improvements in Bustles or Dress Improvers.
Year: 1885

page_text: improvements in Bustles or Dress Improvers.
"
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUSTLES OR DRESS IMPROVERS
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has for its object to provide a light, cool elastic bustle of novel
construction, which shall be graceful in outline, easy on the wearer, and durable
in use.
The improved bustle is composed of a tubular section or sections of braided or
plaited wires secured to a waistband.
In carrying the said invention into practice I take metallic wire, preferably steel
wire, and braid it on a braiding machine of suitable construction so as to form a
hollow cylinder or tube. I next take the braided cylinder and cut it into sections
or pieces of suitable length, and draw together the wires at each end of each
section, or contract the ends to diminish their diameter. These ends I fasten in
pieces of plate metal which form clamps, and these latter I secure to a waistband
of tape or equivalent material provided with a buckle or equivalent fastening
device. The wire must be duly tempered, either before or after forming the
tubular sections so as to cause the latter to retain their shape and elasticity.
The body of the bustle may consist of a single section or piece of braided wire
tube duly shaped, or two or more such sections may be used. Where I use but
a single section, it is shaped by bending it around in such a way as to form a
segment or crescent, its middle being gathered by drawing the wires close together
on the inside arch and spreading them on the outer arch or side. The gathered or
contracted side is so retained, and also fastened to the waistband, by means of
a spiral spring or helical wire whose coils engage with the wire strands of the
tubular section or body, a cord passing through the spiral and being tied to the
middle of the waistband. Where a plurality of sections is employed, the sections
are not gathered as with the single section, but a looped tape surrounds their
middle parts and fastens the same to the waistband. Where several tubular
sections are used they may vary in diameter, increasing or decreasing in their
order of distance from the waistband.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 represents a bustle-body which is composed of a single section of
haidad ar plaited winne

page_text: Figure 2 shows a bustle, the body of which consists of a plurality of sections of
similar material or wire.
Figures 3 and 4 are details shewing the clamping plate for the ends of the wire
sections of the bustle.
The section A is crescent-shaped, being curved and of larger diameter at the
middle than at the ends. The middle portion is gathered on the inner side at E,
and so held by a spiral spring or helical wire F through the coils of which some of
the wires a pass.
A cord G passes through the spiral and is tied to a waistband H
of tape or equivalent material. The ends I, I of the section A are contracted by
drawing or pinching the wires a together, and these ends are each clamped in
a plate K. The plates K are bent lengthwise, as shewn in Figure 3, so as to
form V-shaped pieces, in the troughs of which the ends of the section A are placed.
The sides k, k, of the V-shaped plates K are then pressed together and again bent
or doubled lengthwise, as shewn in Figure 4, clamping the wires a firmly between
them and forming hooks on the ends of the wires, which prevent the latter from being
pulled out of place. The ends of the section A, after having the clamping plates K
applied to them, are secured to the waistband by tape hangers L L, which form
covers and give a finish to the article. By gathering the wires on the inside of
the middle of the crescent, as above specified, said wires form curvilinear braces
radiating towards the ends and the outside of the bustle, imparting additional
strength and resisting properties.
When two or more wire sections are employed to form the body of the bustle,
the several ends thereof are clamped in the manner just described in bent plates,
and these are also fastened to tape hangers N N secured to the waistband. The
middle portions of the several sections are secured to each other and to the
waistband by an encircling tape P fastened to said waistband. By increasing the
number of sections, the article will form a half skirt, which is within the scope of
this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
First. A bustle composed of a tubular section or piece of braided wire secured
to a waistband, substantially as shewn and described.
Second. A bustle composed of two or more tubular sections of braided wire
secured to a waistband, substantially as shewn and described.
Third. A bustle comprising a tubular section or sections of braided wire of
crescent-shape fastened to a waistband, substantially as shewn and described.
Fourth. A bustle comprising a tubular section of braided wire gathered at the
middle and secured by, a fastening, substantially as shewn and described.
Fifth. A bustle the body of which is composed of a tubular section or sections of
braided wire, the ends of which are secured in clamping or retaining plates or
strips, substantially as shewn and described.
Sixth. A bustle composed of a tubular section or sections of braided wire
fastened at the middle and ends to a waistband, substantially as shewn and
described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.