Part 1 of this series ~ Part 3 of this series
After the October issue, in which the article Thomson's 1898 Glove Fitting Corset about Patent 611,116 issued to T.S. Gilbert was published, David in the UK wrote to me asking:
"Are you certain that this patent is for a Thomson Glove-fitting Corset? It says that its an improvement on the Thomson glove-fitting corset, but it isn't assigned to Langedoc & Batcheller"
This led me to look more closely at the patent and realize that he was right! Although it was an improvement on the Thomson glove-fitting corset, it wasn't explicitly a patent for it. (T.S. Gilbert may have sold them a license to use it for a particular amount of time however, see advertisement at right).
So I did a little (ok, a lot) more research into T.S Gilbert, the owner of patent 611,116.
I'll share what I found about him, along with my method of patterning this corset, and next month I'll show you the finished piece.
Who was T.S Gilbert?
Thomas S. Gilbert was 58 years old when he described his occupation as "Corset Manufacturer" on the 1880 US Census. He was born in Derby, Connecticut in 1822 and served in the U.S. Civil War. In 1880 he was living in New Haven, Connecticut with his wife, Mary, and his son and daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons.
In New Haven's City Directory 1899 city directory, he describes his occupation as "Corset Designer" and is listed as living at 336 George St. He is not listed in the 1900 census, so he must have died in late 1899/early 1900. Patent 611,116, issued in September 1898, appears to have been his last patent issued.
His Connection to The Gilbert Corset Co.
The only direct link between Thomas Gilbert and The Gilbert Corset Company appears to be the assignment of his two 1895 patents to them. I presume that Thomas S. Gilbert was the owner of The Gilbert Corset Company, but have found no evidence of this. The Gilbert Corset Company was incorporated it 1894 in Massachusetts, and in 1895 their factory in Springfield, Massachussetts listed "5 female and 5 male" employees as working in good conditions.
The few advertisements that I've found for them are from the period 1902-1908. The Gilbert Corset Company appears to have been a bespoke corset company that sold directly through a catalog or through lady agents in towns throughout the United States.
| Good Housekeeping, June 1902 | Delineator, Oct 1902 | |
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The Gilbert Crest Corset Insures the straight front effect, the flat abdomen, the gracefully rounded hips - in a word that charm of figure which every woman desires. The upper section overlaps the under section, giving double bones and so double strength were most needed. When the body is bent in any direction, these sections give slightly on each other, which prevents the corset breaking at the waistline. All bones and steels absolutely rust proof. Our New Catalogue is the most helpful, at the same time the most beautiful Corset Catalogue ever issued. Write for it - No Charge. We Want as Agent - An active woman in every town and city in the U.S. Liberal commissions and exclusive territory given. We assist our agents in every possible way. Write for particulars. Gilbert MFG. Company, 70 Centre St., New Haven, Conn. |
Other Corset Patents by Thomas S. Gilbert
Thomas S. Gilbert was a prolific inventor. His first patent was issued in 1866 for an Improvement in Hoop-skirts and his first corset patent is in 1870. He also patented lots of improvements to corsets and corset manufacturing machinery.
In my survey of his corset patents, there is a definite horizontal style to his designs. You can see in his 1880's patents some of the themes that he would use in his last patent, 611,116 issued in 1898.
611,116 -Health Corset?
In the late 1890's women became more active in sports, especially bicycling, health corsets finally came into fashion. Health corsets were designed to not deform the thorax, but to shift the pressure of the corset off of the waist directly and down further on the hips to support the internal organs. The doctors of the time were particularly concerned about a badly fitted corset deforming a woman's rib cage (also known as the thorax) and harming the internal organs by being pushed out of place.
It is unknown whether Thomas Gilbert intended this design to be a "health corset", although it certainly looks like it is designed to be with the straight front, sloping waistline and the hip gussets.
These two diagrams from Le Corset (1908), show the different pressures put on the body by the "old" style waspie waist corsets (on the left) and the new style corsets (on the right).
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| Le Corset, 1908 p.299 The old style corset | Le Corset, 1908 p.301 The new style corset |
Measurements Needed
I found it helpful to tie a ribbon around my waist and underbust before taking these measurements.
| 1- Waist | |
| 1a - Front Waist | The front waist will be compressed more than the back, so both measures are necessary |
| 1b - Back Waist | |
| 2- Bust | |
| 3- Underbust | |
| 4 -Side Bust to Side bust | From the root of the breast on one side, across the nipples to the other side. If you wear underwire bras, measure from one underwire to the other. |
| 5 - Nipple to Nipple | If your nipples aren't in the center of your bust, measure from center to center. |
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6 - Full Hip |
The full hip should equal the front hip plus the back hip |
| 6.a Front Hip | |
| 6.b Back Hip | |
| 7 - Center Front | I used busk length, plus 1 inches (5 cm) (Doesn't include seam allowance) |
| 8 - Center Back | |
| 9 - Side length, from armpit to waist | This is the depth of the corset under the arm, don't make it too short! You can always cut it down later. |
| 10 - Waist to Under bust | |
| 11 - Waist to bottom rib in front, right under nipple | |
| 12 - Top of hip to bottom edge on side | This will be the depth of the hip "bucket" gores |
| 13 - Waist to bottom edge in back | |
| 14 - Waist to bottom edge in front | |
| 15 - Waist to bottom edge on side |
Drafting the Back
Note: These drafts are based on my measurements. As I am very short waisted in the back, less than 1/2 inch space between my back ribs and my hip bones, these drafts reflect that. Your pattern will most likely look very different from mine.
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1. Draw the Center Back line, length of Center back
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2. Measure up from the bottom and mark the Waist using measure "Waist to bottom edge at back" |
3. Calculate Back Waist - 1" reduction /2 Measure out from waist and mark the new Back Waist measure. |
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4. Calculate Back Hip measure/2 Measure out from Center Back line this amount |
5. Measure up from Waist line, measure Side length, from armpit to waist |
6. Calculate (Bust - Side bust to side bust ) / 2 Measure this amount from top of Center back line, Connect end of line with Waist line. |
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7. Connect Waist line with Hip line. Draw new top line, connecting Center Back line with side line. |
8. Measure down Waist to Hip line, the Top of Hip to bottom edge, you may need to increase line | 9. Add back gap and width of lacing strip to diagram (blue is gap and green is area left for lacing strip) |
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10. Measure in from lacing strip 3/4 inch, and mark with dot. Draw smooth curve from dot, to top of hip mark. Continue down line, and back to dot. |
11. Measure up from Waist and mark the Underbust line. | 12. Measure in 1 inch from lacing strip, curve line to side. |
Drafting the Front
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1. Draw Center Front Line
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2. Measure up from bottom of line, measure "Waist to bottom edge - front. Mark Waist and Hip on Center Front Line. |
3. Calculate (Front Waist - 2 inch reduction)/2 Measure out from Waist mark this amount |
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4. Calculate Front Hip/2 Measure out from Center Front line this amount. |
5. Calculate Underbust/ 4 Measure out from top of Center Front line this amount. |
6. Measure in 1" from Center front line, for Busk allowance. This is new Center front line |
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7. Measure up from waist line on new Center Front line the measurement Waist to bottom rib under nipple. Mark. |
8. Draw curving line to side |
9. Calculate Nipple to Nipple/ 2 Measure in from old Center Front Line. |
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10. On new Center Front line, Measure up from Waist line, and mark the measure Waist to Under bust. Draw dotted line between the Underbust mark and the Nipple mark, and extend it 1 inch (2.5 cm beyond top line) |
11. Calculate Side bust to side bust - Reduction Take the reduced bust and subtract the Underbust. The result is how much your bust increases from the underbust, after the reduction. Divide by 2 to get the individual amount for each breast Measure along the Underbust to Nipple line and mark the center. |
12. Take the individual bust increase amount, calculated in 11. 1/3 of of will be applied to the front breast piece, and 2/3 to the side breast piece. From the center point, measure out 1/3 of the increase. Mark with a dot, and connect with a line to the ends of the underbust to nipple line. Bring line back to center front line, and down to underbust (shown in blue) This is now the front bust piece. |
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| 13. From the center point, measure out 2/3 of the increase. Mark with a dot, and connect with a line to the ends of the underbust to nipple line. Bring line back to side front line and follow curve to center front line (shown in orange)
This is now the side bust piece. |
14. Connect side of bust gore, to waist and hip line. |
15. Measure down from waist, Waist to bottom edge - on side. Mark with a dot. Measure in 2 inches (5cm) from new center front and mark with a dot.
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| 16. Draw a smooth curve from hip line dot, up to waist line, down to bottom dot and back again. This is the front hip bucket. |
Tracing the Pattern and Truing the Seams
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If you look at the pattern pieces of the patent, you'll see that there is no side seam. The next step is to join the back pattern pieces to the front pattern pieces. |
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| 1. Take tissue paper and trace around the back pattern piece, then match side seam line on front piece |  |
| 2. Trace the front lines |  |
| 3. Repeat for Hip gussets |  |
| 4. Even out any dips at the top of the hip gusset, and any points at the bottom. (shown here in orange pen) |  |
| 5. Trace the back body section, line up the side seam and finish tracing the front. |  |
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6. "Walk" the seam lines of the pieces along each other to make sure that they match. If any are too short or too long, adjust as needed. Add seam allowances to the pieces. I added 1/4 inch to the internal seam edges, and 1/2 inch to the top and bottom edges to allow enough for the binding. |
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7. A sneak peek at next month, the finished pattern pieces, ready for cutting
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The Toile
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The toile sewn with just two bones on each front and on the lacing strip. You can see that I should have added bones to the sides (it would have fixed the buckling at the sides) and remembered to add seam allowance to the top to the busk piece. Next time I'll have someone help me lace up, but otherwise, I'm really happy with how it fits. |
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| Toile, front | Toile, back. |
Sherryt