Because I didn’t like how my last Edwardian coutil corset turned out, I made another one. But this time, I used linen blend coutil fabric from Italy which is even more expensive than traditional corset coutil! 😉
Related: Edwardian Coutil Corset
I used historical correct sewing details: such as a corset hook on the front of the corset, cotton Valenciennes lace & silk ribbon trim and a single layer of fabric. I also completely re-drafted and readjusted my old Edwardian corset pattern. And even though it’s a heavily boned corset with a wide stainless steel corset busk, it turned out surprisingly comfortable! 😀
‘Comfort is first of all in the cult of the new corset-fitter and the impossibility of grace and beauty without ease is recognized.’ (The Indianapolis Journal, 1904)
Related: Edwardian Athletic Corsets For The Edwardian Sportswoman
Corset Shape
For this Edwardian corset, I wanted to create an extreme shape where the hips are as wide as the shoulders which was fashionable in the early Edwardian era. In the Edwardian era, this corset shape was known as straight-front corset but today it’s often called S-bend corset. The main inspirations for my corset were the corsets in this 1904 corset advertisement, this beautiful Edwardian photograph of actress Ethel Oliver in a pirate stage costume and the corset in this cute Edwardian photograph.
By the way, I describe this corset shape as “extreme” compared to modern standards. 😉 In 1902, the shape was considered less extreme than last year’s! 🤣
‘What has happened […] is that the shape has become less extreme. […] the garment touches the form, whereas in the models of last summer, which are not considered good style this season, the corset above the waist had the appearance of being too large for the form.’ (The St. Louis Republic, 1902)
Edwardian Corset Pattern
The pattern for my Edwardian straight-front corset is self-drafted based on antique Edwardian corsets. As I mentioned before, I completely redrafted and readjusted one of my Edwardian corset patterns.
I added a lot more width to the hips, also added more width to the bust and reduced the waist. Then I removed the gores of the originally gored corset pattern and turned it into a pattern where all seams run from top to bottom without gores. After that, I reshaped the seam lines based primarily on antique corset advertisements from the early Edwardian era.
I also cut the pattern into more pieces: Corsets that consist of more pieces take much longer to sew but are so much more comfortable and fit so much better. 😀 The final corset pattern consist of 7 pieces – so 14 pieces in total. The pattern is the same that I also used to make my Edwardian summer corset.
Related: Edwardian Summer Corset
Cotton Linen Blend Herringbone Fabric
For my Edwardian straight-front corset, I used an expensive cotton linen blend fabric from Italy. With its herringbone weave it looks like coutil fabric. But the fabric is lighter and has less stretch than today’s corset coutil. I think the fabric might be more like Edwardian coutil.
In ‘corsets always buy the lightest you can get. It will be the most comfortable.’ The best material for corsets ‘is fine, soft coutil, which is light and more durable than any other.’ (Talks Upon Practical Subjects, 1895)
‘To secure a fashionable figure this summer there must be no corset bulk; the corset must be light and yielding, fitting into the figure without the slightest ridge. It must be so light that in wear it seems a part of the form.’ (The St. Louis Republic, 1902)
Heavily Boned Corset
Unlike my lightly boned Edwardian summer corset, this Edwardian corset is heavily boned. I made the corset as foundation for my Edwardian silk ball gown that I’m currently sewing. And Edwardian special occasion corsets were usually much more rigid than everyday and sports corsets.
‘A corset should always be selected with a view to producing either certain results in the figure or adaptation to a peculiar style of gown.’ (The St. Louis Republic, 1902)
Related: Edwardian Unboned Sports Corset
I placed the corset boning similar to the corset on the left in this 1907 corset ad. I used a wide stainless steel corset busk at the front, metal boning at the V of the front, flexible synthetic whalebone boning at the sides and stronger synthetic whalebone boning at the back to reinforce the grommets. This makes the corset very stiff. And as usual, I can lace this heavily boned corset less tight than lightly boned corsets because of my rigid rib cage. 😉
Flat Felled Seams & Valenciennes Lace Trim
Edwardian corsets were usually made of a single layer of fabric and the pieces joined with lapped seams. I joined the pieces with flat felled seams. Flat felled seams look like lapped seams when finished but are a bit easier and quicker to sew.
Related: Lapped Seam, Flat Felled Seam & 32 Other Types of Historical Seams
And like my Edwardian summer corset, I trimmed the top of the corset with cotton Valenciennes lace trims and turquoise dyed silk ribbons.
Silk Corset Laces
In the Edwardian era, flat corset laces made of silk were considered the best. Even though flat silk corset laces were more expensive, they were worth the money. The next best option was flat cotton corset laces. And round corset laces should never be used, according to 1900s sources, because they’re uncomfortable.
Corset laces should be ‘made of silk. Silk is more expensive than cotton, it is true, but it wears well and is very comfortable.
The round cords that are substituted for silk ones in cheap corsets hurt the spine […] mark the lingerie, and produce a feeling of discomfort. The flat cotton laces are better, but the flat silk ones are the best. […]
They can be pulled in much more easily than cotton ones, and retain their place when tied in a bow. Furthermore they “give” with every movement of the figure, and add, therefore, to the grace of the wearer as well as to her comfort’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2).
Here are some antique Edwardian corsets with original silk corset laces: 1900s silk jacquard corset with matching white silk corset laces at the McCord Stewart museum, late Edwardian cream silk corset with original purple silk corset laces at the V&A museum, 1900s silk corset with silk corset laces at the MET museum and a 1903 silk wedding corset with silk laces at the Phila museum.
‘Even in coutille corsets I advise a silk lacing, for if you are inclined to perspire, cotton or linen ones get stiff and uncomfortable, and although the silk ones may seem a little more expensive they are so much more comfortable, so much easier to pull or tie, that you will feel the money well spent.’ (The Ladies’ Home Journal, 1891)
I used silk corset lacing – sturdy silk ribbon – for my Edwardian silk corset and it’s really great! 😀
Related: Edwardian Silk Corset
However, I didn’t have any suitable silk laces in my stash at the moment: So I used natural fiber faux silk corset lacing instead (sturdy viscose/ rayon ribbon). It’s not as strong as real silk corset lacing but it’s still easier to pull tight and tie than cotton corset lacing.
Corset Hook
Most Edwardian straight-front corsets had a metal hook or dagger at the center front of the corset. This hook was essential for fashionable Edwardian women to keep the dip waist skirts down! For my Edwardian corset, I bent a large metal hook into a shape similar to antique corset hooks. Here’s a 1905 corset with a corset hook at the MET museum, another Edwardian corset with a hook at the front, an Edwardian corset with a dagger, an 1890s corset with 3 hooks and a 1908 corset with an eyelet shaped corset hook at the MET museum.
‘A good many women have trouble in preventing their skirt from sagging at the waist band in the back. A flat corset hook should be sewed on one side of the middle front of the corset one inch below the waist, and if chemise are worn for corset covers work an eyelet hole in the chemise and slip the corset hook […]
All petticoats and separate drop skirts should be cut down in the middle of the front so they will slip under the hook and lie smoothly. […] If the skirt fits perfectly about the waist this slipping under the corset hook will keep it in place, up in the back and down on the front.’ (San Francisco Call, 1908)
Garters
Edwardian straight-front aka S-bend corsets usually had garters at the front and at the hips to keep the corset down in the front creating the fashionable Edwardian S-bend shape.
‘The hose supporters attached to corsets mean much to a woman’s figure, too. It would seem that their sole purpose is to hold up the hose, when, in reality, they are most needed to hold the corset down, in order to avoid the formation of a ridge at the lower edge.’ (Corsets And Close-Fitting Patterns, 1915)
In the Edwardian era, garters could be separate and attached to the corset with safety pins, or they could be sewn to the corset. I often make removable garters for my Edwardian corsets. But on this Edwardian corset, I sewed the garters to the front and sides. I used wide Edwardian-style elastic garters.
Padding
Even though I have wide hips, they’re never big enough for the fashionable early Edwardian shape. 😉 So I wear a hip pad under my Edwardian corset. Over the years, I made various types and forms of Edwardian hip pads: stuffed with fabric scraps, quilted, stuffed with polyester stuffing, padded with cotton batting and ruffled. But none of these Edwardian hip pads were big enough to create the extreme wide hips that were fashionable in the early Edwardian. But now I made an Edwardian hip pad that combines padding with cotton batting, quilting and with ruffles on top – and this is finally big enough to create the wide hips and big butt of the early Edwardian era.
Edwardian corsetieres ‘endeavor to follow as closely as possible the lines of the natural figure. There is nothing of the principles that corset makers and fitters once went upon, that women of all figures should be thrust into corsets of one shape. Instead, the needs of each figure are considered and where it wants a little assisting it is assisted. […]
After the corset is fitted properly it is padded, if necessary, until it gives the wearer the lines that she should have were her figure without deficiencies. All the pads used by the expert corsetiere are placed within the corset so that they are unperceived when the wearer has donned her outer garments’ (The Indianapolis Journal, 1904).
A Well-Fitting Corset For Graceful Lines Of Clothing
As mentioned before, I made this Edwardian straight-front corset to wear under my Edwardian silk ball gown. In the Edwardian era, a well-fitting corset adjusted to the figure of the wearer was considered essential for graceful lines of clothing.
‘The first-class tailor […] refuses to guarantee a perfect-fitting bodice, or even a well-hanging skirt, for the woman who wears a “store corset.”‘ (Table Talk, 1896).
‘Many ladies complain that a corset “hurts” […] If it were adapted to their figures it would not hurt. A corset should be fitted just as much as a shoe, and both can inflict an immense amount of suffering if they are not adapted to the shape.’ (Beauty – Its Attainment And Preservation, 1892)
Related: Tight Lacing In The Victorian & Edwardian Era
‘The New “Long Hip” insures that greatly prized dip effect to the figure and imparts graceful lines and curves to the hips. It improves the fit and set of skirt and gown in wonderful degree.’ (W. B. Erect Form Corset, 1902)
‘This long hip “Erect Form” is the very latest corset! The extra pieces at the side cover and fit the hip with perfect smoothness, rounding off the lines into exquisite curves. In no other makes of corsets will you find this very latest Paris model. The new tight skirts demand that you wear it.’ (W. B. Erect Form Corset, 1902)
Small Waist Vs. Straight-Front Corset
And a final word about waist measurements and Edwardian straight-front corsets. I found an interesting primary source from the Edwardian era that says it was obviously normal that you could lace Edwardian straight-front corsets less tight than other types of corset, such as Victorian corsets. 😊
‘Tight lacing and small waists are so completely out of fashion that the woman who measures less than 24 or 25 inches round her waist looks odd. […]
The straight front corset makes it almost impossible for women to have the small waists of yore. The girl whose waist under the old regime might have been 19 inches, now measures 23 or 24, and so on in proportion.’ (The Saint Paul Globe, 1904)
However, the main purpose of Edwardian straight-front corsets was not to create a small waist but rather to create a straight line in the front from the bust to the knee.
‘No fashionable woman need tight lace; she is required to present an unbroken line from the decolletage to the knee, and this prevents any undue drawing in of the waist line.’ (The Queen, 1901)
Good evening.
The corsets you sew are wonderful ! Congratulations !
Perhaps this book could be useful (about corset, published in 1912) ? I’ve just found it this afternoon : “Cours complet d’enseignement professionnel de la coupe” (french) : https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k134875s
Regards,
Gilles
Thank you!