1860s red wool corset

c.1860- 1864. A pair of stays or corset depending on the original owner's knowledge of fashionable parlance, made from itchy bright red wool and lined in white cotton coutil.

Petticoats, cage crinolines Red wool became fashionable for undergarments at the end of the 1850's was used for and corsets. Although fashionable in color, the stays would have been quite unfashionable in construction with the use of shoulder straps, large triangular bust and hip gussets as well as having a closed front instead of a split busk. This pair of stays would have used a long, rigid busk made from ivory, wood, metal or whalebone inserted into the front slot of the corset. The fashion historians, C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, cite a source from the early 1860's complaining that "the old- fashioned stays are still too generally worn" and "often of red flannel, boned".

The corset is shorter in length than earlier stays had been and has an hourglass shape which would remain in fashion for the rest of the 19th century. Although the corset uses less boning than later Victorian corsets use, the whalebone used in this corset is incredibly rigid and thick that it would make for a rather unyielding set of stays. The corset is machine sewn and the edges of the corset are bound in red wool tape.

The grommets are made from brass and are placed in an off-set pattern which means that the spiral lacing pattern was used. This, along with the fact that there was no front opening busk, meant that the original wearer would have needed help to put the corset on by herself.
Measurements: Bust 36", Waist 28", Hips 36", Front busk length 13 1/2".