AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF HOOPED SKIRT
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF
HOOPED SKIRT."-A communication from abroad by William. Tinker
Latimer, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America.
Sealed the 13th April 1865, and dated the 7th November 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th November 1864.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF
HOOPED SKIRT," to be as follows:-
-The purpose of this Invention is to permit a hoop skirt to collapse when
subjected to lateral pressure externally without being unduly projected outward.
or raised on the opposite side, the effect also of the improvement being
when the front or back part of the skirt thus made is pressed inward, as in
sitting down, to draw down the opposite side instead of elevating it, as in the
ordinary hoop skirts. To this end the lower hoops of a skirt, from the bottom
up to about the height of the hips, more or less, are made in two parts and
connected by flexible joints which have a free motion in all directions. These
joints are placed on the sides of the skirt. Tapes extending from the belt to

page_text: the bottom hoop of the skirt connect the several hoops together in proper
position, as in skirts now in use. From the belt downward to the hips, more
or less, hoops of the usual form and made in one piece are inserted, the lower
hoops extending from a point at or near the hips downwards, being made, as
before named, of two parts coupled together by flexible joints. A convenient
joint would be a ring passing through eyes formed on the ends of the sections
of hoop. The joints of the hoops are arranged one above the other and on
each side of the line of joints and near to them; the hoops should be supported
by the connecting tapes or other suspenders, the same being preferably united
above the line of joints and continuing up to the belt in one.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF HOOPED SKIRT," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature, of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me from abroad, is so to
construct hooped skirts that when subjected to lateral pressure externally they
will be enabled to collapse without being unduly projected outward or raised
on the opposite side, and also that when the front or back part of the skirt is
pressed inward the opposite side will be drawn down instead of being elevated,
as in the ordinary hoop skirt. In order to attain this end the lower hoops of
the skirt, from the bottom up to about the height of the hips, more or less,
are made in two parts and connected by flexible joints which have a free
motion in all directions.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents the improved skirt in its
extended form; Fig. 2 is a view of one of the jointed hoops detached;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a joint in said skirt; Fig. 4, an edge view of
the same.
The construction of the improved skirt is as follows:-A, A, are a series of
tapes extending from the belt to the bottom hoop of the skirt and connecting
the several hoops B and C together in proper position, as in skirts now in
use. From the belt downward to the hips, more or less, hoops B of the usual
form and made in one piece are used, some of the lower ones of which should
extend around the entire circle at the hips, so as properly to support the outer
dress and aid in shaping the other portions properly when the wearer is
standing. The lower hoops C, extending from a point at or near the hips
downwards, are made, as before named, in two parts coupled together by
flexible joints, which, as shewn in the Drawing, consist of a ring c united to
the ends of the sections of the hoops by metal links or clasps b, b, which clasps
or links play loosely on the ring and thus form the flexible joint. These lower
hoops C are placed in the skirt with the joints at the side and in right line
one above the other, and on each side of the line of joints, and near to them,
the hoops should be supported by the connecting tapes or other suspenders A,
the same being preferably united above the line of joints and continuing up
to the belt, as a single tape (as seen in Fig. 1 in the Drawing), or the two
tapes may be continued up to the belt separately..
I would remark, that I am aware of hoop skirts having before being formed
with joints or hinges to fold inward or up and down, while the skirt remained
in a rigid circle, and that some have had joints all around to fold into a small
compass, but they are complex and require manipulating to fold and unfold;
they are, moreover, casily deranged and misplaced, so as to require special

page_text: adjustment by the hand of the wearer, but all such devices differ materially
from that above described. The advantage of the Invention results from
jointing only a suitable number of hoops, the upper ones being left without
joints or entire, so as to support the principal weight of the clothing in proper
position, and by only having two joints in each of the jointed hoops, one on
each side, it will be apparent that all desirable contraction or collapse is amply
provided for; the hoops will readily yield to a pressure on either side without
being deranged on the opposite side, and if pressed inward in front or rear,
the opposite side, instead of being thrown outward or upward will be drawn
down near the person by the spreading out of the sides so as to cause the
drapery of the skirts of the dress to fall as gracefully as if no hoops were
The stiff joints, such as have been heretofore employed, or those
provided with springs and the like, besides their expense and liability to
derangement, require special adjustment by hand to contract them and restore
them to their normal position, while in the improved hoop skirt the joints are
perfectly free, yielding to the slightest pressure, so that no attention from the
wearer is required, and no inconvenient or awkward position can be assumed
by the clothes in passing through a narrow space, sitting in an arm chair, or
entering a carriage, nor can the hoops be placed in any position from which
they will not return to the proper form when released, thus requiring no
attention to cause the garments to return to their symmetrical shape.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of an improved manu-
facture of hooped skirt, as communicated to me from abroad, and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, making hoop skirts
with the lower boops divided and jointed on each side with flexible joints,
substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)