AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RAISING OR DRAWING UP THE SKIRTS OF GOWNS OR DRESSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wright, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars,
City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF RAISING OR DRAWING UP THE SKIRTS OF GOWNS OR DRESSES,"-
A communication from abroad by M. Bresson, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, Civil Engineer.
Sealed the 4th November 1859, and dated the 29th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th July 1859.
I, JAMES WRIGHT, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, City of London,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RAISING OR DRAWING UP THE SKIRTS OF Gowns OB
DRESSES," a communication from abroad by M. Bresson, of Paris, in the
French Empire, Civil Engineer, to be as follows:-
A band of strong linen or of leather is fixed by any suitable means upon
the stays a little above the hips. From this band descend in front and behind
several strings passing through small rings or eyes, sewn to the skirt of the
dress in different places. The upper ends of these strings are united together
in front of the dress, at the height of the waist, and pass through an opening
made there. When it is wished to raise the dress, one has only to draw
these strings and to let them go when it is wished to let it fall.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th January 1800.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WRIGHT, of 42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, City of London, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Wright, Her special licence that I, the said James
Wright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Wright, 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 METHOD OF RAISING OR DRAWING UP THE SKIRTS OF GOWNS OR DRESSES,"
a communication from abroad by M. Bresson, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Civil Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Wright, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Wright, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement, that is to say :-
:
It consists of a piece of linen or leather, or cloth, forming a waist band,
which is attached to the corset underneath the dress by means of cords,
buttons, or books; in place of attaching this band to the corset, it may be
joined to the chemise a little above the hips, which tend to support it. The
lower portion of this band is strengthened by means of whalebone, and to this
part are affixed a number of small pullies, or hooks, or eyelets, through which
two cords pass and drop down at equal distances from the band, so as to fall
to the bottom of the dress, the vertical parts passing through loops, pullies,

page_text: or hooks upon pieces of ribbon attached vertically to the inner part of the
skirt. These two cords are joined in the centre by a loop or ring, so that by
drawing up the loop the cords will be drawn up also, and if the dress be
attached to them it will be similarly raised. Other two cords, passing through
another series of pullies attached to the back part of the band, fall down on
the back part of the dress, and; like the others, pass through eyelets or loops
attached to slips of ribbon fixed vertically to the skirt. Little balls of lead
are fixed to the extremities of the cords, so as to cause them to hang down
vertically. An elastic on the top of the band, with a catch or hook, serves to
clasp the waistband round the body.
In order more clearly to illustrate the above, I have to this Specification
appended the accompanying Drawings, which are intended to illustrate the
general principles of my Invention and the mode of constructing it; I do not
bind myself, however, to the exact details therein mentioned, as these may be
modified to suit particular applications of it.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
A, A, the body of the waistband, which may either be of linen, silk,
cloth, or leather; a, a, pieces of india-rubber, having catches or hooks c, c, to
join the ends of the band; B, folds of stuff which enclose a band of whalebone,
to which are attached the small cheeks D, D, of the pullies d, d; these
cheeks and pullies may be either of tin, or porcelain, or glass, or they may be
replaced by eyelets; E, E, are also folds of stuff enclosing bands of whale-
bone, which in like manner carry other pullies D', d¹; 9, 9, a cord with the
pullies or eyelets. The suspended parts G, G, of this cord fall to the bottom
of the robe on both sides, and passes through eyelets or loops attached to the
ribbons H, H, which are vertically fixed to the skirt; h, h are small balls of
lead for the purpose of keeping the cords stretched vertically. A button or
loop F attached to the junction of these cords g, or the middle of the cord, if
one is used, serve when pulled to raise the back part of the robe when it is
wished; i, i, is another cord, or pair of cords, which passing through the
pullies d', d', the same as the other, and in like manner descend through the
loops on the ribbons j, j. and have balls of lead attached for the purpose
before described. A loop, or button, or hook at the junction L of this serves
to pull up or raise the front part of the robe.
Having now described my Invention, and how the same is constructed and
acts, I wish it understood that what I wish secured by the before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the combination of two double cords running in eyelets, grooves,

page_text: pullies, or loops on a waistband, and attached at the lower ends by means of
other pullies, eyelets, or loops to the bottom or lower part of the robe, so that
by drawing them together at the middle, the dress may be raised either in
front or behind, generally as described in the Specification, and illustrated more
particularly in the appended Drawings.
Second, the use of small leaden or other weighty balls at the extremities of
the cords for the purpose of keeping them always stretched, and so that the
dress may be let fall when the tension is removed from the centre of the cords,
substantially as described in the Specification, and illustrated in the Drawings
appended thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
JAMES WRIGHT. (L.B.)
"
JAMES WRIGHT. (L.S.)