IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS OR CORSETS."
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ann Maria Cavé, 35, Union Grove, Clapham, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS OR
CORSETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ann Maria Cavé at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th September 1879.
ANN MARIA CAVE, 35, Union Grove, Clapham, in the County of Surrey.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS OR CORSETS."
My Invention consists principally of the improvements in the construction of
stays or corsets, by which greater support is obtained in the lower part of the body
& which is especially necessary for married ladies. I construct the stay or corset,
according to iny Invention, in the following manner:-The upper part of the front
of the stay or corset down to a little below the waist is made similar to those now
in use, & fastened with a short steel busk fastening. The back of the stay or
corset is made as deep as those now in use, but the sides are cut away in a semi-
circular form so as to pass up above the hip bones, narrowing towards the busk.
Secured to the bottom of the back are belts or bands of cloth, one or more on each
side, extending to the front, passing round the hip hones, & the fore ends of the
belts or bands are provided with two or any suitable number of straps to allow of
them being fastened to a pad to cover the abdomen. This abdominal pad is made
principally of elastic, & is strengthened on each side by strips of whalebone or
steel, which also prevent any rucking. On each side of the abdominal pad are
placed buckles or other suitable fastenings to connect the bands to the pad, & which
can be drawn as tightly as required & so as to fit closely to the figure. To prevent
the pad riding up I attach to the bottom of the front of the corset two books, so
that the edge of the pad can be passed under & secured.

page_text: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a corset made in accordance with my Invention;
it is shown as it appears when fastened and with the abdominal supporting pad in
its place. Figure 2 is a side elevation, and Figure 3 is a back elevation; in these
latter Figures the pad does not appear.
a, a, are bands which are attached, one on either side, to the deep back of the
corset. These bands pass over the hips and are connected by buckles and straps
or such like suitable fastenings to the pad in front. The way in which the corset
is cut up in a semicircular form at the sides to pass over the hip bones is clearly
seen in Figure 2. c, c, are the busks or front stiffeners of the corset; they are pro-
vided with usual fastenings; the pad descends some distance below these busks.
The pad b is connected at the top with the body of the corset by the buckles and
straps d, d, and the books e, e, upon the body of the corset prevent it from rising.
The lower part of the pad is buckled to the bands a, as the Drawing clearly shows.
The middle of the pad at b¹ is made of an india rubber elastic fabric and the sides
are stiffened by stiffeners inserted at 6, 611. The bands a, a, may also with
advantage be rendered elastic by the insertion of india rubber fabric at a', a¹. It
will thus be seen that the bands a, a, with the pad b form together an efficient
abdominal supporting belt capable of adjustment as the wearer may desire. In
place of the broad bands a, a, covering the hips separate straps passing from the
deep back of the corset to the pad in front may be applied, but less advantageously.
Or the bands a, a, may be made broader, and so that their upper edges overlap the
body of the corset throughout the length of the bands and until they meet the
pad b.
Also the arrangement may be varied by permanently attaching the pad to
the bands a¹, and securing these to the corset at the back by buckles or like
fastenings. The arrangement represented by the Drawings is however preferable.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I claim,-
First. My improved stays or corsets, substantially as herein described.
Second. The construction of stays or corsets with a deep back, and cut away at
the sides to pass over the hips, and with belts or bands passing from the deep back
to a front pad, extending below the busk or front and serving as an abdominal
support, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ann Maria Cavé, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
A. M. CAVE. (LS.)