An Improved Method of and Appliance for Securing a Skirt to a Blouse.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Aug., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 25th May, 1897-Accepted, 10th July, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECI
TION.
An Improved Method of and Appliance for Securing a Skirt to a
Blouse.
I ELISABETH MARIAN LOCKWOOD of 85 Clarkehouse Road, City of Sheffield do
hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved method of and means for securing a detached
skirt, to an upper garment known as a Blouse, in ladies attire.
The appliance is very readily adjusted and secures the skirt to the blouse in a
satisfactory manner, it forms the back of the blouse into the desired gathers, and there
is no metallic or other fixed attachment secured to the blouse, which requires
removing before the garment can be washed.
The blouse is prepared with a runner or slot in the centre of the back upon its
lower edge, used in connection with the fastener, and upon the inside of the band of
the skirt I attach a number of hooks, preferably three.
The fastener is constructed after the manner of a safety pin; it consists of a back
piece made either of twisted wire or of sheet metal or other suitable material having
a number of eyes or openings to receive the books before mentioned as fixed upon
the skirt band, it is also provided with a spring bar or blunt ended pin, one end being
detached to enable it to be passed through the runner or slot of the blouse.
When the end projects through the runner, it is passed under a hook or catch upon
the back piece by which it is securely held.
The bar or pin is considerably shorter than the runner or slot, and thus when the
material is forced upon the bar it is formed into gathers, with regularity and in the
required position.
Dated the 24th day of Anonst 1896
ROBT. F DRURY, C.P.A.,
Agent for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Appliance for Securing a Skirt to a
Blouse.
I, ELIZABETH MARIAN LOCKWOOD of 85 Clarkehouse Road, City of Sheffield do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same has to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in, and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to an improved method of and means for securing a detached
skirt of a ladies dress, to an upper garment known as a Blouse.

page_text: My improved appliance is very readily attached and adjusted, and secures the skirt
to the blouse in a satisfactory manner, it forms the back of the blouse into the desired
gathers, and there is no metallic, or other fixed attachment secured to the blouse
which requires removing before the garment can be washed.
In the annexed drawings I have shown the appliance and the method of using it,
similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in any of the figures.
Figs. 1, 2 and 3, are severally the front, top edge, and back views of the appliance
made from sheet metal.
Fig. 4, the appliance made from wire.
Fig. 5, represents the method of using the fastener.
The appliance or fastener as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, is made from sheet material,
and somewhat resembling a safety pin, A is a front plate having any desired number
of eyes B, a catch C, to retain the free end of a spring bar or pin E, and a clamping
piece D, for securing permanently one end of the pin E.
The fastener shown in Fig. 4, is made from one continuous length of wire, the part A,
being coiled to form the eyes B, and bent at the end C, to form a catch or retainer
for the free end of the pin E.
The clamping piece D, is not required, the wire being coiled round at F, to form
a spring, and then continued to the other end of the fastener as a pin E.
It must be understood that I do not bind myself to any particular method of
constructing the appliance, nor to the material from which it may be made, nor to
the number of eyes used, but only that there shall be a pin or bar E, for passing
through a slot in the blouse, and a part having eyes or openings B, capable of receiving
hooks or the like.
The manner of using the fastener is as follows: The blouse G, is prepared with a
runner or slot in the centre of the back upon its lower edge, the said slot being
considerably longer than the pin of the fastener, and upon the inside of the skirt-
band H, I secure a number of hooks I, which being inside the band H, are indicated in
dotted line, if preferred the hooks may be made upon the fastener A, and a
corresponding number of eyes secured to the skirt-band.
The bar or pin E, of the fastener is passed through the runner or slot of the blouse,
and the free end of the pin when closed is caught and retained by the catch C.
The bar or pin being shorter than the slot, it follows that when pushed through the
slot, the material is formed into gathers or pleats J, between the catch piece C, and
the part D.
The hooks I, sewn upon the skirt-band H, are then hooked into the eyes B, of the
fastener, and thus the two parts of the dress are held together in a very neat and
effective manner, the gathers or pleats J being always central and of the same
width.
When the blouse requires washing, the pin is released from the catch and withdrawn
from the slot.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of securing a skirt to a blouse by passing the bar or pin of a
fastener through a slot or runner upon the blouse, and hooking the hooks upon the
band of the skirt into eyes formed upon the fastener, as hereinbefore described and
set forth.
2. An appliance for securing a blouse to a skirt, consisting of a front plate or wire A
provided with eyes B or their equivalents, a pin or bar E, and a catch C, to engage
with same as herein before desorihed and shown in the drawings

page_text: upon the blouse, and means for holding same when closed, substantially as herein-
before described and shown.
Dated the 22nd day of May 1897
ROBT. F. DRURY, C.P.A.,
Bank Buildings, George Street, Sheffield, Agent for Applicant.