? Any help in this
direction is
also a huge plus!
Please don't shy away, the more I can accumulate, the better my
final
pattern shall be once it is ready! Thanks in advance!
Michael Deibert
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