Silk, silk, and more glorious silk! How can silk be so versatile?

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At Period Corsets® we love making corsets, petticoats and bustles out of silk. Not only is this fiber lovely to work with its natural properties make it easier to mold into a fine finished garment.  For costuming it is a very versatile fabric;   suitable for a leading lady's fine corset  or a villager's rustic pair of bodies.

A bit of background about silk. Silk is produced from the cocoons of silkworms, soaked in hot water and unraveled to filaments up to a mile long. The filaments are woven or knit into fabrics including: Crepe de Chine: lightweight silk.  Some fibers are twisted clockwise and others counter-clockwise, then the fabric is woven with a plain weave. The twisted fibers give crepe de chine its texture-- and both sides look the same.

Charmeuse: the back is flattened crepe. The front is a shiny satin weave. Charmeuse has more drape than other silks.

China silk: lightweight, sheer, with a plain weave. China silk is one of the most common and least expensive silks.

Douppioni: a plain weave fabric with slubbed ribs. It  has a stiff hand, similar to taffeta.

Noil: made from the sort fibers remaining after the longer strands have been combed and carded. It has no sheen, resembles cotton, but is softer and drapes better.

Shantung: made from cultivated silk warp yarns with heavier douppioni filling yarns.  It can be lustrous or dull, with a firm, crisp hand and was once made from tussah silk. 

Tussah: often called shantung, made from the cocoons of wild tussah silk worms who eat oak and juniper leaves. Fibers are short and coarse. Tussah is difficult to dye and is often un-dyed, naturally cream/ tan.
-- sited from Kaufman-Davis Studio newsletter Winter Solstice 1998

Add to all this versatility:  silks in taffetas, damasks, brocades and satins! So many beautiful corsets to make to showcase all those decadent fabrics. Here are a few examples of  Period Corsets® in sumptuous silks.

c. 1880's Alice corset in
satin faced purple and red Shantung silk

satin faced purple and red Shantung silk

Bombshell corset
 in orange and yellow shot dupioni silk

Orange and yellow shot dupioni silk

c. 1880's Corsets and Bustles in silk brocades and striped silk taffetas
for Santa Fe Opera, see more about making these.

Are self lacing corsets a modern invention?

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No! Innovation in the 1830's allowed women to lace their own corset. In the book "Fashioning fashion" there is a lovely photo and explanation.  "A new system of crossed ties allowed the wearer to lace her own corset without assistance."  From the front and back views you can see that there are multiple laces that all lead from the nicely hand sewn grommets to a tab of fabric in the front for self-lacing.

Corset:
England, 1830 to 1840
Cotton sateen, quilted with cotton
twill and cotton plain-weave tape
Costume Council Fund

Photos from "Fashioning fashion- European dress in detail 1790 to 1915" LACMA

What is Steampunk? It could be a Period Corsets® Time Traveling Adventure in Seattle.

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What is Steampunk?

 Yes!   You ask, as do many others. Those “in the know”,  designing a show,  planning a costume; they all seem equally enthusiastic.  Well we've done the research and this source seems to encapsulate the answer perfectly.

Quoted from the steampunk scholar:

“The Steampunk Aesthetic:

NeoVictorianism,

Retro-futurism,

Techno-fantasy.

Neo Victorian as:
‘ resembling reviving, or reminiscent of the Victorian Era’(OED)

In the Broadest sense possible

(In other words)

Steampunk utilizes a look and feel evocative of the period between 1890 and 1914, unencumbered by rigorous historical accuracy.”

Hooray!

Let the drama and creativity begin.

Seattle and the west coast are a forge of steampunk culture; sculpture, jewelry, and wearable art abound. Victorian details- copper, metal, gears, from corsets to working geared complex contraptions. Founded in the aesthetic of seminal steampunk literature, from Jules Verne to the Golden Compass, there live and breathe the new ideas and artistic innovative designs of today.

This weekend Seattle is hosting a Steampunk Convention.
And of even greater note we recommend the Steampunk Exhibition Ball on January 22, 2011

Period Corsets®,  the experts of 1880's costuming and beyond:

We've done our own research, and as an inspiration to our fans, followers and designers, we are featuring this historically inspired steampunk revisionist ensemble.

From design sketch to reality, time travel is possbile!

Thanks to Doris Black our designer and to the Period Corsets® shop for your gorgeous completed Steampunk ensemble!

Looking for authentic metal and wood clockwork gears? Too expensive?  Don't want to chop up old clocks?  Period Corsets® innovated a new method for making  the gears you see trimming this steampunk ensemble- stay tuned for more !

Costume Design Sketches needed!

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Planning to attend USITT in Charlotte in March 2011? Have a gorgeous costume sketch that you would love to show off?

Design sketch by Gayle Baizer

Here's how it all comes together: Susan is presenting "Graceful Bodices: the Pattern After Draping". This session is a demonstration of techniques to easily and successfully transfer a draped bodice to a brown-paper pattern. Susan has presented two draping demonstrations, the first on period skirts followed by a session on bodices two years later.  This session is a follow up to those popular sessions, continuing the progression of the work of making a costume from idea to reality.

The sketch by Gayle Baizer featured here is the example Susan used  for the c.1850 era section of her Graceful Skirts session:  how to drape a rectangular skirt over a hoop pettiooat. 

Susan would love to give you a forum to show your sketch to your collegues. She is looking for a c. 1770 sketch (ice-cream cone shape), and a c. 1880 sketch (long cuirass bodice) or similar time periods. If you think you have a sketch that would work, please email Susan directly at susan@periodcorsets.com.

Once Susan has reviewed the available sketches, she will decide which will work best for her presentation, and will let you know if she will be using your sketch (which will become part of the handout for the session).

Thanks for helping out! And see you at USITT!

Our booth from last years conference in Kansas City.

Period Corsets: What is a Toile?

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"Toile is the name of a fabric that entered the English language around the 16th century[1] from a French word meaning "linen cloth" or "canvas" — particularly cloth or canvas for painting on. The word toile in modern English has multiple meanings. 
Etymology
Middle English toile, from French toile ("cloth"), from Old French teile, from Latin tela, ("web"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg ("to cover") (see List of Proto-Indo-European roots in Wiktionary).
 Uses:  Test garment
A toile is a version of a garment made by a fashion designer or dressmaker to test a pattern. They are usually made in cheap material, as multiple toiles may be made in the process of perfecting a design. Toiles may be called "muslins" in the United States."
Sited :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toile


Making a Toile at Period Corsets®: pictured left is a prototype Kristina c. 1660 corset and  below, a custom corset for a client.

The toile is the start of the three-dimensional garment. The exciting first look of the pattern in fabric, the designer's dreams manifest themselves in cloth reality. It is essential in the costuming process.  For Period Corsets® we make toiles to ensures a custom garment fits the performer perfectly, and the designer reviews and adjusts the style lines as needed.  Once we've made our toile, we fit it, and then perfect the pattern.

We make multiple mockups (or toiles) of each corset we develop for our line--it’s part of our extensive research process. We distill the shape of the period to fit the modern body and encapsulate the style and silhouette of an era.

Keep an eye out on this blog for the toiles Period Corsets® will be working on in the summer months.

Meet the Period Corsets® Rabbit Punch

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What is a rabbit punch?
Watch and see it in action. A skillful Period Corsets® employee punches 3/4" holes in a corset pattern and hangs it on the pattern rack for efficient storage. She is using a rabbit punch, which gets it's name, not surprisingly by looking a bit like a rabbit.

Corsets and Movement for Credit

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A large percentage of Period Corsets® clients are in the education community; large university’s, small liberal arts colleges, community colleges, conservatories of music, dance and theatre just to name a few.

How do they use Period Corsets® line of historic undergarments, besides keeping them in their costume stocks for performances?

Since Period Corsets® garments cover the historic eras from c. 1560 to c. 1950 , they are a great hands-on way of teaching about history. As well as being a lesson in the history of costume, these garments come in handy in acting and movement classes. (There is nothing like trying on a corset to convince you of the wonderful freedoms we have gained in our modern era, only having to wear spandex and “Spanx”.)

Both men and women in the movement and acting classes try them on and get to feel first hand how it was "back in the old days". Depending on the era and style of the corset, you could be extremely to slightly restricted in your range of motion.

Roosevelt University added to their collection of Period Corsets® this year for their movement class. They wanted to be able to compare and contrast different era’s ranging from 17th to the 19th centuries. They chose our basic hourglass shape lightly boned c. 1860 Julia corset and the more heavily boned, with off the shoulder straps c. 1660 Kristina corset.

Both of these corset styles impact how a performer walks, stands, sits, and dances, including posture and arm movement. In each of these styles, the torso is well supported by the boning, which demands an erect posture. The c. 1860 Julia also supports the lower back, giving a distinct look when sitting down. With the shoulder straps in the c. 1660 Kristina, the elbows can only be raised to shoulder height, and certainly cannot be raised over the head.

It is an invaluable experience for someone training for a performance career to have the opportunity to move in historic-inspired garments.

Roosevelt University
The Theatre Conservatory 2009-10 Season

A Brief History of Imperial Measures

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Did you ever wonder why a foot was a foot and an inch an inch? We have, and we've been looking around for more information. Imperial measures have a rich history. The INCH comes from the Latin “unicia” meaning one-twelfth, but the size was first set by King David I of Scotland. He stated, about 1150, that an “ynch” should be the same width as a man’s thumb at the base of his nail. The length of an inch was redefined by Edward I of England in the 13th century as the length of three grains of barley, dry and round, placed end-to-end.

A FOOT in many cultures is based on the average feet of the population. A foot from Northern England was about 10 inches long, whereas a Roman foot was just over 11.5 inches. The Polish had the largest foot measuring 14 inches. The YARD began as the distance from nose to out stretched fingertip of King Henry I who ruled between 1100 and 1135. Those of us working regularly with fabric still use a similar length to roughly measure a piece of fabric. The work “yard” is derived from an Old English word meaning twig or straight branch.

(special thanks to R. I. Davis, our favorite tailor and a wealth of information.)

Natural Coutil: it's green!.. well that means natural colored fibers (and it's made in the USA)

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coutil>COUTIL: cou⋅til/kuˈtil, -ˈtɪl/ [koo-teel, -til] –noun a sturdy fabric constructed of a compactly woven herringbone twill.

Origin: 1850–55; <>

Coutil, also spelled coutille, is a fabric that has been used in corset making since the fabrics origin. The reversing angle of the twill wales contributes to it’s toughness. It is a perfect match for use with steel or whalebone.

At Period Corsets® we make our stock corsets in 100% cotton Natural Coutil, an unbleached fabric. We always pre-wash the fabric before we make the corset; this pre-shrinks the cotton so our corsets are ready to be worn and washed or dyed to any color of the rainbow.

In the early days of Period Corsets, we offered corsets in White Coutil only—our signature color. We quickly realized our clients wanted other colors, so we added options like black, peach, and pink. Two years ago we changed all our stock corsets from White to Natural. The Natural Coutil is not bleached, so it does not go through the same chemical processes that white coutil does. (It also has the added benefit of being milled in the USA.) The cotton fibers used in this coutil look like they just came off the plant, as natural as it comes.

Natural Coutil fits well with our customers needs--it’s still easily dye-able and doesn’t show stains as quickly as White. Since our corsets are used show after show, day after day, and stay in costume shops stock for years, it’s nice to have corsets that hold up well and maybe supports just a little our endeavor to keeping the earth a bit cleaner too.
Sometimes we go even further on sunny days and dry our coutil in the sun--whatever we can do to reduce our carbon footprint!

But whether the corset shows or the corset is truly underwear, a basic coutil fabric--herringbone weave, usually cotton--works best as the base. Coutil is strong yet flexible and can be used in either one layer or two, with a fashion fabric top-layer for a more decorative corset.

Where do we get our patterns?

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One of the most common questions we are asked is: “where do you get your patterns?” And the answer is: “we make them ourselves.” As all of you costume-makers know, commercial patterns are relatively “modern”, coming into use in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. For earlier time periods, there are few if any records of what pattern shapes for period garments looked like. What do remain are some garments, primarily belonging to the wealthy; the further back in time you go, the fewer extant pieces there are.



Luckily for those of us with a passion for costume history, historic garments in museum collections have been documented beautifully in photographs (the Taschen “Fashion” book of the Kyoto Costume Institute collection). Other garments have had their style lines and details drawn out in a scale fashion (Janet Arnold’s wonderful series of books, for example). There are also paintings in museums and art books--portraits and group tableaus from various time periods. All of these sources serve as our inspirations when we are developing the historic-inspired undergarments in our line.


There is no one source that we draw from, but rather a combination of inspirations, as well as our background as theatre costume technicians. (In the case of late 19th century corset styles—like the c. 1890 Theo and c. 1905 Mae--we also own a small collection of period corsets that have inspired us.)


Once we’ve gathered our visual inspirations, Susan creates a pattern for the first sample. Our goal is not to recreate any one specific garment (although we can, and have, for clients requesting a very particular custom garment)—our goal rather is to capture the essence and flavor of a time period. As we study the first sample garment, we are looking at both the shape the garment created on the woman’s form, as well as the seam placement, comparing them with our inspiration material. We work and re-work the seams, fine-tuning the fit and shape, often making three and four samples, before arriving at the final pattern for a style. We know we have succeeded when you, our customers, look at a shape and respond: “the Gibson Girl!” or “it’s Marie Antoinette!”

What is a Corset Winch

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Vintage corset from the collection of Period Corsets with winch

Client’s Question:
“This might be an odd question, but I’ve noticed that a lot of old vintage corsets have this hook type metal fitting in the front near front busk opening . What is that for?”

Period Corsets Answers:
“The metal hook you are referring to is called a winch. It possibly came into fashion when modern factories made corsets for the working woman. It was an innovation that allowed a woman to tighten up her corset more easily by herself without a dresser. As she pulled the laces tight she would cross them in the back and bring them around to the front. She could wrap the lace loops around the winch to hold them taut so that they would not give while she wiggled the corset tighter. (Something like a cleat for sailors pulling in a line or being on belay for a rock climber.) She could wrap it around the winch and let the laces hang down without creating a big knot at the waist. The winch was located somewhere just slightly below the waist line and usually off to the left, for the right handed majority of the population.  During the course of the day, as the body expanded and contracted the laces could be loosed or tightened with ease. Without hiking up her skirts, undressing or visiting the ladies, the winch  allowed her to adjust the tension of the laces with discreet alacrity throughout the work day."

Detail of winch placement on vintage corset