Period Corsets® Chemises: October's Product of the Month

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What do people wear under their corsets? A chemise, of course. Early on, we added the Short and Three-quarter length sleeve chemises to our line of undergarments. The Sleeveless chemise followed shortly after. The most recent addition is the Romantic Chemise. The extreme fullness in the sleeves compliments those romantic Tudor, Elizabethan and Renaissance styles. And finally, we have our basic full length Shift for that simple medieval look.





Regarding period correctness: our chemises were developed with basic shapes in mind so they can be worn with a range of eras. For easy adjustability, the necklines in all styles have an elastic drawstring which can be tied tightly for a more demure neckline or loosened completely for an off-the-shoulder, more revealing look. A chemise adds a finished look to the period silhouette of an undergarment ensemble. When worn under a corset it helps decrease the number washings the corset might need during the run of a show, thus adding to the longevity of the corset.



Our stock chemises are made from a fine 100% cotton Batiste, available in either white or black. But don’t stop there! As with our corsets, petticoats and skirt supports, think of our chemises as a blank slate for the basis of your design or your custom fabric. Pictured below are examples of how our chemises have been styled in custom fabrics.




This is a wonderful example of what a little, or more accurately, what a lot of lace can do to our simple short-sleeve chemise. Pictured below is a chemise with a two inch wide lace insert on the sleeve hems, and a six inch wide gathered ruffle, creating this classic 18th century look. The neckline also has a slightly wider lace trim.

Compare our stock Shift on the right to a custom styled Shift on the left made in a creamy bamboo/linen blend, with 2"wide cotton accent trim at the neckline, sleeves, and hem.














This Romantic chemise, made in a shiny satin, becomes a rich addition to this Tudor ensemble.

Late 19th Century Petticoat, September's Petticoat of the Month

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How the Period Corsets®  Late 19th Century Petticoat came about:

When we started Period Corsets® , we were focused, as the name implies, on corsets and nothing but corsets. After continued requests for coordinating garments, we decided to expand our line to include petticoats, skirt supports, chemises and bloomers. We designed each additional item with the others in mind: each size and silhouette to fit perfectly together. Our goal is to be able to offer the complete period silhouette for all our corset time periods.

The Late 19th Century Petticoat was the first addition to our growing line of historic corsets. It was originally designed to go with the c. 1890 Theodora Corset; worn over our 19th c. Bustle the hem of the petticoat falls evenly to the floor and when worn alone the hem has a gentle sweep in the back. This petticoat compliments the c. 1880 Alice corset and the c. 1905 Mae Corset as well. Wear it with our 19th c. Bustle pad and the Mae corset and you’ve captured the signature S-curve of the Gibson Girl silhouette of the Edwardian era . It is an extremely versatile petticoat to keep in your costume stock because it is so successful with all these era’s silhouettes.

How we achieved this classic Late 19th c shape with our patterning:

This petticoat is relatively flat in the front, with slight fullness in the back. It is cut in three panels, with the tradition of “bias-to-straight” on the side front seams. For those of you unfamiliar with this expression, petticoat and skirt shapes of this time period use a pattern technique as follows: the center front gore is cut with the straight grain at center front, the next gore is cut with the straight grain parallel to the front side of the gore, the bias seam on the back side, and so on. Using the grain in this fashion pushes the fullness towards the back of the skirt. In fuller skirts of this time period, the final gore might switch grains so center back would be on straight-grain, and the two further side-back seams would be bias-to-bias.

Our petticoat includes side front darts for some shaping over the hip. Also, true to our “let’s make this useful in a costume stock” techniques, we developed a waist band that incorporates the flexibility of a drawstring (across the back of the waistband) with the security of a flat waistband (across the front to side back). That way, our size ranges of small, medium, large, etc., still work, but the shape is held in place on the waistband.

The petticoat has a ruffle at the hem, which finishes in a slight sweep on the floor—about four inches. And in keeping with our usual “easy-to-alter” philosophy, the petticoat is constructed with two one-inch tucks that can be let out for taller women, or made deeper for shorter lengths.




How we customize the Late 19th century petticoat to our designers needs:
For The Metropolitaon Opera's "Lucia Du Lammermoor" Petticoats pictured above in shades of grey
Our stock Late 19th century Petticoat is made in a medium weight polished poly/cotton blend. We keep it in stock in white, off-white and black. But, there are a myriad of colors available in the same quality. Some of our clients have taken advantage of this color selection opportunity.
When the Metropolitan Opera was building the costumes for "Lucia Du Lammermoor", they wanted our petticoats in something more than our plain black polished cotton...something to compliment the tone of the opera. Maybe suggesting the dark and dreary palette of the rainy Scottish Moors, they picked out a range of very subtle tones of grey.

For The Public Theatre:

The Late 19th Century Petticoat also lends itself well to almost any fashion fabric. Our designer clients send us fabric of their choice. In contrast to Lucia’s dark feel The New York Shakespeare, Public Theatre sent us a beautifully lightweight embroidered stripe eyelet cotton. It turned out wonderfully delicate and airy for summer Shakespeare in the park.
For A Theatre For New Audience:
Whatever the designer wants! Early on one of our designer clients Elizabeth Caitlin Ward paired the petticoat with great success to our c. 1860 Julia corset. We made both of the items to match in her choice of hot pink shantung silk. She had us leave the ruffle off of the bottom of the petticoat, yet keep the tucks. She achieved a vibrant new look.

c. 1890 Theodora, August's Corset of the Month

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Long before the c. 1880 Alice corset--with its super-seductive curves--stole the late 19th century spotlight there was the c. 1890 Theodora. We developed this corset in tandem with the c. 1860 Julia, the first two products in our line.

We were inspired by the number of plays written in this time period--it made sense to us to start our chronology of historic, true-to-the-period, line of corsets here. The Theo, as we fondly call it, and the Julia really are the foundation of our company. We started stocking three sizes, then added more to solve those inevitable "corset emergencies". This is how Period Corsets® came into being.

Since 1997, the Theodora in its most basic white cotton coutil has assisted regional theatres, universities, and opera companies in creating a late nineteenth century shape. This corset is part of costume stocks around the country--you have probably run into one! Over the years the Theodora has also been the subject of many custom requests, as you can see below.


Our first custom request came from Glimmerglass Opera in 2001, with costume designer Constance Hoffman's work for “Le Etoile”. The chorus women needed black satin corsets, a central element for act two. At our customer's request, the corsets were custom patterned for each singer. We added a center front opening busk and flat-lined the coutil to the most unforgiving black satin fabric. The finished outfits are striking, paired with bright silk bloomers and matching neck ruffles.




One of our next projects was for the film “The Missing”, starring Cate Blanchett. But a young and unknown actress at the time, Evan Rachel Wood, was the lucky performer who wore a custom flat-lined Theodora corset. Costume designer Julie Weiss had us work with her assistant Tom McKinley to achieve the exact look and fit they needed. In film there is always a quick turn-around and this production was no exception. We received the fashion fabric one day, and we made and shipped the corset the next day. The end product was very demure, made of light cotton cream twill with a sweet sage green leaf pattern.



Alma Garrett, the town heiress in the HBO mini-series “Deadwood” was the next character whose presence graced the small screen in our Theodora corset. Katherine Jane Bryant was awarded an Emmy for her costume design for this series. Here is a classic Period Corsets® undercover story--to achieve the correct silhouette, Alma wore our comfortable plain black cotton Theodora corset under all of her beautiful costumes. But in the bedroom scene with the town sheriff she wears a different frilly corset provided by the wardrobe department. Sometimes Period Corsets® does the main work and other corsets get the glory!





Arizona Theatre Company requested a custom Theo for a new play called “The Underpants”. The basic Theodora wasn’t quite right--costume designer David Murin was interested in a more dramatic lower hemline. We shorted the corsets three inches at side seams and maintained the length in the center front and the back--we nicknamed it the French-cut Theo. The corset was made of beautiful white fine Indian cotton with ¼ tucks woven in to the weft. It took some extra time to make sure we kept every piece perfectly on grain but the final product was worth it--very sweet!

Where do Victoria’s Secret models go for their corsets? Period Corsets® of course! At least one model did...she wanted to look like the bride in “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. As you can imagine, most super models are a far different shape from a curvy Victorian lady. This model was no exception, slight around, with a long torso. We constructed her custom white satin Theo three inches taller than our normal size (which fits most up to a 17" nape-to-waist); bust and hip were reduced to be closer to the waist size; we also raised the neckline so it could be easily worn without a chemise. Shown here on a not-so-long waisted (nor super-) model you can see the finished product.


Lastly and most recently we did a quick project for one of our best clients, the Guthrie Theatre. They have a large collection of Period Corsets® in their collection. The drapers know and love the c. 1880 Alice corset. They were lobbying to use the Alice in their upcoming production of “The Importance of Being Ernest”. After much discussion, the costume designer was more interested in the Theodora corset--a shape she knew and had used before. Ultimately, parts of both corsets were blended: the final corset had the basic Theodora shape with an Alice-shaped bottom edge.

Here is a comparison of the final custom corset in black satin and our stock white coutil c. 1890 Theo.

The c. 1890 Theodora, as you can see, works in all sorts of settings, whether in its stock cotton-coutil as an undercover shape, or in custom-fabric worn as the main garment. The fitted and shapely waist, a hallmark of this era, retains its grace throughout.

c.1770 Judith, July's Corset of the Month

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The c. 1770 Judith corset was added to our line early on, the fourth addition. This corset is the classic mid- to late-eighteenth century shape—what we call the “ice cream cone”. This corset is designed to moderately compress the torso, flattening and rounding the silhouette from bust to waist. The main feature of the Judith is the look of the bust, with all the curve showing above the corset, the bust swelling provocatively over the neckline; the corset flattens and pushes up the bust into the neckline. Interestingly, a larger-busted woman often needs additional support in this style of corset, and a smaller-busted woman usually does not. A banana-shaped pad (“bust banana”) is sewn horizontally into the corset about one inch below the full-bust line from side-to-side. The bust is supported by the pad and is discouraged from falling down into the corset.

Unlike the corsets of one hundred years later, the waist doesn’t need much compression to look small in this era—the wide, full skirts, held out by panniers or pads, accomplish this quite easily.

One of our first custom Judith corset projects was for a PBS Mini-series
"The War that Made America", with costumes designed by Virginia Johnson. Pictured below is the finished product. This custom Judith corset has a higher back, waist tabs, straps that are are not removable and they come around the shoulder. It is made in a heavy brocade satin dot coutil.








Ms. Johnson, the designer needed three of these custom corsets for the women in her documentary film about the French and Indian War. The corsets would be seen in the film so she wanted them to look right for her design. She loved the conical shape of our Judith c.1770, but she wanted to have more of a bodice feel. So we added the a full, high back with off-the-shoulder straps. She sent us three different kinds of brocade coutil to use for the final corsets. The tabs are purely decorative and were sewn on after the edge of the corset was finished.


Ms. Johnson's wardrobe department distressed the corsets for a more authentic look, shown in the scene below. After her abduction, the character Sarah Jemison assimilated into the Native American culture.













This screen shot shows the corset in its finished state, completely distressed. The captive had been traveling on foot and sleeping in the woods for weeks in her corset rather than doning it ready-made and sparkling-new just out the box from Period Corsets! Ahh...the magic of costuming for film.

June's Corset of the Month: Kristina Variations-- Custom Corsets c.1660 to c.1770 and beyond

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When we launched our c.1660 Kristina corset four years ago, we were both excited and hesitant. The Kristina is our most complex corset pattern and construction, needing extensive development time; the corset has complicated seaming, and more than twice as many bones as our other styles. We were delighted to see that this shape was one that many of you were looking for, and soon the Kristina surpassed the c.1860 Julia as our best selling corsets. The popular c.1770 Judith corset, the next corset in our chronology, is a bit more straight-forward in style, being the classic "ice-cream cone" shape of the mid- to late-eighteenth century.

Since launching the Kristina, we've been asked to explore the variations on the conical shape, incorporating elements from both seventeenth and eighteenth century styles for periods between the two or for a unique artistic vision.

This has resulted in a some creative and beautiful custom corsets......

For Glimmerglass Opera

Cole Porters Kiss Me Kate
Anka Lupes' costume design:

This corset was used in Glimmerglass Opera 2008 season for Cole Porters "Kiss me Kate" set in a non-specific era. We were asked to create this corset as a straight up hybrid of our Judith c. 1770 and Kristina c. 1660 (without tabs) in our basic stock white cotton Coutil. They also wanted the addition of a (non-period correct) CF opening metal busk--they are so useful and it was the look they were going for, so we did it! Notice the Kristina shape throughout the torso, softer fuller bust than the flattened bust of the Judith. The neckline front and back including the narrow removable over the top of the shoulder straps are like the Judith c. 1770.

In the performance of "Kiss Me Kate" at Glimmerglass Opera

David Larsen (center) as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio and members of the Glimmerglass Opera Chorus Photo: Cory Weaver/Glimmerglass Opera.

For Goodspeed Opera
Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance
David Woolard's costume design:

David Woolard requested the Kristina/Judith hybrid shape; this time with the signature Kristina tabs, (no busk) and flat-lined to custom fashion fabrics. He sent us six distinctive pastel patterned brocades for Mabel and all her sisters corsets. They wore them under their costumes for most of the operetta, but you can see a glimpse of the corsets pictured below. This is the scene where the sisters relax by the seaside after "Scaling rough and rugged passes climb[ed] the hardy little lasses till the bright sea shore they gain."

Photo Courtesy of David Woolard

Lincoln Center Festival 2005
My Life as a Fairytale
Elizabeth Caitlin Ward 's costume design:

photo courtesy Period Corsets

This is an amazing example of a designer using a Period Corsets® shape without alteration. By adding unusal fabrics and creative construction techniques we achieved something completely new and unique. Ms. Ward chose the shape of our stock c. 1660's Kristina (without tabs). We made a multi-layer corset, using our custom corset flatlining process. The base color is the steel grey silk shantung provided by the designer with an over-layer of plastic window screening mesh. If you look closely you can see the spiral steel bones between the layers as per her design request!

Pictured here in performace to great effect.

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Catilin Ward

For the Roundabout Theatre Company
Les Liasions Dangereuses
Katrina Lindsay's costume design:

This corset is an example of a cross between our Kristina c.1660 corset and a corset from a client's own stock. Ms Lindsay, the designer, wanted the final product to have the versatility our corsets offer: alteration points in the side seam and the strap shoulder seam. She wanted to recreate the shape of the existing corset, and maintain the heavily boned look and varying agles of the bone lines in each panel. This is hard to do and have a side seam! So we put the alteration point in the side back, and added straps. For the final corsets we used the client's custom beige brocade coutil.

To complete the 18th century look we made our pocket hoop panniers out of the same brocade.

It gives us great pleasure to work with designers to create just the look they want for their productions.

Lilly c.1900, May's Corset of the Month

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In celebration of Spring we are featuring our  Lilly c.1900 corset for the month of May.

The Lilly corset is inspired by the corsets designed for "ladies of action" at the turn of the century. During this time period, women increased their participation in sports and adventure activities. A shorter corset such as this style enabled them to better ride horses, play tennis, and travel to exotic lands while still keeping a gentle-but-firm shaped waistline. This corset is used by customers wanting a distinct waist shape, while maintaining a more natural line in the bust and hip.

Savannah College of Art and Design dancers wore this style of corset with our chemises and bloomers in a piece called "The Crossing" (an excerpt from their dance is on their web site in the video montage of performances).

photo courtesty of Dawn Testa; More Photos

Teatro Zinzanni, a cirque/comedy/cabaret performance with venues in Seattle and San Francisco, asked for our Lilly flat-lined to a beautiful wide striped silk, paired with our Full Pannier in matching fabric.

Pop-star Madonna wore a modified shorter version in her "Sorry" video; her request was for a corset in custom-dyed lavender satin coutil--danceable!

Behind the scenes of the "Sorry" Video

Madonnalicious.com interview with Period Corsets®

Whether you are seeking a period-accurate line from the 1900's, or wanting a curvy waist for any occasion, the Lilly is the style for you. Its verstility demonstrates why the Lilly was and continues to be a popular style.