Working class womans corset

England. c.1900-1903. A dove grey (known during the time as Putty) coutil corset made for a working class woman. This model of corset is utilitarian in construction and style. The coutil is sturdy and is sparsely decorated, this would have been a cheaply made corset which would have made it affordable to working class women. It would have given the wearer support and a contemporary figure appropriate to her station in life without the exaggerated extremes of the fashionable S-bend shape. The bust is corded for support and the waist is not as pinched as fashionable corsets were, this would have been appropriate and more comfortable for a working woman.
The corset is not lined and is boned with watchspring.
Measurements: Bust 29″, Waist 22″, Hips 27 1/2″, Busk length 12″.

Embroidered spoon busk corded hip corset

United Kingdom

C.1875. A white sateen spoon busk corset made by S&S. Creme silk floral embroidery decorates the busk and spoon busk of the corset which suggests that it may have been a wedding corset. Scalloped cotton lace trim decorates the edge of the flared, heart shaped bust line. The corset is lined in white jean and is boned with whalebone. The hips are corded for extra abdominal support and figure restraint. The corset bones do not run down the full length of the corset (except at the side and back) but end at the top of the corded panel. Chameleon along with the registration number (most of it illegible), are stamped inside the corset in black ink.
The bustline and hips are very flared on the corset which would give the wearer a pronounced hourglass shape. The corset is heavily starched and keeps it’s shape even when not mounted which suggests that it had gone through the “steam molding” process popular with some corset makers since the early 1870’s. Corsets which were steam molded were heavily starched and then put on heated metal forms to be steamed into shape. This helped the corset to keeps it’s shape longer. Measurements: Bust 35″, Waist 24″, Hips 32″, Busk length 11″.

Pink sateen corset

United States

c.1899-1900 corset made from pink sateen and lined in white cotton twill. This is a transitional style corset which shows the progression from the hourglass shape of the Victorian era to the S-bend of the Edwardian era. Corsets during this transitional stage, were often slightly shorter than earlier corsets had been, coming up to cup the bustline rather than over it.
The busk on this corset is straighter than earlier corsets. Bobbin lace trims the top and bottom of the corset in which light blue baby ribbon has been inserted. Matching strips of blue silk ribbon also decorate the bust.
The corset is boned with baleen or cane stays and the back lacing grommets are steel. A flap of pink sateen covers the busk at the front, this would have created a smoother line under a tight fitting bodice and prevent the busk studs and loops from damaging the clothing on top of it.
There are two blue marks stamped in purple ink inside. One, “34” and the other “BALL……” The second mark is probably the maker’s but it is worn off.
Measurements: Bust 26″, Waist 22″, Hips 28″, Busk length 12″.