IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSETS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Pretty, junior, of Ipswich, in the County of
Suffolk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Pretty at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th July 1877.
WILLIAM PRETTY, junior, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk.
IN CORSETS,"
"JMPROVEMENTS
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of corsets.
In corsets which are laced at the back it is found that the parts which receive
the eyelets are liable to be pulled out of shape and to become distorted in a short
period of wear; the eylets also escape from the fabric, which then in a short time is
cut through by the lace. To avoid these objections I place a steel stiffener at each
of the lines of eyelets; the steel is perforated for the eyelets, which are rivetted
through the steel as well as through the fabric of the corset. Corsets thus con-
structed have the further advantage, in addition to those already alluded to,
of giving a more efficient support to the back than is afforded by the ordinary
corset.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Pretty in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th January
1878.
William Pretty, junior, of Ipswich; in the County of Suffolk.
IN CORSETS."
"IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of corsets.
In corsets which are laced at the back it is found that the parts which receive.
the eyelets are liable to be pulled out of shape and to become distorted in a short
period of wear; the eyelets also escape from the fabric, which then in a short time
is cut through by the lace. To avoid these objections I place a steel stiffener at
each of the lines of eyelets; the steel is perforated for the eyelets, which are rivetted
Corsets thus con-
through the steel as well as through the fabric of the corset.
structed have the further advantage, in addition to those already alluded to,
of giving a more efficient support to the back than is afforded by the ordinary
corset.
In order that my said Invention may
ay be host fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The Drawing represents a portion of the back of corset where the parts are laced
together..
a, a, are steel stiffeners inserted at the places where the eyelets to receive the
laces are fixed. They are covered with the fabric of the corset in the same way as
the other bones or stiffeners, and are perforated for the eyelets.
At the lower part of the Drawing the perforated stiffeners appear bare, the
covering fabric and eyelets being omitted in order that the stiffeners may be repre-
sented more clearly.
When the stiffeners are in their places in the corset the eyelets are inserted
through the fabric and through tlie perforations in the stiffeners, and they are
clenched or rivetted over to fix them in their places in the usual way.
What I claim as my improvements in the manufacture of corsets is, the application
of perforated metal stiffeners along the lines of eyelets, and the insertion of the
eyelets through them, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Pretty, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
W. PRETTY, JUNK: (L.S.)