Just been doing some more research and I've found this image from the Kyoto Museum...

This is dated c.1760's and it's a funny shaped corset for that period. I'd expect that kind of shape to be more late 70's and 80's but what interests me is the quilted petticoat.

They're not draped over huge panniers but it does appear to be the later styled 'french' side boxes that could be hinged up to help the lady through doorways or into carriages. 

I'm only having a good old guess but it's a valuable image.

Quilted Petticoats Over Panniers?

I can't figure this out....

My assumption, based on a quote from Iris Brooke's book 'Dress and Undress' was that the quilted petticoat replaced hoops.

' Mrs Rook...is just come from France and is come without a hoop, and tells me that except in their high dress nobody wears one. Their sacs are made proportionally narrow and short, opened before with a petticoat and trimmed and with a stiff quilted petticoat under.' (p.83)

Meaning you either wore a quilted petticoat or you wore a hoop.

But my little world seems to be tumbling down and within the same book it seems.

One of my favourite drawings from her book is on p.82:

And until now I hadn't actually noticed that she seems to be wearing a quilted petticoat under her apparent apron. I don't know if you can see it from this scanned in image but there's definite etches of the repeated circular design associated with quilted petticoats. You can see it just as she lifts up her apron. 

But Iris doesn't often mention where she's sourced her information from and I don't just want to decide from a mere drawing that therefore they were worn over panniers.

So I did some hunting online but didn't come up with much.

Except I did find this image in the Manchester Art Gallery:

And I rang them and tried to find out about the outfit but the gentleman on the phone couldn't give me much info. He did say that the petticoat wasn't initially part of the outer dress ensemble and that they at the museum had put the two of them together and he did say that, as far as he was aware it was a normal quilted petticoat, one not cut differently or made with longer sides to accomodate the panniers. I asked him what made them put the two together but he didn't know the answer to that and said he couldn't give me anymore infomation as the outfit was on display and therefore not at liberty to be looked at.

'Pity' I said.

And that is that; at this precise moment.

If anyone out there has any other images or infomation, oh I'd be oh-so-grateful if you got in touch.

hand made stays, fully boned.

After some frustrating feelings that I wasn't quite hitting the spot with my research, I decided that what I REALLY wanted to do was to try and replicate a pair of stays properly, hand stitching and everything.

Now, on my numerous trips to the wonderful Bath Fashion Museum Study Facilities, they had unearthed two pairs of stays for me to study. I'd measured them, done rough drawings and marvelled at the stiffness, the thickness and the weight of them and then had moved on. (They had pulled out a whole selection from the 1700's and I wanted to goggle at as much as I could!) So I decided to go back and have another look at them and see what others they might have.

(Image Courtesy of the Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council)

Look at them all! 

The really curly beige one at the top left and the darker brown pair with light ribbon were the original two that I had studied previously.

Here's my quick study the first time round of the Beige pair. BATMC 1.25,85

But this time round I had the whole 2 hours to just concentrate on them. I've included in this blog my sketches from the 'red silk pair' which had no number attached to it and a photo off them.

(Image courtesy of the Fashion Museum,  Bath and North East Somerset Council)

 But the real delight was BATMC 1.27.865. Which, in the first photo is the pair on the bottom right-hand side. They tick ALL the boxes: the lining is coming off in places so that one is able to view the techniques from inside, some of the ribbons had begun to be worn away so you are able to view the stitching techniques used to sew the pieces together and they are from the middle of the century. IT's hard to contain a 'WAHOO!' even after all these months (I did this trip back in july).

I am so excited about this. For the passed few months I've slowly been pattern cutting, doing samples and now, finally, starting on my first go at them.

(Image courtesy of the Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council)

These are just my sketches from that study. I've enclosed more photo's of the actual corset on the page designated it.

(Image courtesy of the Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council)

(Image courtesy of the Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council)

I haven't YET been able to find the exact right shade of linen, I'm working on a slightly lighter shade at the moment but it will do for now. And obviously it's a no-no to baleen (whalebone) so I'm using cane as none of my other researching has found a strong enough substitute on such a narrow size. You can get mock whalebone but the narrowest I've found at the moment is only 5mm and that's still starting to feel pretty flimsy, cane on the other hand, when made up, has felt more solid and similar to the stays in the museums than anything else.

Following are just photo's of my beginnings. Consider though, that each long stitching line took me about 30 minutes, by the time you cut the cane, place it in and sew the line up. It's very time consuming.

Also, before I embark on just uploading all my images here's a photo of a corset in the V&A, and just how similar it is, although not fully boned and from a later period, it just shows you how consistent the general look of this period remained. 

I was reminded of this one when I first saw the pair of stays I am now replicating.

My Work:

Well this me so far, but I'm hoping to be updating this as each section gets sewn and prepared...phew, that seems a long way away though.

Blue Dupion Corset.

My second sample and still not 100% happy with the boning. This was pattern cut for my brother's fiance and I'm really pleased with the subtle blue of the fabric. But, have decided that these are more 'fun' style corsets: I wanna go after the bigger fish....

I am sitting here, with the washing machine going hectic as it's reaching the final stages of it's cycle (an extra hot one to wash the linens properly), there are canvasses dripping and drying by the fire as they're being prepared for steaming, and me, trying to get my blog going on my laptop. It's like a weird melting pot of time periods. But I do feel like I'm slowly getting somewhere with all my research and sampling. I have two corsets half started/half finished on my work table upstairs and one that's already been posted up on Etsy. I have various types of boning coming out of my ears and, never mind all the various types of fabric and canvasses I've stacked around the place in my quest to try and get the weight right for a well made corset. OOOh but I do love all this. I was at the shop today, my other job, just tingling to get home and start working again.