Improvements in or applicable to Corsets, Stays, and Bodices.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 21st Dec., 1892-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Corsets, Stays, and Bodices.
I JOSEPH BALE of 52 Aldermanbury, in the City of London, Warehouseman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements on a Patent for corsets, stays, and bodices,
granted to me in conjunction with Louis Goldberg, dated 21st February 1877,
No. 714, and is designed to secure lightness in the corset and increased comfort in
wear.
According to my original invention, the corset was designed to cover the breasts,
and for this purpose the upper part of the corset was made cup shaped, the rotundity
of that part being maintained by suitable stiffening material. In order, however,
to fit the corset to the body of the wearer, flaps or pads were attached on the inner
surface of the corset at opposite sides of each breast piece, and connected together
by lacing, which could be slackened or drawn up to increase or diminish the amount
of fullness required.
These flaps or pads materially increased the heat of the corset, and failed
to provide efficient means for adjusting the contour of the corset to correspond
with the body of the wearer.
I now propose to divide the corset from, say, the centre of the rounded or moulded
breast, upwards, to the top edge, and to connect the divided parts together by a
lacing or equivalent means, which will admit of the contracting or expansion of
the breast portion, to suit the circumstances of the wearer.
The breasts will be stiffened by ribs of cane, whale-bone, or equivalent stiffening
material, extending upwards and across the arch of the breast. Immediately below
the division, I insert, in the gores or breast pieces, strips of cane, whale-bone, or
equivalent stiffening material, which extend across from opposite sides and the
outer edges of each breast piece. By this means, I provide sufficient resilience to
maintain the rounded form, while at the same time the amount of fullness is capable
of adjustment at the pleasure of the wearer.
I also propose to adapt my invention to corsets of the ordinary construction, by
forming breast portions separate from the corset, dividing them by a central vertical
line, and connecting the divided portions together by lacing, which will provide for
the desired adjustment of the form. These adjustable breast pieces I secure to the
ordinary corset by sewing, and I thus import into ordinary corsets the advantages
attainable only by my invention.
Dated this 4th dow of Norambar 1809
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Corsets, Stays, and Bodices.
I JOSEPH BALE of 52 Aldermanbury in the City of London, Warehouseman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements on a Patent for corsets, stays, and bodices,
granted to me in conjunction with Louis Goldberg, dated 21st February 1877,
No. 714, and is designed to secure lightness in the corset, and increased comfort in
wear.

page_text: According to my original invention, the corset was designed to cover the breasts,
and for this purpose the upper part of the corset was made cup-shaped, the rotundity
of that part being maintained by suitable stiffening material. In order, however,
to fit the corset to the body of the wearer, flaps or pads were attached on the
inner surface of the corset, at opposite sides of each breast piece, and connected
together by lacing, which could be slackened or drawn up to increase or diminish
the amount of fullness required.
These flaps or pads materially increased the heat of the corset, and failed to
provide efficient means for adjusting the profile of the corset to correspond with
the body of the wearer.
I now propose to divide the corset from, say, the centre of the rounded or moulded
breast upwards to the top edge, and to connect the divided parts together by a
lacing, or equivalent means, which will admit of the contracting or expansion of
the breast portion to suit the circumstances of the wearer.
In the accompanying drawing,
Fig. 1 shows in front view one half of my improved corset as it would appear
when applied to the body of the wearer, and
Fig. 2 is a view of the inside of the half of the corset flattened out.
The cup-shaped portion of the corset, designed to cover the breast of the wearer,
is composed of two gores a b, cut to the form shown in the diagram Fig. 3. The
edges from 3 to 2 of each gore are designed to be drawn towards each other by a
lace or equivalent means, and they are so shaped relatively to each other, that
when drawn together as shown in Fig. 1, the desired cup or breast shape will be
produced.
The pieces a b, at the point 2, are permanently connected together, and their
outer edges 3, 3 are inserted in the body of the corset, and secured thereto by sewing.
The gap left between the point 2 and the extremities 4, 4 of the gores, is filled by
covered whalebone or other stiffening strips.cc, which extend upwards from the
bottom edge of the corset to the point 2 of the gores.
d is an arched stiffening piece of cane or other suitable material extending across
the cup or breast piece at or about the level of the point 2. The edges of the
gores ab lying between the points 1 and 2, are stiffened by strips ee of cane or
equivalent material, and these strips extend down to the lower extremities 4, 4 of
the breast pieces.
fis a lace passed through eyelets in the curved edges of the gores, for drawing
these edges together, and producing the rounded form shown in Fig. 1. By thus
forming the cup or breast piece, I provide sufficient resilience to maintain the
rounded form, while at the same time the amount of fullness is capable of adjustment
at the pleasure of the wearer.
I also propose to adapt my invention to corsets of the ordinary construction, by
forming breast portions as above described, but separate from the corset, and con-
necting the divided portions together by lacing, which will provide for the desired
adjustment of the cup-shaped form. These adjustable breast pieces I secure to
the ordinary corset by sewing, and I thus import into ordinary corsets the advantages
attainable only by my invention.
Figs. 4 and 5 show this modification of the invention as applied to a corset of
ordinary construction, Fig. 4 being a front view of a half corset, and Fig. 5 an
inside view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the same. The cup or breast
piece is in this case formed of gores a b, preferably of like shape to those indicated
in the diagram Fig. 3, but they are connected together all along their adjacent
edges by laces or equivalent means of attachment. These gores are stiffened in
the manner described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, and they are applied to the
inner side of the corset and secured thereto by sewing.
The lacing together of the gores a b throughout their whole length, provides for
contraction or expansion of the lower part, as well as of the upper part, of the
cup or breast piece there being a curved, or, it may be, a V-shaped adjustable

page_text: opening from the centre of the breast piece downward, to preserve the rotundity
desired.
From the foregoing explanation it will be understood that my invention ensures
lightness, comfort, and coolness in wear, with improved shape, under a tight-fitting
or other dress, and provides the means for regulating the shape of the corset to
suit different proportions of fullness in the figure of the wearer, or varying measures
of dress across the breast.
The stiffness imparted to the breast piece will be an efficient protection against
any undue pressure which a tight dress might put upon the corset.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The application to corsets, stays, and bodices, of adjustable cup-shaped breast
pieces as and for the purpose above set forth.
Dated this 21st day of December 1892.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.