IMPROVEMENTS IN THE. CONSTRUCTION Or CORSETS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Garnett, of 81, Wells Street, Oxford Street,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE. CONSTRUCTION Or
CORSETS."
Sealed the 20th October 1857, and dated the 23rd April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Garnett at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd April
1857.
I, JOHN GARNETT, of 81, Wells Street, Oxford Street, London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF CORSETS," to be as follows:-
The principle of my Invention consists in the application of india-rubber
stocking-wove fabric (commonly used for the purpose of making elastic
surgical stockings) to corsets constructed of coutil, jean, or any of the
numerous materials with which corsets are usually made.
I intend to apply the india-rubber stocking-wove fabric to corsets in the
form of strips, gussets, and gores, for the purposes herein-after described.
1. A strip down the centre of the back of the corset, for the purpose of
giving freedom to the muscles of the back.
2. A gusset down each side of the corset under tho arms, which will admit
of expansion of the lungs for respiration; these gussets are made wider at the
bottom, and wove to suit the hips, thus permitting great freedom to the figure
without disarranging the corset.

page_text: 3. Gussets down the front seams, which gussets, while giving support to the
bust, will allow great freedom to the chest.
4 Gores in front at the bottom of the corset, for the purposes of abdominal
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Garnett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GARNETT, of 81, Wells Street, Oxford Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Garnett, Her special licence that I, the said John Garnett,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Garnett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORSETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Garnett, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Garnett, do hereby declare tho
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
The principle of my Invention consists in the application of india-rubber
stocking-wove fabric (commonly used for the purpose of making elastic
surgical stockings) to corsets constructed of coutil, jean, or any of the
numerous materials with which corsets are usually made.
•

page_text: I intend to apply the india-rubber stocking-wove fabric to corsets in the
form of strips, gussets, and gores, for the purposes herein-after described.
(1st.) A strip down the centre of the back of the corset, for the purpose of
giving freedom to the muscles of the back.
(2nd.) A gusset down each side of the corset under the arms, which will
admit of expansion of the lungs for respiration; these gussets are made wider
at the bottom, and wove to suit the hips, thus permitting great freedom to the
figure without disarrangeing the corset.
(3rd.) Gussets down the front seams, which gussets, while giving support to
the bust, will allow great freedom to the chest.
(4th.) Gores in front at the bottom of the corset, for the purposes of
abdominal respiration.
These strips, gussets, and gores of elastic fabric have to be woven in the.
two or three needlework jack machine to whatever size and shape they may
be required, and have then to be merely attached to the other parts of the
corsets in the ordinary manner.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is
to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein-before described; but I claim the improvements
in corsets, consisting in the application of this elastic fabric to corsets, for the
purposes hercin-beforo described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said John Garnett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JOHN GARNETT. (L.s.)