Late 1890s Warner's Corset
Antique Corset #0004
F.C. Over Bust or Model Form type corset from the 1890s
Busk clasps are stamped with the manufacturer's id of : "FC CO"
F.C. Corsets were manufactured by the Kalamazoo Corset Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the USA
Corset Measurements:
30” bust / 20” waist / 32” upper hip (4.5” below waist)
Made to fit a person with the following measurements:
32” bust / 24” waist / 34” upper hip (4.5” below waist)
This corset is constructed of 8 pattern pieces per side with no gores. The fabric is a drab colored cotton coutil cut with the grain of the fabric running horizontally, around the body. Seam allowances are sewn towards the exterior and covered with the applied exterior bone casings of the same fabric as the body. The is no waist tape.
Corset has a total of 34 bones per side; two center back steels encase the grommets, two 1/2" wide side steels per side each flanked by two baleen bones, 12 additional baleen bones which run the full length of the corset are set within the exterior casings in groups of three and 12 angled smaller baleen bones per side help to shape and reinforce the bust. The bust bones are inserted in applied exterior casings. There is no flossing. The upper edge of the corset is finished with an exterior applied scalloped edge black decorative tape and the inside upper edge is encased in a narrow white bias binding. The bottom edge of the corset is bound in narrow black bias binding. This corset shows no evidence of ever having straps, though the ads below sho nearly identical corsets with shoulder straps.
Center front length of 15” with a 14” dished busk. Center front also features a steel 3/4" wide by 12" long dished under busk to strengthen the center front. Center back length of 14" with 13 grommets per side; evenly spaced at 15/16” apart. The lowest grommet is set 1” up from the bottom edge and the uppermost grommet is set 1” down from the upper edge.
There was a "Model Form" corset by the Schilling Corset Company in 1897 which this greatly resembles.
