Date: c. 1905
Origin: United States
Fabric: Cotton
Brand: Charles H. Scott
A bustle and hip pad designed to support the fashionable skirt shape of the 1900s. This pad fastens with a simple waist tie. A similar pad design was patented in 1903 with a number of defining features. The original patent documents state that the pad is reversible, and features an innovative quilted and grommeted construction that render the pad ‘ventilated’: ‘when [the pad is] in place on the body of the wearer it will afford means for the escape of air confined between its lower surface and the body and at the same time, as well as when it is not worn, will be self-ventilating that is, it will be so made that air will be circulated through its padding or filling thus keeping it free of moisture from the perspiration of the body and rendering it at all times cleanly and sanitary.’
The 1900s were notably a period in which many undergarment designers focused on the nature of hygienic and sanitary garments, often using pseudoscience to justify their claims.
The branded stamp on this pad has faded significantly, but appears to list the date 1905, as well as the brand name ‘The Scott’.
From the collection of Karolina Laskowska
