After reproducing the 1913 E. F. Hume corset patent in my last article, I set out to make a matching bust cover that would be suitable for wearing with eveningwear of the era.

The brassiere first evolved from the bust cover (a garment worn to smooth the visible line of the corset when worn under clothing). As corsets became lower and lower cut, the bust cover took the role of a supportive garment (often padded for the less endowed) eventually becoming what we know of today as the 'Bra'.

 

Research  

1. Bust improver. ca. 1910 V&A

2. Strapless Bust cover which was altered to have straps and a cross over back at the request of customer

3. 1912-1913 brassiere from the Met Museum

 

Creating the Pattern

I decided to drape the pattern on my form using tapes to plan out the placement of the boning channels and decoration. Once I had decided, I draped muslin and marked all of the tapes, seams, and intersections. Transferring the marks onto paper, I trued-up the pattern.

 

The finished pattern was now ready for mock-ups and fitting.

 

Mock-up & Fitting

The mock-up was made from one layer of heavy painters canvas, elastic and zip-ties zigzagged on as boning. To determine how much support was needed, on one side I used horizontal and vertical bones, and on the other, vertical only.

In my research almost all of the bust covers (1900-1910) I have seen were worn over the corset, for the reason of “smoothing” the corset line. In contrast to this, almost all brassieres (1920’s) and later bras seem to be worn exclusively under the corset, or were attached together. In both cases it was significantly harder to find strapless examples, but they seamed to follow the same 'pre-1910 over' vs. 'post-1920 under' rule, with the middle being a bit of a free-for-all.

For the purpose of fitting my mock-up I decided to try it on both ways, compare, and see which I liked better. It fit surprisingly well both ways, although the over fit was a bit tighter.

 

 

Construction

The final product is made from lace, mesh, polyester ribbon, prussian tape, two kinds of elastic, hook and eye tape, and artificial (plastic) whalebone. Additional decoration is insertion lace and a satin bow.

I started by cutting the different pieces out of the lace. Because the pattern wasn’t mirrored, I just eyeballed what motifs seamed to match the best. After cutting the same pieces out of mesh, I basted the two together.

After seaming the pieces together, I stitched prussian tape over the seams and trimmed off the excess. Using my pattern as a guide, I stitched first the vertical, then the horizontal bone tapes in place, being careful not to stitch through the intersections. Measuring and cutting the bones, I slipped them into the appropriate channels and closed the ends.

   

I had trouble finding red ribbon I liked, and in the end came up with what I can only assume was tape made for labels. I made small tucks in the ribbon to hide the white part.

Stitching on the sections of decorative ribbon, I started with the horizontal, again being careful not to stitch over the intersections. When stitching on the vertical, I sewed through all layers. This only works if you used some kind of sew-through boning.

The section of wide elastic (and raw edge of the lace) were sandwiched between the prussian tape and the ribbon.

   

To finish the top and bottom edges, I stitched on 1/4” (6mm) satin elastic. I stitched the elastic first from the top (over the seam allowance) then flipping it to the inside encased the raw edge. The final step was adding the ribbon on top.

For the center front closure, I decided to use pre-made hook and eye tape. On the eye side I stitched (strong back-stitch) the tape over the seam allowance, then flipped it around to the back and machine-stitched along the ribbon edge from the top. Finally, I slipped in a bone, and hand-stitched the ends of the tape closed. The only difference when sewing the hook side was that I hand-stitched both sides of the tape, because the hooks didn’t allow me to stitch from the topside and I wanted the stitching completely hidden along the ribbon edge.

The lace decoration was made by folding some insertion lace, gathering along the bottom and then whip-stitching it onto the top. I folded the lace unevenly so the looped edges of the lace would be graduated. The bow was purchased pre-made and hand stitched onto the front of one side.

 

Final Product

      

Photo Credits:

Photographer : Mark Velasquez Photography
Model: Rivi Madison
Corset + Bra : Anachronism In Action
Stylist: Lola Agnosia

 

I am much happier with the under-fit of the brassiere. The over-fit is much tighter, and even then seems to want to wiggle down my torso without the support of straps. (The eternal bane of strapless bras?) I plan to add a hook and bar on the side front of the brassiere and corset - this will further lock them into a position I like - after the corset is a little more broken in. An added bonus of the under-fit is that is does not completely obscure the lace decoration on the corset.

The one thing I would change, if I made this brassiere again, would be to use a similarly sheer but firmer mesh. The one I used has stretched-out, giving the brassiere a slightly bubbled (between the bones) surface - which I don’t like.

Useful links

Jennifer Thompson’s (Festiveattyre) Pinterest Board Edwardian and 1910's Brassieres

Two 1910’s Brassieres by Jennifer Thompson

Historically Dressed Brassieres Study and (Free) Pattern

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