|
|
| The Wardrobe | Sewing Room | Contact |
|
|
|
|
| A corset is arguably the most important item of 16th century clothing. It can be integral to the bodice or it can be a separate item. It can be plain and utilitarian or it can be made of luxurious fabrics and embroidered. In all cases, it is the foundation on which the body is moulded to conform to the fashion of the day to a lesser or greater extent! |
| Reason for Making a New Corset |
|
I have owned my existing Red Dupion Silk Corset for the past 3 to 4 years. It took a long time to perfect this pattern and create a well fitting and comfortable corset. It is a gorgeous corset but it is now in dire need of repair . |
|
At the same time that I discovered that I needed to make a new corset (or at least repair the old one), Ninya Mikhaila asked if I would help out with testing patterns for her forthcoming book "The Tudor Tailor". One of the patterns was the Effigy Corset and I am also testing smock/shirt patterns, farthingale patterns (spanish and french) and a lettice cap. |
| Research and Design |
|
Most of the work has been done for me as the pattern is Ninya's. However, it is nice to document the corsets that are available to costume historians - however few they are. |
|
|
|
|
|
Red "Effigy"Style Corset |
Embroidered Corset |
|
|
French. |
Unknown. |
|
|
~
The first portrait is a French one, and is
uncannily like the Effigy corset in design. It laces at the front and has
the deep "U" shaped busk and the side tabs that are clearly integral to
the corset. The lady wears a very fetching dressing cape of a transparent
fabric with cutwork/reticella sections decorating it! ~ The second portrait at first glance looks as though the lady is fully dressed. However, as the lady is combing her hair, I do think she is in her "undergarments" albeit richly embroidered ones. Againwe can see the "U" shaped busk but I cannot see any tabs. ~ The third portrait is of Elizabeth Vernon, Countess of Southampton. She has a pink corset with a very elongated "V" shaped busk. Quite deep tabs are attached but it doesn't look as though they are integral to the corset or separately made and then attached. |
||
|
Elizabeth Vernon, Countess of Southampton. |
|||
|
Unknown Artist. Boughton House. |
|||
|
Besides the very few portraits there are two extant corsets. The first has been dated to 1598 and was worn by the Pfal Dorothea in Germany. It has a sort of "V" waist but is back laced, has "cups" for the breasts (it is an area that is unboned) and attached tabs. The other is the Effigy Corset of Elizabeth I - or at least it was worn by her effigy in 1603. |
|
|
|
|
|
1598 Pfal Dorothea Corset |
The Effigy Corset |
|
|
German |
Westminster Abbey |
|
|
|
Many thanks for the Images to:- |
|
|
|
|
|
