Innovation in Wearing-apparel.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1893
Innovation in Wearing-apparel.
I, ERDMANN PRADEL, Furrier of Cologne on the Rhine, Reinoldstrasse No. 8
in the Province of Rhineland, Germany, 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:-
Many articles of dress, especially those used as outer-garments for ladies and
therefore exposed to all the influences of the weather, as for example mantles,
pelerines jackets, shawls etc. are made particularly on the outer side of stuffs which
in bad weather as rain, snow, fog etc. easily suffer to a considerable degree or are
entirely ruined. Among these stuffs are furs, feather-trimming, velvet, plush,
silk etc. The wearing therefore of garments made of these stuffs is chiefly confined
to fine, dry weather, that is to fine days in summer and clear frosty weather in
winter. From this results the necessity on the one hand of procuring besides these
easily damaged articles of dress, others to be used as substitutes in bad weather,
the outside of which consists of less expensive and more wear-resisting material, on
the other hand however the case occurs very easily that one has put on in apparently
fine weather for a walk or an excursion etc., an article of dress with the expensive
but easily spoiled outer side, and is then overtaken by a sudden change in the
weather, when still in the open air, so that the garment in question, if even only for
a short time, is exposed to the effects of rain, snow or hail and is generally either
totally ruined or at least very much damaged.
As garments with such sensitive outer stuff have often been supplied with an
inner lining of wear-resisting cloth, on the other hand also winter-mantles, jackets
etc. of cloth are often lined on the inside with fur and also silk, the idea may easily
present itself of wearing such a garment alternately with the one or the other stuff
to the outside.
But this is more easily thought than done; for if one were simply to turn such
a garment made in the ordinary way inside out, then on the one hand in every case
at the lower hem and at the front seams the inside stuff would show below the
outer lining as for example fur under cloth; on the other hand parts such as the
collar and the sleeves would cause various difficulties and be partly ruffled and partly
visible on the outside.
By my invention I have succeeded in manufacturing garments that may really be
worn on both sides.
In the drawing such a ladies' winter wrap with the fur lining on the inside and
the cloth on the outside, is represented in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
Fig. 1 shows the garment spread out flat (unrolled) in the left half with the fur
lining outside and the cloth to the inside; in the right half with the cloth to the
outside and the fur lining inside, while
Fig. 2 forms a section through the left half_and
Fig. 3 a section through the right half of Fig. 1.
Figs. 4 and 5 on a scale of twice the real size the special arrangement of the two
layers of stuff to each other and to the lining as well as in connexion with the
mechanism invented by me applied to the lower hem of the garment, viz. in Fig. 4
with the fur turned towards the outside, in Fig. 5 with the cloth to the outside.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 give details.
If the cloth-side were joined directly by a seam at the lower end with the fur-
side i.e. with the leather of the fur, then when the cloth was on the outside the hair
of the fur would show from underneath, but if the cloth were only made so long as
to simply cover all the hair of the fur, then when the fur was outside, the cloth

page_text: -
would become visible through the hair of the fur.
follows:
My arrangement is as
The cloth-side is made so long that when it is on the outside, it does not allow
any of the hair of the fur to be seen. But in order also to prevent any of the
cloth from being seen, when the fur is worn on the outside, the cloth-side, by turning
over a sufficiently long strip along the lower hem, is shortened so far that the lower
edge now of cloth-is in the same line with the leather edge of the fur, or goes
back in a very slight degree behind the latter. Since by turning back the edge of
the cloth towards the inner side of the dress i.e. the side near the human body, this
edge would become ruffled and it would be likely that in putting on the garment or
later on by the motion of the body in walking and by the friction of the inner side
of the dress against the body caused thereby, the cloth-edge would be again pushed
back and thus become visible under the fur, the arrangement is made in such a
manner that the cloth-edge is turned over towards the outside, below the fur
however, and to this end the cloth is joined with the fur not at the edge of the
leather but higher up, so that the fur and the cloth lie apart from each other for
: the breadth of a few centimeters. From the joint to the edge of the cloth on the
one hand and to the edge of the leather on the other there is also a lining of thin
stuff such as silk etc.
In order that the cloth-edge that is turned back may not become undone of
itself, and that when the cloth is on the outside, no crease may show itself in con-
sequence of its being frequently folded over, but that the cloth-edge may lie stiff
and smooth in the surface of the garment, suitable spring-mechanisms are fastened
along the edge of the cloth. The springs lie with the one edge over and the other
below the crease and are suitably fastened in this position. Figs. 7 and 8 show a
spring specially adapted for this purpose, consisting of the fixed leaf a, the
leaf 6 which turns down with the hinge-end d fitting into the cut c of d.
The leaf a is sewn on, by means of the holes ff at its upper end, between the
two layers of material. It is better however not to sew the lower end 6 to the edge
of cloth that is to be turned back, but only to enclose it between the cloth and the
. above-mentioned thin lining, so as to allow the stuff free play when it is folded
over..
The whole of this arrangement may be plainly seen in Figs. 4 and 5. A is the
layer of fur B the layer of cloth, C the leaf-mechanism the dotted lines D
and E the thin lining which reaches from the joining of the cloth and leather at m
to the end of the cloth n and the edge of the leather o. As has been above
described the edge of the leather o ends in the same line with the crease in the
cloth at p, so that the outer side is longer than the inner side by the hair of the
fur (Fig. 4) while when the cloth is stretched out (Fig. 5) the edge n lies somewhat
lower down than the top of the fur hair. The connection between the two layers
of material at m may be made by a seam, but the best way is to use india-rubber
strips so as to prevent the seam from becoming visible on the outside. Thus in
layers of fur and cloth a single strip of india-rubber might be glued on to the
cloth and sewed on to the leather; in case of two different stuffs such as velvet
and cloth an india-rubber strip may be glued to each and the two layers then sewed
together.
As will be seen from Fig. 1 the springs C may be arranged separately i.e. without
any connection among each other at certain distances from each other, and I have
'found by experiment that between the fur and the cloth an arrangement of springs
at a distance of 10 cm. from each other is sufficient to keep the edge of the cloth
when it is turned over as well as when it is stretched, in a perfectly smooth state.
But just as one can use other springs in the place of those drawn by me (C), one
can also use them at any distance from each other that one wishes, and can stiffen
the material in a suitable manner with leather and india rubber strips etc. corset or
watch-spring steels, whale-bone etc.
In Fig. 1 and the two sections Figs. 2 and 3, the arrangement made by me for
collars is also to be seen. It consists in the cloth having two layers at the collar

page_text: and being sewed together at the upper end at q, so that the cloth collar forms a
kind of hood F, which when the fur is worn on the outside, as in Fig. 2, lies inside
between the fur-collar G and the neck, and when the cloth is worn on the outside,
covers over the fur collar G, thus protecting it from the weather (Fig. 3). In
order that the hood F may lie smooth when the fur-collar G is put inside it, its
edge (Fig. 3) is fastened by means of hooks and eyes, or any other suitable
fastening, such as the mechanism used in gloves etc. to the upper side of the leather
of the fur. Of course in collars which are turned further down and which, when
the fur is worn outside are to allow fur to appear also on the inside, the hood must
only be sewed on at the commencement of the collar and thus be capable of being
turned back entirely into the interior of the mantle as is shown by dotted lines
in Fig. 2.
In such sleeveless ladies' winter wraps as shown in the drawing, there is usually
on the inside at the lower corners of the garment a pocket on each side for putting
the hand into. As these pockets would be in the way, when the inside of the mantle
is turned outside, they are replaced by me-as drawn in Fig. 6-by a band H
running diagonally across the corner, which is seived on to the fore and lower
edge between the two different layers of material. When the mantle is turned,
the corner is drawn through the band, so that the latter always lies on the inner
Bide.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
Innovation in wearing-apparel, therin consisting that in articles of dress having
an outer layer of material A liable to suffer from the effects of the weather, and an
inner layer B capable of resisting the weather, in order to make it possible to wear
both these materials on the outside at will:
1. The layer B is made longer than A, but the lower edge of B, in order to
shorten it when A is worn outside, is made so, that it can be folded back inwards
by means of a suitable arrangement of the connexion at m and by the use of
corresponding parts C which are supplied with springs.
2. The collar F of B is formed into a hook capable of receiving the collar G
of A.
3. Any inner corner-pockets are replaced by corner-bands H which receive the
hands and allow of the corner of the stuff being drawn through in such a manner
that H always remains inside.
Dated this 95th day of Sontember 1892
For ERDMANN PRADEL,
Bernh. Brockhues,
Applicant's Agent.