Date: c. late 1950s
Origin: France
Fabric: Nylon lace
Brand: Simone Pérèle
Simone Pérèle was a designer that believed women shouldn’t have to sacrifice their comfort for the sake of eleganance and fashion, and championed the use of lightweight materials for use in foundationwear. This style is not disimilar to the Warner’s Merry Widow, using a combination of rigid nylon and lace, elastic nylon net and spiral steel bones to offer dramatic shaping to the body without the use of traditional heavy construction of corsetry.
The corselet is constructed with a lining of sheer nylon, exterior of leavers lace and wings of stretch mesh. The cups use a monowire encased in nylon taffeta. The spiral steel bone channels are encased in velvet channels. The top and bottom edges of the garment are trimmed with a pale pink ribbon slot lace trim. A longer leavers lace flounce embellishes the bottom edges of the corselet. There are four detachable suspender straps, using ribbon encased elastics, rubber grips and a buttonhole elastic to attach to buttons at the interior centre front and back hips. The corset fastens at the centre back with a row of hook and eye tape. The shoulder straps of the garment are made of a nylon tape with nylon hooks at each end, allowing for them to be removed for the garment to be worn straplessly.
The garment was made in France and the label states that it is a size 90, likely referring to the overbust measurement that this garment is intended for.
The corselet is sewn entirely by machine but has numerous hand alterations. These include a hand sewn dart into the stretch mesh back on the left of the hook tape fastening, small darts at the centre front of the cups and flossing style embroidery at on the underwire channels to prevent the underwires from breaking the channels.
Simone Perele was a corsetmaker that founded her eponymous label in 1948, in response to the demands of women for fashionable foundationwear that combined elegance and comfort. The brand was a front runner in many technological developments, such as the use of lycra lace in the 1960s. The label is still family run, by Madame Perele’s children Catherine and Phillipe.
From the collection of The Underpinnings Museum
