Edwardian Undergarments, now there's a use for lace.

good morning all.

Today I intend to delve a little further into my outfit for the 1914 fair and the Wearing History 1910s Sew-along.

Well the more I look into this Edwardian and 1910's fashion the more involved it gets. Apparently around that time ladies were wearing blouses made of fine chiffon and other sheer fabric so their under-garments could be seen through.  This with the fact that the corset had gotten lower and was now underbust or just a small shelf effect, meant there was a call for a new item.  Enter the brassiere into mainstream apparel.

French ad from 1901

The silhouette for the time was a lower mono-bust, most brassieres just held them tightly squished  in place so there would be no jiggling about.  For ladies with less, there were pads or boned cages to give the appearance of a full bust and for ladies with more there were ways for reducing the overall appearance, by tighter squishing.


Images taken from Lauren's blog about her sewing and the pattern for pads is available from site Wearing History where you can also find the suit pattern if you would like to join the sew-along.

So now not only do I need to make a new corset, but also a 'brassiere' style item but I think this might just be the perfect use for some of the antique lace I was gift awhile back.  The Edwardian's loved lace, lots of lace.

I think I have found the corset pattern I intend to use it's from bridges on the body, Jo who write that blog ran a sew along for it back in 2012, sadly I missed that one, but can still use all the useful insights they came up with., this pattern is available to copy for free. Thanks Jo.


The muslin wasn't too bad size wise, but I think I may make it a little shorter so that it will be useful for other things too, and the suit skirt is fuller, not the tight hobble skirts of earlier in the period so I'm sure I will get away with it.

not looking like much yet.

now I'm off to the stash to find some suitable material, least you don't need very much for small items.
Speak to you all again soon

Hugs and Kisses

Ally