The lengthening of the bodice led to corset manufacture becoming more complicated with an increasing number of separate panels. Stitched seams were no longer sufficient to control the body shape and ‘whale bones’6 were inserted over seams or stitched into channels to sculpt the body. A straight busk continued to be inserted into the centre front. The ideal figure became more ‘hour-glass’ with a small waist in proportion to the hips and bust. Hip control under the ever increasingly gathered skirts was not necessary, but control around the ‘top hip’ position, just below the waist was, as this prevented the heavy skirts from dragging the waistband down (see figure 3. 35). The fashionable small waist was achieved by tightly lacing corsets at the centre back.
Figure 3. 33 1844 fashion plate showing dresses with long bodices and full dome-shaped skirts extending to the ground with only the very tip of the toes of shoes visible if at all. Image courtesy of the Manley Family Archive.
Figure 3. 34 Dress 1842, with long bodice with ‘V’ at the front waist and deep ‘bertha’-type collar. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Given by Mrs J. P. Friend Smith.
Figure 3. 35 Cream cotton corset, 1840s. © Fashion Museum Bath.
Figure 3. 36 The ‘crin’ petticoat gave lightweight support under the voluminous skirts in the 1840s. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Mrs E. V. Anderson, 1943.
Figure 3. 37 The quilted petticoat was one style worn to create the ‘domeshaped’ skirt profile seen in the 1840s. © Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Brooklyn Museum Collection.
Figure 3. 38 Blue figured silk day dress, 1840s, with loose pleats over the bust tightly stitched down through the ribcage and extending into a low ‘V’ at the centre front. © Fashion Museum Bath.
Figure 3. 39 In the diagram above curved seams and large shaped darts enhance the fit of the longer 1840s bodice which extends below the waist to a point at the front. © Author.
1850–1860
By the mid-1850s the development of the sewing machine greatly assisted the production of both corsets and garments. Fashionable longer, tight-fitting bodices required more darts and seams to control the fit (see figure 3. 44). Bodice design became ever more inventive with side panels sometimes placed at an angle with the straight grain through the centre. This helped to pull the fabrics tightly around the shapely figure created by the corsets. As skirts became ever wider and heavier, the need for a welldefined waistline around which they could be secured was essential.
The ability to produce multiple lines of close accurate stitching brought finesse and speed to corset manufacture and a new industry developed. Readymade corsets were produced in standard sizes and this made them accessible to women across many social classes. Corset design was focused on creating a silhouette with a small waist, full bust and rounded hips (see figure 3. 42). The need to tightly lace corsets led to the gradual introduction of watch spring steel7 as a substitute for whalebone. This was not only flexible but also stronger as whalebone had a tendency to break after continued use.
Tightly gathered petticoats with rows of corded seams or stitched tucks and horsehair petticoats were still worn in the early 1850s. The main development in the style of underwear from the mid-1850s to the 1860s was the invention of the cage petticoat known as the ‘crinoline’ (see figure 3. 43). Steel cage petticoats were introduced to support the ever-increasing width of skirts. They were constructed from multiple hoops of flattened steel wire gradually increasing in circumference from the waist to the hem. The flattened steel wire was wrapped with yarn.
The steel hoops were attached to vertical lengths of cotton tape creating lightweight, flexible and, in their original smaller size, quite liberating petticoats. There was no need for the numerous, heavy, gathered underskirts worn previously. By the end of the 1850s, the hems of some crinolines were so wide that they had become the subject of cartoons and were seen as not at all liberating or practical.
Figure 3. 40 The fashion plate for March 1850 depicts dresses with long bodices and larger skirts. Tiered frills gave an even wider appearance to skirt silhouettes. Shoulder width was also increased with wide collars or frills. Long skirts just skim the floor and over a crinoline it was impossible to see the wearer’s shoes. © Costume Institute: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Woodman Thompson.
Figure 3. 41 Dress 1855–58 showing the wide, flounced skirt seen in the fashion plate. The added frills at the side of the ‘V’ shaped yoke at the front and back also enhance the impression of wider shoulders. © The Bowes Museum, County Durham, England.
Figure 3. 42 Roxy Anne Caplin corset 1851, a lightweight silk corset with a longer body and firm control around the hips. Bodices with a low ‘V’ at the front waist would fit smoothly over this corset. © Museum of London.
Figure 3. 43 Crinoline petticoat worn under the wide skirts. Mid-nineteenth century. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gift of Mrs Van S. Merle-Smith, 1941.
Figure 3. 44 The pattern diagram shows the increasingly complex pattern pieces needed to create the fashionable longer, tightly fitting bodices in the mid–end 1850s. Here three large curved darts control the fit of the front waist and a long, curved seam gives the fit at the back. © Author.