1870 Crinolette
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1872-1875 A crinolette covered in self patterned cotton.
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The front of the cage; the front panels are distorted by tucks taken in the waistband.
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Inside the cage at the back showing the lacing
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Detail of the fabric showing a section of a stitched channel for a steel.
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Detail of the fabric on the front panels; it has been used going in the other direction for the back panels.
Description
The cotton has tiny woven motifs.
There are twelve steels in stitched channels, 2¼" apart, round the back panels and one round the hem, all finishing at the side seams; one more stops 13" short of the side seams and another, only 21" long, is above back hem. At the centre back there is a vertical steel, 8½" long, going up from the hem over the three lowest steels to keep them spaced out, and there is some tension in the fabric round their ends causing it to pucker.
The front panels are flat, with empty stitched channels continuing from the lowest three on the back, and one on the hem; the open centre front is fastened with four linen buttons and buttonholes, one of them on the waistband; it is effectively closed 14" up from the hem by five more buttons, stitched through both sides of the fronts, three of them at the ends of the stitched channels and one on the hem.
Inside, there are two flat panels, attached to the side seams, 1½" along from the ends of the steels; they have nine pairs of metal eyelets down their centre edges for lacing with ½" wide white tape, and these panels would hang behind the wearer's waist and hold the steels out at the back
The self waistband is 1½" wide and 29½" long; an 8" long section at the centre back has ½" wide tapes in a channel which go right round the waist and tie at the back to pull it in. Some tucks have been taken which distort the hang of the front panels, and at each side there is a section of braid about 5" long, which might have been elastic. Each edge of the centre front there are ½" wide tapes, maybe to tie the waist together if it was too small when buttoned.
The cage is 34" long at the front and 43" long at the centre back.
Contemporary illustrations
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Fashion drawing of a bustle cage in La Mode Illustrée, July 1874
History
As the fullness of skirts moved towards the back in the second half of the 1860s, the supporting structures did the same, and were called crinolettes. By 1870 the fullness was bunched up over a bustle, which was only at the back.