Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Blue Polka Dot Corsage


From the seller:

This corset was for a very petite woman. Way to small for my manniquin. It is hand stitched all over. The blue satin material on the outside has small lemon shaped cutouts throughout, giving it the look of a print. Some of the silk? material has deteriorated, but I don't think there is anymore damage. The inside has some light stains. It hooks together with 9 hooks and 8 eyes. Laces up on one side. ..

From Me:

I wish the seller would have given measurements but, unfortunately, no.

I know many people would call this a "Swiss Waist" but I wrote on my other blog last year why that's an anachronism and not the actual term. Instead, this is a corsage.  It could very well have been worn during the American Civil War - my guess is early 1860's since that is when these were most popular.

2 comments:

  1. The seller also described it as lacing up the side, which would have left the wearer being stabbed in the armpit by the point!
    Which way up would this have been worn, point up or point down? I can't decide.

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    Replies
    1. It's laying flat so I'm guessing it does lace up the side - where the two edges meet around the waist. The points, in this case, go down. The corsage is upside down in the photo. The faux laced edge would most likely go in front.

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