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CORSETS and CRINOLINES Page Intentionally Left Blank Frontispiece i c. 1460. A Spanish mediaeval painting showing the ladies wearing stiff bodices and artificially- shaped skirts: the beginning of the "boned body" and the "farthingale" Coleccion Muntadas, Barcelona Page Intentionally Left Blank CORSETS AND CRINOLINES By Narah Waugh First published in 1954 by Theatre Art Books Published 2015 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the US and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informabusiness Copyright 1954 by Norah Waugh All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in a newspaper, magazine, radio or television review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN 978-0-87830-526-1 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-315-06007-1 ( eiSBN) PREFACE NE of the most interesting aspects of the history of the costume of Western Europe Ois the continuous evolution of the silhouette. This changing silhouette is not mere caprice on the part of the wearer but can be traced to various origins, the most important perhaps being that clothes of any period belong to, and form part of, the greater whole of the architectural and economic background against which they are worn; they must also adapt themselves to the texture and design of the materials produced at the time; and, of course, there is always the human element—the primitive law of sex attraction. Both men's and women's clothes have reflected the changing line demanded by each new period, but because man leads a more active life no exaggeration of line ever developed which would limit his movements. Padding was always much used, and in the early years this served a double purpose—to emphasise a style but also to protect the body; exagger- ation in men's clothes has usually been confined to-accessories only, details which could be simplified or discarded altogether in time of action. Woman, on the other hand, was able to disregard these restrictions and when a line became exaggerated she developed it to the utmost limit, and unhesitatingly encased herself in whalebone, cane, and steel to achieve the desired silhouette, and then later, to attune herself to a changing world, just as unhesitatingly discarded all these artificial props. This over-emphasis of line has given a curious underlying rhythm to women's clothes and become almost an unwritten law of design. A long slender silhouette gradually begins to widen at the base, emphasis shifts from length to breadth, and when the greatest circum- ference possible has been reached, there is a collapse, a folding up, and a return to the long straight line. During the last four hundred years there have been three such cycles; each time the artificially widened skirt had to be balanced by a small artificially shaped body, each time the silhouette was different, and each time the names changed too; first, the whaleboned-body and the farthingale, second, the stays and the hooped petticoat, third, the corset and the crinoline. It is impossible to appreciate the design of clothes of the past, and certainly quite impossible to reproduce them accurately, without understanding the shapes of these artificial foundation garments. Unfortunately, when their reign is over they become objects of ridicule and are thrown away; being mere undergarments pictorial represen- tations of them are rare, though, more fortunately perhaps, not a few contemporary writers mocked and denounced them. This book is a study of these shapes and how they were produced. Structural drawings and patterns are given, as words and photographs are not sufficient to convey three- dimensional form. They are all taken from existing specimens and are selected to show the evolution of the main shapes—there were, of course, many variations, but the fashionable 7 PREFACE silhouette of any period is fairly constant, and changes much more slowly than the details of the dresses themselves. It is interesting to speculate whether the present economic conditions and the very active life led by a modern woman will break this old unwritten law of rhythm. The crinoline collapsed and slowly subsided, the corset gradually lost shape, until finally the long straight line of the 1920's was reached. Since then, again very slowly, waists have been getting smaller and skirts fuller, whalebones and steels have appeared again—and now, what next? NORAH WAUGH London Spring, 1954 8 CONTENTS Page PREFACE ......... 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........ 10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........ II BIBLIOGRAPHY ......... 15 MUSEUM AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS ...... 16 Chapter I BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY TO 1670 .... 17 1. The Whalehoned Body. 2. The Farthingale. 3. References to Whale- honed Bodies and Farthingales from Contemporary Sources. II 1670 TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY .... 37 1. The Stays. 2. The Hoop Petticoat. 3. References to Stays and Hoop Petticoats from Contemporary Sources. Ill BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO 1925 7$ 1. The Corset. 2. The Crinoline and the Bustle. 3. The Corset, Crinoline, and Bustle—from Contemporary Magazines. 4. References to Corsets, Crinolines, and Bustles from Contemporary Sources. Appendix I THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORSETS .... 149 II THE CONSTRUCTION OF FARTHINGALES, HOOP PETTICOATS, ETC. 163 Ill SUPPORTS FOR CORSETS, CRINOLINES, ETC. 165 IV WHALEBONE ....... 167 GLCSS>RY ......... 171 INDEX .......... 173 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENT FOR permission to examine specimens of garments, and for technical information supplied, the Author would like to thank the Victoria and Albert Museum, the London Museum, the Gallery of English Costume, Manchester, the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Mrs. Doris Langley Moore, and Messrs. R. and W. H. Symington and Co. Ltd., Market Harborough; also the Bayerisches National- museum for kindly sending her the pattern and description of their rare early whaleboned bodice. She is also grateful to Mrs. Kay West for her assistance and advice in compiling the Index and Glossary, and to the many friends who have helped her in her search for material. The Author and the Publishers are indebted to the following for their kind permission to reproduce the illustrations in this book : Messrs. Berlei (U.K.) Ltd., for fig. 49; the Trustees of the British Museum, for fig. 31 ; Messrs. Charles Bayer and Co. Ltd., for fig. 82; Colección Muntadas, Barcelona, for fig. i ; Messrs. Dickins and Jones Ltd., for figs, 65, 66, and 70; the Director of the City Art Gallery, Manchester, for figs. 91, 95, and 96; Messrs. Harvey Nichols and Co. Ltd., for fig. 84; Messrs. J. S. Blair and Son Ltd., for figs. 74 and 83 ; The London Corset Co. Ltd., for fig. 71 ; the Trustees of the London Museum, for figs. 10 and 21 ; The Royal Worcester Warehouse Co., for fig. 67; Messrs. Spiers and Pond Ltd., for fig. 68; the Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, for figs. 5 and 11; the Director of the Wallace Collection, for fig. 4; Messrs. A. M. Wicks, for fig. 81 ; the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey, for figs. 22, 23, and 24. They are also grateful to Mrs. Gwen Raverat for her permission to quote from Period Piece, published by Messrs. Faber and Faber Ltd., and to Messrs. Martin Seeker and Warburg Ltd. for their permission to quote from Colette's Mes Apprentissages. 10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure I The beginning of the "boned body" and "farthingale" at the end of the fifteenth century ...... Frontispiece 2 Body of yellow-brown silk, edged with silk ribbon, early seventeenth century. Pattern ...... Page 18 3 White satin bodice with basque and large sleeves, c. 1630. Pattern 20 4, 5 Two specimens of iron corsets of the early sixteenth century • 25 6, 7 The whaleboned or caned petticoat, the "Spanish Farthingale", c. 1565 26 8 Costumes designed for a ballet Les Esperducattis, 1615 . 31 9 "A French Vardingale", c. 1600 .... 31 10 Boned bodice of blue moiré silk, c. 1650-1660 . 32 Il Boned bodice of white satin, c. 1660 .... 32 12 Boned lining of a bodice covered in moiré silk, 1650-1660. Pattern 36 Whaleboned lining of bodice from a court dress, c. 1680. Pattern . 38 14 Fully-boned stays covered in brocade, 1730-1740. Pattern 39 Stays from Diderot's L'Encyclopédie, 1776. Pattern 40 16 Half-boned stays covered in red silk damask, c. 1780. Pattern 42 17 Fully-boned short stays covered in brocade, c. 1793. Pattern 43 18 Stays made of two layers of unstiffened holland, c. 1798. Pattern . 44 19 Panier, or hoop petticoat, of dark green satin, c. 1740. Pattern 46 20 Pocket-hoops of striped cotton material, c. 1760. Pattern . 48 21 "Court" stays of embroidered white satin, c. 1690-1700 . 51 22 Stays worn by the effigy of the Duchess of Richmond in Westminster Abbey, 1702 ....... 51 23 Stays worn by the effigy of Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey, 1760 52 24 Panier worn by the effigy of Queen Elizabeth I, 1760 52 Caricature of French hoop petticoat, or "panier" 1719 . 57 26 "The Court on the Cause of the Petticoat". From the Tatler, 1710 58 II LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 27 "A Tailor's Shop". From Curioser Spiegel, c. 1700 . 58 28 An engraving of 1748 showing how a panier should be managed to enter a sedan chair ....... 63 29 "Tight Lacing; or Fashion before Ease", 1770-1780 . .64 30 "Sa Taille est ravissante", by Lebeau, after Baudouin, c. 1770 . 64 31 Nymphenburg porcelain figure showing a richly decorated panier, 1750-175 5 64 32 Bath stays or the lady's steel shapes .