Corsets.
Year: 1888

page_text: Corsets.
I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of 52 Chancery Lane, London, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature this invention, which has
been communicated to me from abroad. by Catharine Allsop Griswold of 547
West Twenty-first Street, City of New York, County and State of New York,
United States of America, Manufacturer, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention consists in the use in corsets of stays or stiffeners which are given
structurally an edgewise bend or turn, and are applied to the corset body as herein-
after described.
In the drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 illustrate various ways of arranging my
bent stays in a corset according to my invention.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrato modifications in the form of my bent stays; and
Figure 8 illustrates a bent stay made of crimped wire.
I make my bent stays of strips of steel, whalebone, or wire as hereinafter described,
or of any suitable stiffening material. They may be cut or stamped individually
from sheets, in the shape they are desired to have as completed stays; or the strips
out of which they are formed may be bent into the desired form after such strips are
cut from the sheet. Each stay is formed with, or given, usually about midway its
length, an edgewise bend or turn, preferably in the shape of a curve, as shown, so
that each stay has an apex portion and limbs, the latter being either straight or bent
and either parallel to, or divergent from, or convergent towards each other.
In arranging these bent stays in the corset they extend, one or more, from the top
or bottom edges, or both, of the corset-body to, and with their apices directed towards,
or at, or near, the waist-line thereof, while their limbs terminate at or near the corset
edge. At A. Figure 1, the bent stays are shown extending from the bottom edge to
and with their apices a at or near the waist-line, the extremities a¹ of their limbs being
at the said corset-edge, while rectilinear stays A' are shown extending from the top
edge of the corset to the apices a of the bent stays. The positions, in the corset, of
tlie bent and rectilinear stays may be reversed.
At B, Figure 2, the bent stays are shown extending, one or more, from both the

page_text: top and bottom edges, to and with their apices & passing each other and located
alternately along the waist-line.
At C, Figure 3, the apices of the thus arranged bent stays are shown as overlapping
each other at the waist-line, or as overlapping the ends of rectilinear stays C¹ and
extending from opposite edges of the corset.
In Figure 4 the bent stays are shown extending one or more from both the top and
bottom edges of the corset to, and with their apices located opposedly at, the waist-
line, in connection with short stays D, preferably rectilinear, extending across and a
little above and below the waist-line, alongside said opposed apices of the bent-
stays.
At D', Figure 5, the bent stays are shown extending, one or more, from the top
and bottom edges of the corset towards, but not reaching to, the waist-line, and with
the short stays D², preferably ring-like, reaching across the waist-line and located
between the opposed apices of the bent-stays.
In Figure 6 the bent stays are shown formed with, or given, a widened apex
portion E at the waist-line of the corset.
The arrangement of my described bent stays, extending from the corset-edge to the
waist-line, as set forth, enables me to dispense wholly with stays extending continuously
from the top to the bottom edges of the corset, and so to afford great flexibility of the
corset at the waist-line, and at the same time to avoid the breaking of stays at the
waist and over the hips. As shown at a², Figure 1, the lower ends of the rectilinear
stays A', may be seated in sockets of cloth or other fabric, attached to the apex of a
bent-stay A, whereby the said ends of the stays A¹ will bear upon said apex and be
prevented from wearing through the corset-body, while the desired flexibility at the
waist-line is maintained.
The arrangement of the apices of the bent stays shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6,
enables an increased support to be given to the person at the waist-line of the corset,
while the desired flexibility at this point is not impaired.
At E, Figure 7, the bent stays are shown with widened ends of their limbs.
form serves to stiffen the corset-edges in a desirable manner.
This
I prefer to make my described bent stays of crimped wire as shown in Figure 8.
The wire is crimped upon itself thus making a stay of the desired width, and a suitable
length of the crimped wire is then bent edgewise, structurally, to constitute an apex
portion e and limbs e'. The bent stay thus formed of wire is most readily applied to
the corset, and its bends or curves may be varied to conform desirably to the person
for whom the corset is intended or fitted, while its flexibility in every direction is
advantageous.
I seat or incorporate my bont-stays in corresponding-shaped pockets formed in the
material of the corset-body; or, I apply them upon the exterior of the corset as
"overlays," by means of stitching.
The described stays may be used singly, extending from the corset-edge to the
waist-line, and may be formed to constitute wide or. contracted bends or curves; but I
prefer to arrange them in series, extending severally from the top or bottom edges, or
both, as shown in the drawings, as the best advantages of my invention are thus
attained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A corset provided with the described edgewise bent stays or stiffeners, extending,
one or more, from an edge of tho corset to, and with their apices located at, the waist-
line, together with stays or stiffeners extending from the opposite edge of the corset
to said apices of the bent stiffeners, as described.
2. A corset provided with the described edgewise bent stays or stiffeners, extending,
one or more, from an edge of the corset to, and with their apices located at, the waist-
line, together with rectilinear stays or stiffeners extending from the opposite edge of
the corset to said apices of the bent stiffeners, as described.

page_text: 3. A corset provided with the described edgewise bent stays or stiffeners extending,
one or more, from the top and bottom edges of the corset to, and with their apices
located alternately at, the waist-line, as described.
4. A corset provided with the described edgewise bent stays or stiffeners extending,
one or more, from the top and bottom edges of the corset to, and with their apices
overlapping at, the waist-line of the corset, as described.
5. A corset provided with the described edgewise bent stays or stiffeners extending,
one or more, from the top or bottom edges, or both, of the corset to the waist-line,
together with short stays D, one or more, extending across the waist-line alongside
the apices of the bent stays, as described.
6. A corset provided with the described edgewise bent stays or stiffeners extending,
one or more, from the top and bottom edges of the corset towards the waist-line, with
the stays D², located between the opposed apices of said bent stays at said waist-line,
as described.
7. A corset provided with edgewise bent stays or stiffeners having a widened apex
portion E and extending one or more, from an edge of the corset to, and with their
widened apex portion located at, the waist-line, as described.
8. A corset provided with edgewise bent stays, having the widened ends E¹, and
extending, one or more, from an edge of the corset to, and with their apices at, the
waist-line, and their said widened ends at the corset-edge as described.
9. A corset-stay composed of crimped wire and having structurally an edgewise
bend upon itself constituting an apex e and limbs e¹, as shown in Figure 8.
Dated this 5th day of November 1888.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.