Brown Cotton Corded & Gored Corset

This corset boasts a typical 1860s silhouette, with its gored bust and hip pattern, and relative lack of structure. It is made from two layers of densely woven cotton twill, with a dark brown exterior and a lighter shade as the lining. It fastens with a wide steel busk closure at the centre front, and with metal eyelets and cotton lacing at the rear.

The corset largely relies on extensive cording to provide its structure and shaping, with only a few pieces of vertically placed baleen bones to provide vertical tension. The cording and bones are particularly concentrated at the rear of the garment, which would have provided the wearer with substantial back support. This suggests that it may have been originally worn by a working woman, who was in need of the additional back support on an everyday basis. Each of the gore points is re-enforced with flossing embroidery, with additional decorative embroidery at the hips. A delicate machine made lace trims the neckline edge.

From the collection of Karolina Laskowska