Corset Workshop

Here are some Vivienne Westwood corsets – all bought secondhand.

They look incredible on,  the 18th Century inverted cone shape compresses the bust leaving nowhere else for it to go but up!

The pattern and construction are deceptively simple (and very clever) using rigilene instead of spirals or steel boning -  even for the ‘Couture’ Gold Label.

On most of the ones I have the rigilene is not covered – there is no casing or lining so the rigilene is directly against the skin and (surprisingly) the ends of it are not finished in any way. On the denim anglo mania – the only one I have which is fully lined – spiky bits on the rigilene ends have worked their way through the fabric making the corset virtually unwearable.

The shape is a classic – and the designs instantly recognisable as Westwood….

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This bust improver was a lucky find…

There is an identical one in the Symington collection – here. They date theirs to 1905.

The purpose of the ‘improver’ was to produce the ‘low bust and straight front’ profile which comes in at some point after 1900 and lasts perhaps until the great war.

The boning on mine is a little distorted – and I am not sure what material the bones are made of – the Symington collection describes them as celluloid – the bones in mine are a hard plastic like material (which is not very flammable) a little like bird quill.

The improver is not like a corset – its very lightweight and does not shape the body at all – simply adding a smooth shape where needed. In adverts from 1905/10 in the Waisted efforts book and in Sheps book similar garments are described as ‘brassieres’ and when I tried the improver on it is very similar what we would call a bra but offering no support at all.

Here are a couple of Weldon’s patterns from 1908/10 (from a scrapbook) showing the  desired profile:

The <Foundations of Fashion> book has many examples of bust improvers

The 2 day corset workshop which ran over a weekend went really well. The first day was pretty intensive and we covered alot of ground. This allowed us to take it a little more easy on the Sunday, and the corsets made,

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Katrina used a stunning kingfisher blue duchess satin and Lorraine used a crisp dupion silk in green that had blue threads running through it as a contrast. The bias binding was made at the workshop using the corset fabrics and then hand sewn into place.

This looks fab – “Support and Seduction”  an exhibition  at the Snibston Discovery Museum, Leicestershire – runs until  6th November 2011.

There are over 200 items of underwear on display which includes corsets dating back to the 18th C.

Leicestershire County Council (exhibitions web page)

Pictures of the exhibition at the BBC (link)

Fiona used the butterick B4254. We adapted the pattern by extending the top by 1.5″ across the centre front and middle front panels. We lengthened the bottom edge of all panels by 1″.

The fabric used was an oyster duchess satin, overlaid with a fine black lace. The lace was cut symmetrically and hand sewn over the satin.

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A bargain this morning from a car boot sale in Glasgow – though I’m not always my best at 7.00 in the morning…

A Stockman form in really good condition plus the stand.

Although I have a Stockman already this one has a nice shape and is cut off just below the hips so it should be good for the things I want – corset making and display.

Looked at the Stockman website (www.siegel-stockman.com) to find out more. It is not easy to view all their products in detail (there are so many variations) but it seems to be an American size 6 in ‘Haute Couture’ sizing as opposed to  ‘L’Actuelle’ sizing which is 1-2 inches bigger.

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A commission to make two underbust corsets (in flesh colour and black herringbone coutil).

Using a pattern I have not tried before – the Laughing Moon pattern (#113-underbust corsets – Corset Girdle).

They turned out very well, the pattern was easy to use, easy to adapt and a really good shape.

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