IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SKIRT OF LADIES RIDING HABITS
Year: 1884

page_text: I JOHN BUSVINE of 4 Brook Street, London W in the County of Middlesex,
Ladie's and Gentlemen's Tailor do hereby declare the nature of the said invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SKIRT OF LADIES RIDING HABITS to be as follows:-
"
The improvements in the skirt of ladies riding habits constituting this invention
consists in so making the skirt that in the event of the rider being thrown it shall
not be liable to hang or catch in or on the pommels of the saddle, and this I effect
as follows.
I make an opening or openings in the skirt from the bottom upwards, and close
it or them up by a gore of weak elastic material sewn or otherwise attached to the
edges of the opening or openings and which will immediately tear away by
the weight of the wearer in the event of her falling and the skirt catching on
the pommels
The advantage of using an elastic material for the gores is that it prevents them
being torn open by ordinary wear. Or the gores may be attached by buttons or
other suitable fastenings so that one or more may occassionally be dispensed with,
and the openings closed together at will by buttons or other suitable fastenings.
Or all or any of the openings may be closed by means of adhesive gelatine, solution
of india rubber, a combination of any of the above methods with or without sewing;
eyelet holes on each edge to lace the opening or openings together with a material
that would snap on slight tension or strain. The latter method has the advantage
of enabling the wearer herself to completely restore the skirt after tearing by means
of only a piece of ordinary thread, twine, cotton or silk, and for additional safety
some or all the seams of the skirt may be fastened by any of the means before
described instead of the usual sewing.

page_text: COMPLEIE
DEECIFICATION.
I JOHN BUSVINE of 4 Brook Street London W in the County of Middlesex
Ladies and Gentleman's Tailor, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SKIRT OF LADIES RIDING HABITS and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
The improvements in the skirt of ladies riding habits constituting this invention
consists in so making the skirt that in event of the rider falling or being thrown it
shall not be liable to hang or catch in or on the pommels of the saddle, and this
I effect as follows-
I make an opening or openings in the skirt from the bottom upwards and close
it or them either wholly or partially by a gore of weak elastic material lightly
attached by sewing or otherwise to the edges of the opening or openings so that it
will immediately tear away by the weight of the wearer in the event of her falling
and the skirt catching on the pommels of the saddle. Or the gores may be attached
by buttons or other suitable fastenings to enable one or more to be occassionally
dispensed with and the openings closed at will by any suitable fastening.
The advantage of using an elastic material for the gores is that it prevents them
being torn open by ordinary wear. Or all or any of the openings may be closed or
partially closed by means of adhesive gelatine, solution of India rubber, a combi-
nation of any of the above methods with or without sewing; eyelet holes or rings
on each edge to lace the opening or openings together with a material that will
snap on slight tension or strain. The latter method has the advantage of enabling
the wearer herself to completely restore the skirt after tearing by means a piece
of ordinary thread, twine, cotton or silk, or an india rubber cord; and for additional
safety some or all the seams of the skirt may be fastened by any of the means
before described instead of the usual sewing.
To enable my invention to be better understood I will describe the same by aid
of the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an inside view of that part of the skirt
that comes next to the horse shewing the plan I prefer to use for closing one of the
openings and the form of making same. Figure 2 being an enlarged view of part
of figure 1.
a is the skirt, b, opening in same continued down to bottom as shown and
partially closed by lacing c preferably made of an India rubber cord, and laced
through eyelets or rings in or sewn on to the cloth, d circular piece of strong
lining, e, usual elastic loop for left foot, f, broad hem round bottom of skirt.
The broad or oval part of opening b, is made in that part of the skirt that will
admit the pommels of the saddle coming through when the wearer is on horseback.
Instead of the usual loop for the right foot I prefer to uso the kind of shoe described
in the specification of my patent No 11287 of 14 August 1884.
The elastic gores are not shown in the drawing as they may be placed in the
skirt wherever thought desirable for the purposes of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would observe that
I do not claim simply making an opening in the skirt from the bottom upwards, or

page_text: to close the same together by pieces of thin tearable cloth sewn on one side and
buttoned on the other, the material being such as will tear through with slight
strain, as I am aware that this has been proposed before the date of this patent, but
this plan is not successful as the cloth tears through with ordinary wear, but by
the use of an elastic lacing used as herein before described this objection is obviated;
and what I consider novel in this invention and declare that I claim is
1 In ladies riding habits the use of elastic gores as and for the purposes
described.
2 The combination of an opening in the skirt from the bottom up to beyond the
pommels to allow the same to come through, and of the use of a cord, preferably an
elastic cord, for lacing the opening partially together as described and shown.
3. Closing any of the seams or openings wholly or partially by an adhesive
material with or without sewing as before described.