Found Infographic: Vintage Corset Directions

Imagine needing directions with a diagram for getting dressed! Before elastic and stretch fabrics came into regular use for foundation garments, the design and proper fit of a corset took a fair amount of engineering and customization. (See previous post on the Berlei Body Type Calculator.)

I was curious about why the name of a corset manufacturer would be “Camp.” I thought that perhaps the company originally manufactured tents--you know, canvas, cord, grommets, rigging hardware. Not so. It turns out that the name of the corset maker was Samuel Higby Camp. In 1908, he patented the "fan-lacing" system of attaching straps and buckles to groups of laces so that the garment could be tightened from the front, by the corset wearer herself. Before that, women were dependent on a maid/mother/other, to pull the laces tight from the back and tie them. So, what appears to us as a garment of torture and confinement, actually provided women with a level of self-sufficiency, not previous available to them.

And remember, NEVER pull upwards or downwards, always in a straight line!

Berlei Type Indicator

In 1926, Berlei Ltd. of Australia embarked on the ambitious project of measuring 6000 women. 23 individual measurements were recorded for each subject. The purpose of this historic anthropometric study? None other than to achieve proper fit for the corsets they manufactured. It seems that in the years between lace-up corsets and advances in stretch textiles, foundation garments contained only small strips of elastic for give. With little room for error, construction for proper fit was a tricky business. The study resulted in a classification system of five basic body types and a patented nomogram—a calculating device, with which to identify the body type of any woman’s figure.


The Powerhouse Museum archive explains: “The chart featured a moveable disc for indicating bust measurement and a moveable pointer for indicating waist measurement. Hip measurement sizes were printed on the border surrounding the moveable disc. An instruction sheet with illustrations was pasted onto the back of the chart…”

The exact body types and the colors of the device varied slightly over the years, but the Berlei fitting system set a standard for the industry and remained in use for some 30 years.