Michael,

First, do get Waugh. Then take a careful look. Women's shapers changed so much during Victoria's reign that you simply can NOT make a "general purpose" corset which will fly with reenactors.

If you must make a corset for modern wearers with a Victorian flavor, pick a decade (the 1890s are best- more modern people can relate, because they are full-figured :) ) and do THAT decade's influence. But for reenactors, . . .. well, please understand, and stick to the proper decade.

Modern/with Victorian will certainly work well for Steampunk-- you ought to get a lot of interest with it.

    == Marjorie Wilser

=:=:=:Three Toad Press:=:=:=

"Learn to laugh at yourself and you will never lack for amusement." --MW

http://3toad.blogspot.com/




On Mar 24, 2011, at 4:10 AM, michaeljdeib...@gmail.com wrote:

First, 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 <aqua...@patriot.net> 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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