Date: c. 1910-1920s
Origin: United States
Fabric: Cotton twill
Brand: Warner
This cotton twill waist features four buttons down the center (front or back?) and ten others intended to support the clothing and hosiery. The label “Warner’s Perfection Size 5” indicates it was intended for a five-year-old child. During the late nineteenth century, Warner Brothers produced a line of “Dr. Warner’s Perfection Waists” in size ranges from ladies to infants, writing in 1892 that they were “especially adapted to growing children and to ladies who prefer a softer garment than the ordinary corsets.” This particular example bares strong resemblance to illustrations of Warner’s Perfection Waists from the 1910s and early 1920s, which were advertised to mothers as sturdy, “trouble-proof” undergarments for boys and girls up to fourteen years old.
Many thanks to Summer Lee for the object description and research.
From the collection of The Underpinnings Museum
