Bustle
1870-1875
The Victoria & Albert Museum
“This bustle is made of stiff layered folds of horsehair and linen fabric. The fabric was known as ‘crinoline’, derived from ‘crin’, the French term for horsehair. This fabric was also used to make the stiff petticoats used to hold in shape the large skirts of the 1840s. The term crinoline was later used for the graduated spring-steel hoops used for the larger skirts of the 1850s and 1860s.
This bustle is constructed of horizontal and vertical steels, which support the gathered rows of fabric. The bustle shape is obtained by lacing bands with eyelet holes, which when laced and pulled up cause the back of the bustle to curve and be held firmly in shape. There are hooks at the waist to fasten the bustle onto a petticoat and two pairs of ties to secure it around the waist and hips.”
The small bits of padding at the sides of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress were made this way!
Corset
1875-1899
The Victoria & Albert Museum
The side ties and snaps over the breasts indicate that this corset may have been used for maternity wear. As pregnancy was considered a very personal matter and meant to be hidden, maternity corsets were meant to mask the outward appearance of pregnancy. When a woman’s belly grew so large that she could no longer press it down, she switched to a specially shaped maternity corset and withdrew from society until she gave birth.
Loving the corset!
…and onto the next project! No rest for the wicked! Just had a meeting about The Beggar’s Opera at King’s College, opening early dec.
Michael Cinco in L’OFFICIEL February 2012 Issue
Michael Cinco in L’OFFICIEL February 2012 Issue
Michael Cinco in L’OFFICIEL February 2012 Issue
