1880s Crin bustle
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1880s A bustle made of crinoline.
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View of the bustle from the back
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The inside of the bustle
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Detail looking down at the top of the bustle; the padded roll at the waist can be seen
Description
The bustle is made of crinoline, a textile with a white cotton warp and a weft of black horsehair or crin.
The foundation consists of two joined panels of double layers of crinoline, 10" wide at the top widening to 21" at the base, with the seam at the centre back; 12 horizontal strips, 2¾" wide, are sewn in pleats, about 1½" apart, all the way down. The top is attached to a small padded roll covered with striped cotton, which has tapes at each end to tie round the waist, and the tape also binds the edges of the foundation layers and the frills. The crinoline is coming away from the binding on the right-hand side edge.
Inside, two pieces of white cotton, 15" long and 2½" wide, are sewn down each side, 3" in from the edge at the top on the left and 2½" on the right, widening to about 4" at the base; their inside edges have seven pairs of brass eyelets spaced down them, for lacing with a cotton cord which pulls in the sides to make the bustle stick out. This is helped by a steel, 2" down from the top and another at the base of the laced panels.
Contemporary illustration
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Fashion drawing of a bustle in La Mode Illustrée, July 1874
