IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS AND CORSETS."
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas, of No. 128, Cheapside, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS AND CORSETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1877.
WILLIAM THOMAS, of No. 128, Cheapside, in the City of London.
MENTS IN STAYS AND CORSETS."
"IMPROVE-
In stays and corsets of present construction, inconvenience is often experienced,
more particularly in the case of females of full habit, on account of the bones that
extend longitudinally, or in some cases diagonally, along the corset, sticking out in
an unsightly manner at the lower end, and affording the wearer little or no support
on the abdomen, where support is desired, and such support is sometimes sought
to be attained by putting in heavy or stiff steels that press injuriously upon the
body.
Now according to my present Invention, I provide the stay or corset at the lower
part, where it fits over the abdomen with a number of bones of steel, whalebone,
or other suitable material, running in a lateral direction, parallel or nearly so to the
bottom edge of the corset, and extending from the edge of the busk to any required
distance towards the hips, the usual vertical bones in the upper part being
by preference stopped short where they meet the topmost of the said parallel
bones.
By the above arrangement the said parallel bones, while affording greater
pliability to the corset, so as to enable it to adapt itself perfectly to the rounded
form of the abdomen, at the same time afford considerable support to the latter, as
both ends of the bones are held securely in a lateral direction by the material of the
corset into which they are fitted. The said ends may be further held and protected,
if required, by making them pass underneath the edge of the busk at the one end,
[Price 6d 1

page_text: and under a vertical steel fitted to the corset at the other end. In some cases, the
busks are stopped short at a certain distance from the lower edge of the corset,
so as to enable two or three of the lowest bones to extend underneath it to the
edge of the corset. The said bones may either be all of the same strength, or the
middle ones may be made of greater strength than the upper and lower ones; they
are by preference made with a permanent curvature to correspond with the
rounded form of the abdomen; and in order to make the corset fit still closer to
such rounded form, I, in some cases, cut out one or more gores in the part of the
corset that receives the said bones, so that in sewing the edges of the gore together
a concave form is imparted to such part of the corset into which the said parallel-
curved bones are then fitted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
May 1878...
WILLIAM THOMAS, of No. 128, Cheapside, in the City of London.
MENTS IN STAYS AND CORSETS."
"IMPROVE-
In stays and corsets of present construction, inconvenience is often experienced,
more particularly in the case of females of full habit, on account of the bones that
extend longitudinally, or in some cases diagonally, along the corset, sticking out in
an unsightly manner at the lower end, and affording the wearer little or no support
on the abdomen, where support is desired, and such support is sometimes sought
to be attained by putting in heavy or stiff steels that press injuriously upon the
body.
Now according to my present Invention, I provide the stay or corset at the lower
part where it fits over the abdomen with a number of bones of steel, whalebone,
or other suitable material, running in a lateral direction, parallel, or nearly so, to the
bottom edge of the corset, and extending from the edge of the busk to any required
distance towards the hips, the usual vertical bones in the upper part being
by preference stopped short where they meet the topmost of the said parallel
bones.
By the above arrangement the said parallel bones, while affording greater
pliability to the corset, so as to enable it to adapt itself perfectly to the rounded
form of the abdomen, at the same time afford considerable support to the latter, as
both ends of the bones are held securely in a lateral direction by the material of the
corset into which they are fitted. The said ends may be further held and protected,
if required, by making them pass underneath the edge of the busk at the one end,
and under a vertical steel fitted to the corset at the other end. The said bones may
either be all of the same strength, or the middle ones may be made of greater
strength than the upper and lower ones; they are by preference made with a per-
manent curvature, to correspond with the rounded form of the abdomen; and in
order to make the corset fit still closer to such rounded form, I, in some cases, cut
out one or more wedge-shaped pieces out of the part of the corset that receives
the said bones, so that in sewing the edges of such cut parts together a concave
1113

page_text: form is imparted to such part of the corset into which the said parallel curved
bones are then fitted.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings shews a perspective view of a corset constructed according
to my before-described Invention. The longitudinal bones in the upper part A
are stopped short at the line a, from which point the lower part B has transverse
bones b, b, inserted into it which run in a slanting direction, parallel, or nearly so,
with the lower edge of the corset. The one end of these bones being attached by
means of the material into which they are inserted to the edge of the material
enclosing the busk C, while the other ends thereof are attached to the edge of the
material enclosing the longitudinal side bones D; it will be seen that while they
are effectually confined in a transverse direction, so as to fit closely to the shape of
the wearer, and to afford the necessary support over the abdomen, they at the same
time obviate the inconvenience experienced with the ordinary longitudinal bones,
the lower ends of which frequently stick out in an unsightly manner when the
figure is upright, while they are pressed into the abdomen when the wearer stoops
or sits.
With the transverse bones arranged according to my Invention, the lower part
of the corset beyond the busk is free to fold longitudinally along the lines of
stitching between the bones when the figure is bent in stooping or sitting, so that
no inconvenient pressure can be caused thereby. As before stated the rounded form
of the part B can be obtained by cutting wedge-shaped pieces out of the material at
one or more points, and sewing the edges of the material together; but in order to
avoid the seams that would be produced by this means, and also to simplify the
construction, I prefer to make the part B as a flat piece, as shewn at Fig. 2, with
the edge b' nearest the busk made to slope away from the latter, as shewn, so that
when such edge is brought up to and sewn beneath the edging c at the side of the
busk, the part B will assume the desired convex or rounded form.
The parts A and B may either be formed of one and the same piece of material,
the part A being provided with the usual breast gores, as indicated at Fig. 2, or the
part B may be a separate piece from A, which in that case may also be formed of
separate pieces so shaped and sewn together as to give the required configura-
tion to the corset without the usual gores, as indicated at Fig. 1. Or, again,
the entire corset may be woven to shape in one piece in the well known
manner.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. Constructing the lower part of corsets or stays with transverse bones
extending in a direction parallel, or nearly so, to the lower edge of the corset, and
from the edge of the busk to any required distance towards the hips, substantially
as herein described.
Second. The combination in stays or corsets of transverse bones, arranged as
set forth in the preceding claim, with a rounded or concave shape of the lower part
of the stay or corset, produced by cutting wedge-shaped pieces out of the material
in which the bones are inserted, and then sewing the edges of such cut parts
together, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
WILLIAM THOMAS. (L.S.)