IMPROVEMENTS IN HOOPED SKIRTS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Osborne, of Bayswater, in the County of
Middlesex, Stay Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HOOPED SKIRTS."
Sealed the 29th April 1862, and dated the 2nd November 1861..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Osborne at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd November 1861.
I, SAMUEL OSBORNE, of Bayswater, in the County Middlesex, Stay Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HOOPED SKIRTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in connecting the hoops forming the skirt by tapes
or ribbands carried diagonally in opposite directions from the upper to the
lower part of the skirt in such manner that the tapes running in one direction
shall cross those running in the opposite direction. I term this "diamond
lacing," and I find skirts so constructed are more steady, and have not that
tendency to "wag" which belongs to skirts in which the hoops are otherwise
connected.
My Invention also consists in causing the skirts to set flat in front of the
body, and full at the back by strips of steel or other suitable material fixed to
the fore part, and up the sides connected to the hoops, and capable of being
drawn by strings or laces, so as to ensure flatness in front, and fullness at the
back of the skirt.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Osborne in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
OSBORNE, of Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Stay Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Osborne, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel
Osborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Samuel Osborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HOOPED SKIRTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Samuel Osborne, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Osborne, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
that is to say:
My Invention consists in connecting the hoops forming the skirt by tapes
or ribbands carried diagonally in opposite directions from the upper to the
lower part of the skirt in such manner that the tapes running in one direction
shall cross those running in the opposite direction. I term this "diamond
lacing," and I find skirts so constructed are more steady, and have not that
tendency to "wag" which belongs to skirts in which the hoops are otherwise
connected.
The accompanying Drawing is a perspective view of a hooped skirt made in

page_text: a, a, are the tapes or ribbands carried diagonally in opposite
directions, and uniting the hoops as shewn; c, c, are clamps for securing the
tapes to the hoops; d is a strap and buckle for increasing or diminishing the
size of the waistband. The Drawing shows the lower parts of the skirt covered
in, but it may be formed wholly as a skeleton skirt.
My Invention also consists in causing the skirts to set flat in front of the
body, and full at the back by strips of steel or other suitable material fixed to the
fore part, and up the sides connected to the hoops, and capable of being drawn
by strings or laces so as to ensure flatness in front, and fulness at the back of
the skirt. The dotted lines e, f, and g, h, indicate the position of these steel
strips, the number of which may be increased or diminished according to cir-
cumstances; they are placed inside the diagonal tapes or ribbands, and preserve
flatness in front by being drawn tight by the strings i, i, which are connected
to them. Similar strips of steel are placed on the other side of the skirt as
well as on that shewn.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in hooped skirts,―
First, connecting the hoops by tapes or ribbands carried diagonally in opposite
directions, substantially in manner and for the purposes herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Second, the employment of strips of steel, or other suitable material at the
fore part, and up the sides of skirts, and drawn together by laces or strings,
substantially in manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Osborne have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.