Draping a Charles James corset

 “My designs are not a luxury they represent fashion research”

 Charles James

I have been fascinated by the work of Charles James for a number of years. In the late 90’s I was  in New York City and able to see his work in the museum archives. I made lots of rough sketches and took a lot of notes. Charles James avoidance of side seams at all cost, his use of horizontal pleating and the way he draped fabric have made him a mentor to so many fashion designers over the years. 

Charles James theatrical corset, circa late 1950s...collection MFIT

This corset really inspired me. I think it really shows off his reverse arc technique and the fact that here are only two pattern pieces. The way the boning was placed and all the padded areas. 

I wrote beside the drawings -

        When R Wells came back to James 10 years later and  a lot heavier to her surprise it still fitted.

   

Sitting on the patio last summer with a friend I started to drape this corset using the photo and sketch.
Working 1/2 scale I started by measuring out the amount of muslin I would need to drape the front and marking the fabric.


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The center front seam is on the cross grain or bias of the fabric. I pinned the fabric to the stand down my marked center front line.




The bust is shaped with two darts. One starting one inch over from the    center front line,  on the under bust line angling down and finishing at the under bust. apex point or princess line.           
Smooth the fabric over to the side seam with your hand keeping the same angle as the dart,  pin to hold.  Cut above this pinned line to the under bust and make an under bust dart to shape the cup. (on the sketch this dart is missing, but to remove the excess fabric and shape the cup it is needed). 


  Mark a point that is approximately one and a half inches in from the the side seam on this under bust line.
Measure over from the waist line from the center front line 3/4 inch, pin to mark this point.  From this point draw or pin a line that arcs up and over the the  arc in and over towards the mark on the under bust line.Draw in the arc shape from waistline up to the pin on the under bust line. From the pin on the waistline, pin a line down to the hip line ending at the approximate length of the corset 1 -1/2 inches in from the side seam. Draw in this line.






 Cut off excess fabric keeping a seam allowance. Clip in to the seam allowance at the waistline to the pin so that the seam allowance sits flat to the stand.
                                         
                  



                                           
                                                                                 

here I have drawn in a new bust line  and you
can see that the old bust line has dropped
down to what looks like a 45% angle

 The neck line is shaped by a curved dart. This dart shapes the top of the cup and also help to change the fabric grain line from cross grain or bias to straight of grain. As you work this dart the side cup bust line begins to lower. The excess fabric is manipulated into the under bust dart. 
In the photo you can see the cup is now sitting in a rounded shape. The bust line from bust apex has dropped down  to the pinned mark on the under bust line.  I have pinned down the side seam to hold the fabric because I needed to add more fabric to be able to continue over to the back princess line at the waistline. 

                                                 

pin and mark in the waist line across to the side seam

This photo shows the front panel curving
around to the back princess seam on the  waist line.
the excess fabric has then been cut away. 

The front panel curves around to the back  finishing at the waist line on the princess line. Here you can see that I had to add fabric at the side seam. There is no side seam in the Charles James corset.
If you work with the fabric  pinning  and smoothing it to hold it to the body the curve will form on its own. 

This photo is showing the waist line markings and
the grain line of the fabric

From the pin holding the curve at the front waist line pin along the waist line following around to the pin on the back princess line. Mark and cut excess fabric away.




You now have the front panel. Now to drape the back panel.

Clip in at the waist line

pin from the waist line up to the neckline
following the seam line marked
on the front panel

The back is cut on the cross grain or bias of the fabric. Pin the fabric down the center back. Smooth the fabric over at the waist line to the princess line . Smooth and pin the fabric onto the marked front panel from the waistline up to the neck line. Remove excess fabric and clip in at the waist line.






  
Create a dart from the waist down approximately 5 inches long.on the princess line.  This removes excess fabric from the small of the back.  It also keeps the fabric on the correct grain. I had to add padding to the stand as to try to create a bottom as the stand is flat.


Continue pinning around the waist line to the front panel. I have turned under the excess fabric at the waistline  to make it easier to see. A dart will form from the excess fabric on the side seam. 









Pin down the front curve on the  front panel marked seam line. Because I added padding to the back of the stand I had to add a piece of fabric to the bottom of the curve on the front panel. This seam now arcs over to finish on the side seam line of the stand.

From this point on the side seam draw a line that arcs up to the lower hip line on the center front line. This line will be used to mark the boning placement. 






This corset has a crotch. The back crotch has a dart on either side that curves away from the center back . This darts starts in the crotch line and finishes under the bottom. This dart gives the lower bottom shape, removing extra fabric and helps to hold the back leg shape in place. 

Draw in the front leg shaping and crotch. 

The center back was finished with a metal zipper.

The front drape that would now
be cleaned up and transferred to paper

The back drape that would now be
cleaned up and transferred to paper

    This is my interpretation of the reverse arc technique that was a major design element under laying James’s work. 

“What is the true function of fashion,” James once asked and answered, “but to be a rehearsal for propagation?”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1998/11/charles-james-couture

BY 

LAURA JACOBS

JULY 7, 2014