I can answer for historic examples: Each corset is different and there are always exceptions. Generally most 18th cen stays and Victorian corsets have boning running to the edge of the corset and usually have many more bones than many other periods. In the late 1890s there were many variations of corsets hitting the market and the rules of how a corset should be made were changing rapidly. Some corsets of the late 1890s -1905ish have boning to the edges and some do not. As you get later into the mid to late Edwardians there is less boning and though it usually goes to the top edge it often does not go to the edge on the bottom.

When I am making corsets, I always prefer the boning to come to the edges on the top of the corset (or else you may get some fold-over) and almost always to the edge on the bottom. The snugness of the bones combined with good quality material choices make a sturdier and less wrinkled corset.

Hi Nancy, in my experience I make the bones to end about 5mm (3/16") from the binding. This means that they're close enough to the edge to minimise wrinkling or the edge folding over, and far enough away to make it fairly simple to attach binding and fit in a little flossing. I attach the binding and finish it at one edge (generally the edge where getting the shape right is most fiddly or important), insert the boning and double check the length, then bind the other edge.

This is one of the main reasons I collect the antique corsets, to not only study how they were made but to copy and adjust their pattern. Also I believe, though this should be confirmed, that you can legally use any pattern with a copyright as long as you alter it a minimum of 20%.

Hi Emma, it has been my understanding that the patterns themselves cannot be mass produced and sold, but that resizing and using the patterns to make corsets is not as much of a problem. The author has copyright over her own drawings or patterns, but not over the historical corsets themselves, which don't belong to her. (I once wanted to do some kind of project with drawings and patterns from Corsets and Crinolines and, when asking permission, the estate of Norah Waugh turned me down flat. This, however, was about the drawings themselves, not using them to make corsets.)

Meanwhile, museums are always anxious to retain copyright of my photographs of their wares, asking me to sign papers and assure them I'll use copyright statements when sharing them online, but they've never expressed any concern when I talk about reproducing the artifacts; in fact they get terribly excited that their work is being made useful in a modern context in this way.

Few people seem sure on this issue; some obviously use others' work and seem not to be worried about the possibility of legal action, some are absolutely the opposite. I think the fashion industry changes so fast that few people bother checking or taking issues further - next season everything will change anyway. For extra cover, however, make modifications or changes of some kind. I've been aware since my days in the bridal business that a dressmaker only has to change something minimally in order to make their new gown a legally different design; by making some sort of unique change of your own to a design you're not sure about copying, you can cover yourself nicely.

It's worth talking to someone qualified in intellectual property law in your country if this issue is a concern - we at FR can only pass on our own opinions, splashed with a little hearsay!