Improvements in Corsets.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 10th May, 1898-Accepted, 25th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Corsets.
I, JOSEPH ADOLPHE GARNEAU, of No. 72, Rue de l'Eglise, St. Roch (Quebec),
in the District and Province of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, Physician
& Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This invention relates to corsets for women, and it has for its object, broadly
speaking, to provide a corset which will conform to the body of the wearer and
support it properly, in contradistinction to one which forces the body into con-
formity with it, and in doing this tends to cause undue pressure on the internal
organs and often to cause actual displacement of some of these organs. In this
respect the invention is hygienic in its character.
The object sought is effected by peculiar construction and arrangement of the
parts of the corset; and in this construction and arrangement the novel features
of the invention reside.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an embodiment of the
invention
Figure 1 is a front view of the corset, broken away in part to better illustrate
the construction.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the corset.
Figure 3 is a perspective rear view of the same.
Figure 4 is a fragmentary view, on a larger scale, showing the arrangement of
the steels in the upright, marginal strip d, at the back.
The corset is composed, as usual in corsets, of two like sections or halves joined
together along upright lines in front and at the back; therefore the description
of the details of construction of one half will serve equally well for the other.
Down the front of the corset, from top to bottom, extend two strips or marginal
bands, a, a, one on the margin of each half, and these strips are provided each
with a series or row of hooks, b, the hooks in one series being arranged opposite
to those in the other, as seen in Fig. 1. A lacing tape or cord, c, serves to secure
the two halves of the corset together down the front by engagement with said
hooks, as clearly shown in Figure 1. At the back the two halves of the corset
are each provided with an upright marginal band or strip, d (Figures 2, 3 and 4),
provided with eyelets to receive an elastic lacing cord, c.
I will now more minutely describe the construction of one of the halves of the
corset, which, as before stated, are alike, so that a description of one will suffice
for both.
The front, upright, marginal strip or band a has pocketed in its lower part a
strip of spring steel, f, which extends from the bottom edge of the corset up to
the point, which, as seen in Figure 2, is about the point of greatest projection
of the corset at the front. The steel f is normally curved, or has a set curvature,
to fit over the lower portion of the abdomen, and the strip a is made to conform,
from the upper end of the steel f to the top of the corset, with the curvature of
the front of the body of the wearer. This strip may have pocketed in it a whale-

page_text: .
bone or bones, if desired, the same extending from the steel f to the top of the
corset.
The upright marginal strip or band d, at the back (Figures 3 and 4) has a special
curvature to fit it to the form of the wearer's body, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3,
and this curvature is produced by pocketing in said strip or band three strips, g,
(Figure 4) of steel arranged side by side and having a set form of the proper
curvature. These strips g should be strong and quite rigid so as to enable them to
retain their shape and brace the back of the wearer.
The body of each corset-half has, at its lower edge a broad piece, h, which extends
across the hip from a front upright stripa, to the back, this piece being widest
at its extremities and hollowed at its upper edge so as to be narrowest at the middle.
The top of the piece h, in front where it joins the strip a, is about on the same
level as the upper end of the steel f. Above the piece h, is another piece, i, also
extending from a strip a to a point at the back where the waist merges into the
hip. This piece is widest at its ends, and is hollowed at its lower side, the spindle-
shaped space between it and the strip being filled with a gore, j. These three
pieces handj give to the body of the corset the proper curvature and form to
fit over the hip and find a point of support thereon thus taking the weight off from
the parts of the body in front and at the back and avoiding the depression of the
abdomen and consequent displacement of the internal organs therein contained.
On the inner face of that part of the body composed of the pieces hi and j, is
secured a band, k. of thin, elastic fabric, which extends over the hip from the
upright strip d, at the back, where it terminates at the waist, to the strip a, at
the front, where it terminates at the bottom of the corset. This band k may be
from one and one-half to two inches wide and it serves to strengthen the fabric
over the hip and by its elasticity to cause it to conform to the body the better.
Above the piece 2, the body of the corset is formed of upright
pieces, (Figure 2), m, n, o, p, q and r, cut as to lateral dimensions
and curvature to make the corset conform in shape to the contour of the body it
embraces, and to support it. The three pieces n, o and p, at the side, by their
special form or cut, as best seen in Figure 2, directly oppose or resist all pressure
of the corset at the front. They have the effect to place in a rational manner,-
that is to say at the back-the point of support, which is placed in front in most,
if not all, the corsets now in use.
The corset may be made up of any of the ordinary materials or fabrics used in
the manufacture of corsets.
It will be understood, of course, that I do not broadly claim upright marginal
bands at the front and rear edges of the halves of the corset, nor the making up
of a corset of pieces cut to give form to the corset; but I claim for my corset that
it has a special form which conforms to that of the human body and that because 4
of this conformity it produces no injurious compression on the internal organs,
such as the lungs, liver, stomach, intestines, etc. Also that by the cut and arrange-
ment of the several pieces an abdominal support is provided, which is important
in nearly all cases.
The quilting of the fabric is shown at the right in Figure 1 of the drawings, 4
but omitted at the left so as to show the construction the more clearly.
Figure 4 shows clearly the steels g in the strips d at the back.
It will be noted that this corset has no front steels or busks, such as are commonly
found in corsets, the front strips a being left flexible or pliable except as to their
lower parts, where they are made stiff and rigid up to about the middle of the 5
abdomen by the short, curved stiffening steels f.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A corset without front busks, having on each half or section an upright, 5
flexible, marginal band a at its front edge, provided with a short and normally

page_text: stiff curved steel f, at its lower part only and terminating above at about the
point of greatest projection of the corset to the front, said steel fitting about the
lower portion of the abdomen, substantially as set forth.
2. A corset having in each half or section an upright marginal band or strip, d,
at the back, provided with stout steels strips g, in it, said steels having a set
curvature corresponding to the shape of the back, and means for lacing the back,
substantially as set forth.
3. A corset having in each half a hip-portion formed of the pieces h and i,
extending over the hip from rear to front, and the intermediate gore j, of spindle-
shape, as shown, between and secured to the pieces h and i, said double-pointed
or spindle-shaped gore being in position to rest on and fit over the point of the hip,
substantially as set forth.
4. A corset having in each of its halves a hip-portion composed of the pieces h
and i, and the intermediate spindle-shaped gore j, all secured together, said hip-
portion extending over the hip from rear to front, and an elastic band k, under
said hip-portion, said band extending from the waist-line at the back to the bottom
of the corset in front, passing over the hip and being free to stretch, substantially
as set forth.
5. A corset having in each of its halves an upright marginal band a, in front
having in its lower part a short steel f, with a set curvature, an upright marginal
band d, at the back, having steels g, with a set curvature, extending their entire
length, a hip-piece h, widest at its ends and extending from one to the other of
said marginal bands, a piece i, over the hip and extending from one to the other
of said bands, a spindle-shaped intermediate gore j, between the pieces h and i,
and these pieces and the gore secured together at their edges, the upright
pieces m, n, o, P, q and r, of the contour shown, forming the body above the
waist, and means for closing the corset at the front and back, substantially as set
forth.
D
J
1000
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.