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© 1872 evening gown by Luca and his students at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome

Secrets of the Victorian Corsetmakers LUCA COSTIGLIOLO ~ SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL DRESS ~ LONDON, UK

Luca discovered as a child that people in the 19th century really did look like

the paintings of the time. Tailors and dressmakers transformed the body

into the fashionable silhouette with padding and corsetry.

, ie original antique

garments, so that he can understand how the corset really worked. Each

time he takes some technique from a real antique garment and uses it, he

feels that the quality of his work improves. The historical technique always

ends up being easier and more effective, because back in the day they


found the best technique to get the result they wanted. Makers always had

to find quick and easy ways that just worked without struggle, because

sewing has always been so underpaid.

razy that some modern makers are snobbish about the

relevance of historical corsets to our modern corsets, because this was a

moment in history when all the women of the Western world were wearing

corsets, whatever age or status. The corset was the bra of the time think

of how sophisticated bra technology has become in the present day, due

to sheer demand and competition between brands! Such high technology

and that s exactly as it was in the 19th century with corsets. There was so

much innovation throughout the 19th century patents show scores of

continual improvements to every aspect of the corset because there was

so much competition among makers, and such demand for improvement

and innovation. It seems obvious that surely there is something to learn

from a period when everyone was wearing them.

Some construction techniques were fairly universal, and others were

personal - hundred and thousands of private makers all had their own

methods and secrets and techniques, just as we modern makers do today

in fact, Luca is always on the lookout not just for machine made, mass

produced corsets likethe Symington collection, but original corsets made

by bespoke makers.

We should all look more closely at historical corsets and learn from them,

because most corsets today are obviously based on the late Victorian

corset. Even the most unlikely fetish PVC corset clearly takes its ultimate

inspiration from that part of history.

bod different entity from the Victorian

body shape is nonsense in L in the 19th century

corsets for all shapes and sizes were available long waisted, short


waisted, stout figures, petite figures, etc, etc. One pattern may not fit

you, but another might, and this has been shown by makers in the

Foundations Revealed community, who have made up original Symington

company patterns (now available online) and sometimes found that they fit

like a glove with minimal or no alteration. You just need to make similar

adj for any pattern to fit a particular body, just

like adjusting a modern pattern if you are short waisted, say. ot like

the human ribcage has changed. The way the joints of the body are

arranged has been the same for over 2000 years; to look at an Ancient

Greek or Roman statue is to see the shape of a modern athlete!


© 1872 corset by Luca Costigliolo

This corset is three dimensional even when it sits on a table. It s like a

sculpture, moulded on the body. The corset has to fit the body and be

comfortable, but it has to be the right silhouette for the period if a

historical silhouette is the aim.

Details of his c usually do today:

• The diagonal bones at the centre back top are there so that the back

of the corset does not sit away from the body when the wearer sits

down.

• It is made of two surprisingly lightweight layers, no fusing, just cotton

sateen and one layer of thick duchesse satin, and synthetic

whalebone.


• The curvy tummy is a feature in the 19th century. The curve is made

by manually bending the busk into a curve. The fashionable tummy

only becomes flat in 1899/1900 which is considerably less

comfortable to wear! But the Victorian c

you built into the patterns

busk into a curvy shape.

• Flossing has two practical functions keeping the fabric taut from

(the

bone is pushed firmly into the channel and the flossing is tightly sewn

to keep that tension on the bone). Flossing also protects the ends of

the bones from poking through the fabric on a corset made of lighter

fabrics.

• Most techniques being used and experimented with today have their

origin in the 19th c internal boning channels, external boning



© 1862 evening gown by Luca and his students

at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome

1862 corset and gown

This outfit demonstrates that even a modern body can be turned into the

fashionable shape of the time the padding and corset work together to

create the shape. As stated before, the body is transformed into the

fashionable silhouette by the tailor or dressmaker.

This is a principle that has been forgotten in our era. Everyone can wear

what they want now; the 1980s was the last time that there was an artificial

fashionable shape, and the clothes turned you into that shape. Shoulder

pads were everywhere, and high waisted trousers with deep pleats made

even men ps round. Jackets had big shoulders and short sleeves but


this that when our descendants look at the clothes in 100

years that they should assume that everyone in the 80s had huge shoulders

and short arms! The clothes were creating the shape

historical clothes from further back. Victorian clothes were not for tiny

people, as is often assumed the clothes were much tighter fitting than

ours, like a second skin. They just look small to us because almost nothing

we wear today is so tight. Think of skinny jeans they look so tiny off the

body,

The padding in this gown is at the top and side of the bust, quite thick, but

there is none at the hips because the model is wearing a huge 1860s

crinoline. The padding is there in 80% of extant 1860s bodices Luca has

seen. He used padding the same as it was used in

the model gets the same result, looking like a fashion plate of the era!

Luca has made this skirt with pockets all skirts had pockets every dress

he has seen from the past had them, contrary to popular belief!

The crinoline has a very thin cotton tape as a waistband because a small

waist was so important to the Victorians. There must be no bulk there.



The 1862 corset

• The whole front panel of 1860s corset is cut on the bias, but

the backing for the busk is cut on the straight.

• I a one layer corset of coutil.

• The hip piece is also on the straight. It wrinkles a bit in this area, but

because the bones stop at the waist. The crinoline goes over it,

so this is not an issue.


• The large front panel has slashes for large bust gussets that cup the

breasts. A common mistake is to make the gussets too small

(perhaps because everyone is l , not at

the real thing ?)

• A drawstring at the top edge pulls it in slightly so that it fits snugly.

The myth of the strong corset

Yes, you can make a corset strong, but Luca wants to dispel the myth that

a corset has got to be as strong as possible

ot to be a nice shape, and stitched in a strong manner,

have to be strong and hard an

technique, whereas the range of corsets is so great. Lots of people are

starting to work with bobbinet but they still get hung up on the idea that a

corset has to be strong. There are no hard and fast rules - do what works

for you - but if the pattern fits well, have to be armour! It can still

give support and a great shape

Modern corsets and historical corsets

There are many techniques in Victorian corsets that make sense to use now

in modern corsets to make them work better and make them easier to

make. Modern fashion designers look to the history of fashion as a

sourcebook of technical ideas on cut and construction why not us?

Modern and historical are not two separate areas of corsetmaking;

continuum. One is an extension of the other.


How long should an everyday corset last?

Although he did wear some two layer corsets, Luca tended to wear one

layer corsets

The one layer corsets were always his favourites, especially when working

at the Globe Theatre for 48 hours straight! Lightness is a thing in Victorian

corsets because it s more comfortable to wear.

How long they should last depends on what they are made of and how

they are stitched. A one layer corset of coutil with external boning channels

lasts very well. lso depends what you wear on

top, eg wear of the way the

jeans rub against the corset. He had some summer corsets of bobbinet that

lasted one season only.

If wearing them every day, you really must have multiple corsets.

Like shoes, you must alternate them, and then they last much longer. From

a historical clothes perspective, a corset cover worn on top of a corset

under other clothes helps a lot to preserve the corset. This is why they

wore them, and a chemise underneath to absorb sweat, which would

weaken the corset if it was worn next to the skin.

How do you clean a corset? Or should you?

wash his corsets - this is why t to wear a chemise

and corset cover the latter is not compulsory, but it helps.

External boning channels can get grubby, and can be cleaned with a pencil

eraser. grandmother advised using the soft white part of a loaf of

bread, compacting it into an eraser and using that. Spirit on a cotton bud

can be useful for stains, but you

advised, very damaging. Spraying with vodka is good for odours, but not

usually required when wearing a chemise.


for 1950s girdles worn on the

skin, a water and vodka solution can help remove odours. But if

a really dirty silk corset, in trouble, this may be the end of its life!

How was the bend shape achieved in 1900-

1908?

Was it the corset that forced the body into the famous tipped-forward

shape? Not really contemporary books and magazines of the period

advise fashionable women how to stand, indicating that it was more about

adopting the posture than the corset; the corset can only do so much.

They used boned bust improvers to create bulk at the chest, and a little

padding on the back of the hips to enhance the bottom. These helped

create the shape too, so it was not so much the corset forcing it. Hundreds

of articles in contemporary magazines instruct women to pull their

shoulders back and push the bust and bottom out. It was a clear indicator

of how fashionable women should

Not everyone wore S-bend corsets, some stayed in their older garments,

but the silhouette was an optical illusion, even in this period. Luca can still

do it all with pads today in his film and TV work!


© Sliver Thistle by Royal Black

Adjusting your corset patterns BARBARA PESENDORFER ~ ROYAL BLACK COUTURE & CORSETRY ~ VIENNA, AUSTRIA

the mock-up of their cor


Instead of cutting the mock-

measurements, why not look closely at your body and the pattern and

make some adjustments to the pattern first? Working on the pattern

before you mock it up is more intuitive than you might think, and it may do

a lot of the heavy lifting for you, so that the mock up becomes much easier

Look at the body shape and proportions first of all.

• Bust: cup size, volume and distance between breasts?

• Waist and torso: hourglass/athletic/fuller figured?

• Hip shape: flat, curved, is the volume on the back or at the sides?

• Look closely and take notes

Measure the front and back of the body separately a woman with small

breasts and a large back could have the same overall bust measurement as

a small framed woman with large breasts, and you need to notice those

proportions, not just the overall measurement. Compare the back and front

measurements to the measurements of the pattern pieces

to see where you can already make some adjustments to make the pattern

better match the shape of the body.


© Royal Black push up effect

Bust adjustments

• Y

Barbara often uses three panels over the bust area for even a

standard size figure.)

•

be done by shifting the bust point and the swell of the bust upwards

a little try 1.5cm - and perhaps also opening the pieces a little wider

.

• Correspondingly, a large bust can be shifted downwards a little by

moving the curve of the bust down a little at each panel edge.


© Royal Black adjusting the waist for an athletic figure

Waist adjustments

• much, so you may need to

adjust the lines at the waist outwards, to give a larger waist with less

but the back panels also might be a good place to add a little at the

waist, because a too-tight corset can pinch the nerves there.

• For a fuller figure you may be able to do the opposite and take the

waist area in. The fuller the figure, generally speaking, the greater

.)

• If you or your client is new to wearing corsets, you might want to

stick with a standard shape at the waist. These adjustments are more

for an experienced wearer of corsets who can draw from their past

experience to know what they need in more detail than a new

wearer.


© Royal Black adjusting for fuller hips

Hip adjustments

• You can reduce or expand the panels at the hips according to your

• You can also pad the hips to fit the corset if the wearer wants a more

pronounced hip curve than s/he has naturally, eg for the drag queens

whom Barbara sometimes works for.

• A spoon busk can be useful for round bellies.

•

little to accommodate the extra movement of flesh.


© Royal Black adjusting for protruding ribs

Protruding ribs

• Some people find that a corset digs into their ribs at the front you

can increase the size of the panels in this area to give the wearer a

little more room. Some people prefer this look from a design

perspective.


© Royal Black slashing the pattern and spreading apart for a longer underbust-to-waist measurement

Vertical adjustments

• Find the underbust line and the waist line on the pattern, and notice

the distance between those two lines. Compare that to your own

underbust to waist measurement (measure at your side). If the

measurements differ, you can cut the paper pattern horizontally

between the two lines and either spread the two halves apart or

overlap them to match your measurement, then smooth out the lines

at the sides of the panels.

• Watch out for the length of the corset at the front sit in a chair in

.


© Royal Black adjusting for a sway back (lordosis)

Sway back

• The centre back of a corset pattern is traditionally a straight, vertical

line, but this rule can be broken for a sway back. You can either take

a horizontal dart out of the centre back panel at the waist, as some

makers do, or just give more room at the top back and side back at

the same time as curving the back edge, so that the back of the

corset curves in a way that matches the exaggerated curve of the

back.

In all cases, use your intuition

the curves look neat and even?


© Royal Black mock ups of various designs

Making creative patterns out of a well fitting basic pattern

draw new

• the shape of the top and bottom edge,

• the degree of plunge at centre front (you may need to curve the

centre front panel inwards to prevent gape)

•


© Corset & Jewellery by Vanyanis ~ Makeup by Kim Clay Artistry

Photo by WeNeals Photography and Retouching

Working with fabric layers ~ MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Luca may prefer to wear his one layer corsets, but modern makers like

light or slippery fabric that would never normally be suitable for a corset.

So she uses that fashion layer, interfaces it, and backs it with a layer of

coutil to make it work.

How Lowana works with two layers:

https://www.facebook.com/kimclaymua/

https://www.facebook.com/weneals/


• Essentially, she stabilises the fashion layer with interfacing, layers the

coutil panels under the corresponding fashion fabric panels, and

treats the two layers as one when sewing them together into a

corset.

• She doesn't usually fuse the two layers together unless it's a really

slippery fashion fabric.

• tried making the whole coutil layer, adding boning channels

and then layering a whole floating fashion layer over separately, but

it wrinkled and pulled. Once she started matching the layers together

as individual panels, treating them as one and then sewing them

together, it got a lot easier.

• The only time it does work to make the whole coutil layer of the

corset and the whole fashion layer and then sandwich them together

is with stretch fabrics.

Preparing the fabric

• Prepare the fashion fabric and fuse *before* cutting

• Look for a slightly stretchy, fabric-like knitted interfacing, not the

papery stuff

•

trying to make any fabric behave as beautifully as silk duchesse

• She likes to use a fashion fabric with a reasonable weight/hand like

Thai silk.

• Don't cut the fabric, cut the interfacing and then fuse the pieces

together, they will stretch and pull out of shape. Fuse the whole

piece of fabric to the whole piece of interfacing, and then cut your

pieces.


© Vanyanis bridal corset, close-up

Roll pinning demo

• Lowana like to press her seam allowances one way or the other, not

lan for which way all the seam

toward centre front or

centre back? Lowana likes them to point to centre front because

• Draw in seam allowances with chalk pencil, 1cm at one side and 2cm

at the other side of each piece, and pin the layers together. The 2cm

seam allowance should be at the side of the panel that will eventually

have its seam allowance folded back, and the 1cm seam allowance at

the side that will sit flat when the seam allowances are pressed flat.


© Lowana O Shea s method of planning seam allowances for roll pinning,

with boning channels beside (not on) each seam

• Sew a boning channel directly down the centre between the marked

seam allowances to hold the layers there before sewing any seams

( starting in the center of the

fabric and working outwards). The difference in the seam allowances

ensures that the centre boning channels are evenly spaced even

channels go *next* to the seams, not on top

of them (see sketch above).

•

baste down the centre with silk thread.

• On rap the edges

around a ruler and pin, then stitch in place in the seam allowance.

fashion fabric ends up about 2mm smaller than

the coutil at the edge.

• Sew the seams as normal.

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