IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STAYS AND UMBILICAL BELTS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANN
WISE, of Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, in the County of Middlesex,
Parisian Corset Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirteenth day of July, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Ann Wise, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Ann Wise, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Ann Wise, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STAYS AND UMBILICAL
BELTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Ann Wise, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Ann Wise, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say)
My Invention relates,-
First, to improvements in the construction of stays; and,
Secondly, to improvements in the construction of umbilical belts.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to explain the Drawings hereunto annexed,
in the various Figures of which the same letters of reference are used to
indicate similar parts wherever they occur.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a front view of a pair of stays constructed according to
my improvements; Figure 2 is a side view thereof; and Figure 3 is a back
view thereof. The stays, in place of being laced at the back as heretofore,
are so constructed as to have a back and a front, which are fastened about.
the person by means of a peculiar arrangement of straps, and the upper parts
of the back and front are drawn together simultaneously by a series of single
laces combined together so as all to be drawn at the same time. a is the
back of the stays, and 6 the front thereof, which are made up in separate
pieces, with suitable cases made therein for "bones" and "steels," such cases
being as is usual in making stays, and forms no part of my Invention,
c being the bone or steel busk; d, d, the bones in their respective cases.
e, e, are a series of laces which are fastened together at the ends e¹, and have
a loop formed thereon so as to be fastened to buttons fixed in front of the
stays; the other ends of the laces or cords e pass through eyelet holes formed
in the back a of the stays, are then made fast to the front of the stays. By
this arrangement the upper parts of the back a and front b of the stays can
be separated to a considerable extent when the loops at the ends of the two
series of laces or cords e, c, are not buttoned at front, but when the ends e¹
are buttoned then the parts a and b of the stays are drawn closely together.
'The lower parts of the stays are drawn together and fastened to the person by
means of straps in the following manner:-f, f, are a series of metal eyes made
fast near the edges of the front part 6 of the stays; 9, 9, are straps fastened at
the left-hand edge of the back a of the stays, and these straps pass respectively
through the metal eyes faffixed to the front b of the stays on that side, and
are then fastened to the buckles i of the straps h. h. The straps h, h, arc
fastened to the back a of the stays at the right-hand edge thereof, and arc

page_text: passed through the metal eyes f affixed to the front part 6 of the stays at
that side thereof, and these straps h have the buckles affixed thereto; con-
sequently, when the straps g and h are drawn together and fixed by their
buckles they will draw the two edges of the front part of the stays towards
the back of the person, and at the same time the two edges of the back a of
the stays will be drawn towards the front of the person, and, consequent on
this peculiar arrangement above described, there will be no tendency to draw
one part more than another. And in order that there may be adjustment of
cach strap in addition to the fastening by the buckle, I prefer that each strap h
should have a metal slide j, to the middle bar of which the end of the strap h
is fixed, as is well understood when using similar slides with straps for
other purposes, the buckles being each formed with an eye, through which
the strap h passes; hence, after the straps and g have been fastened by their
buckles, either of the straps h may be tightened or loosened by sliding the
slides thereon.
I will now proceed to explain the second part of my Invention, which i
relates to umbilical belts, and these improvements are similar, so far as
the arrangement of straps, as what have been described in respect to stays, the
fastening, however, of the straps of the belts being in front in place of the
back. Figure 4 shews a belt constructed according to this part of my
Invention. Figure 5 shows a male figure, having one of these belts applied.
I would, however, remark, that these belts are equally applicable to the female
figure, and the stays above described are for the female figure. A belt,
according to this part of the Invention, is made of two parts, back and front,
which are separate one from the other, a, a, being the back part of the belt,
and b, b, the front part of the belt. g, g, are straps fixed to the edge of
the
part 6 of the belt and at the right-hand edge thereof. h, h, are other
straps affixed to the front part of the belt and to the left-hand edge thereof;
and on the two edges of the back part a, a, of the belt there are metal eyes
ff, through which the straps g, h, pass. In the Drawing Figure 4 the
straps h are shown in their places ready to receive the straps g after they
have been passed through the eyes f. f, at the other edge of the part a of the
belt; and supposing the belt, Figure 4, were placed on a person with the
front b at the front of the person, as at Figure 5, and the back part a of the
belt at the back of the person, the straps g would then be passed through
the metal eyes f, and the ends of the straps fastened by the buckles i and the
strapping, the parts a and b about the person would at the same time cause
cach edge of the back part a of the belt to be equally drawn towards the front
of the person, and the edges of the front part of the belt towards the back of

page_text: the person. And in order to obtain adjustment of the pressure of any strap
without unbuckling it, I apply slides j, one to each strap h; and the buckles
have eyes for the passage of the straps, as above described in respect to similar
parts in the stays. The back part a and the front part bare each to be made
to fit the figure of the person as nearly as may be, and suitable cases formed
therein for receiving "bones" or "steels," as is shewn at a, a. And in making
stays and belts according to my Invention I use like fabrics to those now
employed when working like articles.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means
I am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details, so long as the peculiar
character of my Invention be retained, and I make no claim to any of the
parts separately; but what I claim is,-
First, the mode of making stays, whereby they are made of two parts, back
and front, and combined together and fastened to the person by means of the
straps g and h, in the manner above described, and by the laces or cords e, e,
as above described.
And, secondly, I claim the mode of making umbilical belts, whereby each
such belt is formed in two parts, back and front, and combined together by
straps or other fastenings, in the manner herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ann Wise, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.