AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DISTENDING THE LOWER PART OF LADIES' DRESSES OR PETTICOATS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elizabeth Mignot, of No. 7, Rue de Tracy, Paris, in
the Empire of France, and of 31, Rue d'Enghien, Paris, aforesaid, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DISTENDING THE LOWER
PART OF LADIES' DRESSES OR PETTICOATS."
Sealed the 18th April 1867, and dated the 24th October 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elizabeth Mignot at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the
24th October 1866. :
I, Miss ELIZABETH MIGNOT, of No. 7, Rue de Tracy, Paris, in the Empire
of France, and of 81, Rue d'Enghien, Paris, aforesaid, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DISTENDING THE
LOWER PART OF LADIES' DRESSES OR PETTICOATS," to be as follows:-
My improved apparatus for distending the lower part of ladies' dresses or
petticoats is intended as a substitute for crinoline or for the more recent mode
of sewing a thick piece of canvas, woven horsehair, or other similar substance
to the bottom of the dress, which from the stiff and harsh nature of the
material thus employed has proved after being in use a short time to have
worn or cut through that part of the dress to which it was attached.
The object of my Invention is to distend the dress or skirt without injury
thereto, and at the same time make use of a lighter substance.
The following description of my apparatus and its advantages over the
systems at present-in-use-will-from-its- simplicity-be-at-once-perceived, and

page_text: consists of a very light frame composed of thin flat steel, cane, or whalebone
bands, between the upper and lower ones forming the hoop I fix a piece of
any ordinary woven fabric, which is rendered sufficiently stiff for the require-
ments by placing cross or upright bands at intervals all round the hoop, and
connecting them to it by means of clasps which when bent round the upper
and lower bands serve to secure the material thereto, and at the same time
act as sockets. for receiving the ends of the uprights round which they are
clasped. In order to draw the fabric (whatever it may be) tight to the frame
I. pass small angular pieces of metal through the former, bending the ends
round the upright, or holes may be made through the bands so as to admit of
sewing the material thereto.
The above-described apparatus is to be sewn inside the lower part of the
skirt or petticoat, and would naturally vary in depth to suit desire or necessity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
J
זי די
by the said Elizabeth Mignot in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd April 1867:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Miss
ELIZABETH MIGNOT, of No. 7, Rue de Tracy, Paris, in the Empire of France,
and of 31, Rue d'Enghien, Paris, aforesaid, send greeting.
..WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and grant
unto me, the said Elizabeth Mignot, Her special licence that I, the said
Elizabeth Mignot, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Elizabeth Mignot, 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 APPARATUS FOR DISTENDING THE LOWER PART OF LADIES' DRESSES
OR PETTICOATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Elizabeth
Mignot,. my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the:
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Elizabeth Mignot, 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 following.
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My improved apparatus for distending the lower part of ladies' dresses or.
petticoats is intended as a-substitute for crinoline or for the more recent mode
of sewing a thick piece of canvass, woven horsehair, or other similar substance
to the bottom of the dress, which from the stiff and harsh nature of the
material thus employed has proved after being in use a short time to have
worn or cut through that part of the dress to which it was attached.
The object of my Invention is to distend the dress or skirt without injury
thereto, and at the same time make use of a lighter substance than that above
referred to.
The following description of my apparatus and its advantages over the
systems at present in use will, from its simplicity, be at once perceived by aid
of the accompanying Drawings; it consists of a very light frame composed of
thin flat steel, cane, or whalebone bands, between the upper and lower ones
forming the hoop I fix a piece of any ordinary woven fabric, which is rendered
sufficiently stiff for the requirements by placing cross or upright bands at
intervals all round the hoop, and connecting them to it by means of clasps,
which when bent round the upper and lower bands serve to secure the
material thereto, and at the same time act as sockets for receiving the ends
of the uprights round which they are clasped; or in lieu of the clasps the
upper and lower bands may be made sufficiently wide to double, the uprights
being inserted between. In order to draw the fabric (whatever it may be)
tight to the frame I pass small round, angular, or other shaped pieces of metal
through the former, bending the ends round or back on the uprights, holes
being made through the bands so as to admit of so doing, or of sewing the
material thereto. These metal pieces or clasps may either form part of the
uprights as in Fig. 4, or they may be furnished with rivet heads as in Fig. 5,
or may be soldered to blocks sliding on the uprights, see Fig. 6, in which
latter case they may be placed where desired; in the two former, holes are
made through the bands for their reception.
The above-described apparatus is to be sewn inside the lower part of the
skirt or petticoat, and would naturally vary in depth to suit desire or necessity.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are elevations of a part of my apparatus. a and b are the
upper and lower bands forming, the hoop, these are each doubled on the

page_text: 'uprights-c, and are fixed thereto "by the eyelet holes f, or by the pieces or
clasps g, h, i, j, Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which also connect and support the
woven fabric d to the 'bands.
**Eig. 7'represents a dress as it would appear when furnished with one of my
apparatus, which when the dress is of a thin and transparent nature may be 5
covered with silk, satin, or other material, and ornamented in any suitable
manner to please the taste.
. Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is, the peculiarly constructed apparatus for distending the lower
part of ladies' dresses or petticoats, as herein described and illustrated by the 1
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elizabeth Mignot, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
LEAR MUZARD,
Civil Engeener,
31, Rue d'Enghein,
à Paris (France).
ELIZABETH MIGNOT. (L.s.)