Items
Subject is exactly
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85047377
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Corset Lace
Corset lace made from white linen braid. Finished with white metal tags. -
Dress
This dress (bodice and skirt) or reception gown is made of stamped silk velvet, trimmed with silk machine lace and self-fabric rosettes. The bodice of the dress demonstrates the ‘cuirasse’ style, cut to fit smoothly over the torso and hips, worn over a long stiffened corest. There are whalebone strips in the bodice, emphasising the smooth line of the torso, while the skirt is well organised with a flat vertical front, a section of smocking, and swags and puffs supported by internal bones and tapes, culminating in a train. The unknown maker of this dress was highly skilled. The fact that there is no label in the dress suggests that it may have been made by a local dressmaker working independently. Larger dressmaking shops employed seamstresses organised in separate workrooms specialising in bodices or skirts. This dress shows the many different techniques involved. The dress could have been made in London, although it comes from a family based in Cambridge. Before it came to the museum, it was cared for by the same family for three generations, although it is not clear which family member may have worn it originally. -
Bust Improver
Fitted to the figure Around 1909, the fashionable s-bend silhouette gave way to a more elongated body shape and upright posture. This new figure required differently shaped underwear to control and support it. Bust bodices were designed to lift and contain the bust, which was largely unsupported by the low, straighter, hip-confining corset. Bust bodice Dickins & Jones Britain, London, 1910s Figured silk satin ribbon, machine-made lace, front fastening with mother-of-pearl buttons, boned and laced at the back V&A: T.33-1996 Given by Christina McMillan (16/04/2016-12/03/2017) -
Day Dress
This style of delicate pale dress was very popular for wear at summer garden parties and fêtes. The Lady's Realm (1907) remarked: 'July is the ideal month in England where dress is concerned, and our thoughts turn to transparent lawns, ethereal muslins and dainty laces which are all associated with summer confections of London and Paris'. The skirt appears seamless but is made up of many almost invisible hand-stitched joins linking the bands of hand-made lace and lawn. The hand-crocheted flowers add depth and texture. This labour-intensive decoration within an all-white colour scheme satisfied the fashion for costly detail. Although this dress looks soft and pliable, the wearer would have worn rigid corseting underneath. -
Bustle Pad
Bustle pad of dark brown glazed calico trimmed with dark brown silk cord. It consists of an almost square pad with rounded corners overlaid with a smaller one held in place by the silk cord. It appears to be stuffed with straw. It fastens with a white waist tape. -
Bustle
Bustle of peach, grey and brown striped linen -
Bustle
Bustle made from white ribbed cotton. The rear skirt support is composed of arcs of steel, in double rows, held in the correct tension by an inner lacing threaded through metal eyelets. At the bottom, it is supported by crossed insertions of metal strips. The skirt is curved up to hip length in front where it fastens with three buttons and holes. The back waist is adjusted by means of tapes. A white metal type of safety pin with a coiled metal guard was inserted to raise the level of the top hoop. The edge of the garment is trimmed with a band of white machine-made broderie anglaise. -
Covered Cage Crinoline
Crinoline frame of white cotton with an all-over self-coloured woven spot pattern and covered spring steel frame. It is approximately mid calf-length and is shaped by the insertion of woven cotton covered metal steel inserted through tapes. Elasticated waistband and button fastening down centre front. It fastens at the waist with two brass metal hooks and eyes and down the centre front with small two hole white ceramic buttons. There are two brass metal punched eyelets at the centre back waist-band and a tape attached from here to each side of the back holds the shape. It is hand stitched. -
Cage Crinoline
Crinoline cages were worn under skirts to distend them and preserve their fashionable shape. It is not difficult to see why some cage crinolines were known as "skeleton" petticoats. The undulating bands of spring-steel circle the void like a grotesque ribcage. Buoyancy is ensured by the lightness of the steel and the fact that each graduated hoop passes through a stitched opening in the vertical tapes. These tapes are attached to a waistband so that the crinoline sways with the movement of the wearer. An advertisement in the Illustrated London News of 1865 extolled the virtues of a similar crinoline: "…so perfect are the wave-like bands that a lady may ascend a steep stair, lean against a table, throw herself into an armchair, pass to her stall at the opera, and occupy a further seat in a carriage, without inconveniencing herself or others, and provoking the rude remarks of observers…thus modifying, in an important degree, all those peculiarities tending to destroy the modesty of Englishwomen; and lastly it allows the dress to fall in graceful folds." By the late 1860s crinolines were becoming smaller than the earlier bell-shaped cages. The focus of the skirts has shifted to the back of the body with a distinctive flattening at the front and frequently a slight train at the hemline. To support this silhouette the crinoline diminished in size and, as in this example, sometimes gained a spiral coil of spring-steel at the waist to form a bustle. This crinoline was widely advertised in 1971. These adverts state that the design was 'invented by S.B. Garrard, 57 Westbourne Grove, Bayswater' and sold at Addley Bourne, 37 Piccadilly, London, a Ladies' Outfitter. In The Exchange and Mart, 14 June 1871, p. 740, the jupon was praised for '[doing] away with the unsightly results of the ordinary hoops. It is remarkably light, so that a lady may walk in comfort, ascend a steep stair, lean against a table, throw herself in an arm-chair, pass to her stall at the opera, or occupy a fourth seat in a carriage without inconvenience to herself or others; and, lastly, it allows the dress to fall into graceful folds, in which artists so much delight'. -
The New Phantom Bustle
The bustle had first appeared in the late 1860s. It was then part of the 'crinolette', in which excess fabric left over from the once bell-shaped skirts was draped over the hips and bunched up behind. By the 1870s, the bustle had become a separate undergarment in its own right. The new form of bustle was known as a 'tournure' or 'dress-improver', as the word 'bustle' was considered vulgar by Victorian ladies. Bustles were made in a variety of fabrics, including silk, cashmere, flannel, brightly printed cottons and horsehair. They were often trimmed with lace. Some were constructed almost entirely of steel, others resembled colourful cushions. They could be stuffed with horsehair, down and even straw to achieve the desired fullness. The bustle was secured to the body by tapes, which were tied around the waist and hips, over the petticoat, and often under the bottom. These tapes were normally adjustable and could be pulled to achieve a different shape or vary the size of the bustle. Many manufacturers named their bustle designs after popular figures of the time. This bustle is similar to the 'Lillie Langtry', named after the well known actor. The steel wires are attached to a pivot, so they folded in on themselves when the wearer sat down and sprang back when she rose. A novelty bustle made to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee contained a musical box which played 'God Save the Queen' each time the wearer sat down. -
Wedding Corset
White satin corset trimmed with machine made lace and orange blossoms, hook fastening in front for S Bend silhouette. -
Corset
Brown cotton twill corset, possibly made in England or Germany, ca. 1890 -
Corset
Red serge corset with the whalebone and spoon busk covered in beige leather and machine stitched. It fastens with a spoon busk to which is attached loops and studs of brassed metal. There is a white serge lace for adjustment at the centre back which runs through stamped brass metal eyelets. The top is trimmed with a wide border of cream machine made lace. It is lined with white sateen. -
Tango Corset
A 'Tango' corset The tango was introduced to Europe and North America from Argentina. By 1913 it had inspired a craze for dancing. Corsets were now designed to control the waist, stomach and hips. This ribbon corset has bones in the back and on either side of of the front panel. The panel itself, made from interlaced ribbons, allows more freedom of movement, making it suitable for dancing. -
Corset
Corset made of whalebone and cotton trimmed with broderie anglaise and silk ribbon. Front-fastening busk, slot-and-stud fastening and centre back supports are made of steel. Slightly below waist length and with gussets to accommodate the breasts and hips. Machine stitched. -
Thomson's Empress 272 Cage Crinoline
Cage crinoline made from bands of white double woven linen braid, the stripes for the insertion of the hoops are an inch apart, and is interspaced with a woven zig zag pattern. There are seven of these tapes hanging from a shaped cotton waistband which ties with tapes in the front and has printed on the triangular shape on the back with 'Thomson's Empress No. 272' inside an oval medallion. The hoops of spring steel are arranged from ground to waist inside the back four quarters, from ground to hip at the side breaths and from ground to knee duly at the centre front. The tension of the hoops has been arranged to give a regular bell shape slightly convex on the behind. -
A Favorite Of The Empress
Crinoline consisting of a spring steel frame covered with red wool and linen. Red and white striped woven waistband fastened with stamped metal hooks and eyes, and to the back of which is attached a semi-circular red wool back panel lined with white cotton and machine stitched in white from which hang a red diamond pattern woven woollen tapes which are threaded spring steels covered with braid woven wool which wrap over to fasten with a brass metal clamp in front. The hoops reach from the sides around the back to knee level and from there to the base and around the whole of the body. The outline is circular with extra fullness at the back. The bottom row of steels are covered with a red wool 'skirt'. Extra fullness is created at the top back with half hoops. -
Crinolette
By 1865 the outline of the fashionable dress changed. The shape at the back of the body grew more exaggerated with a distinctive flattening at the front. Crinolettes, or half-crinolines, marked the mid-point between the cage crinoline and the bustle. They often had extra loops of steel, which acted as a bustle. Some crinolettes laced like a corset. The wearer used this lacing and internal tapes to adjust the shape of the bustle and the width of petticoat. Gaps in the tape made it possible to remove some of the steels when washing the petticoat. -
Corset Cover
White cotton camisole corset cover with a cross-boned front creating a monobosom silhouette. Cotton over a wire framework. -
Summer Corset
Summer wear Ribbon corsets were recommended for slender women for summer. This one was worn by a woman from a merchant family living in Brazil: Fanny Harvey Fleetwood Raper, nee Duder (1879-1957). While the upper edge of the corset lies under the bust, allowing more freedom of movement, the bones in the sides constrict the waist and those in the back reinforce an upright posture. Corset Possibly Britain, about 1900 Silk satin ribbon, whalebone (baleen), metal eyelets and steel busk