This document provides a comprehensive guide to Edwardian undergarments, essential for achieving the era's distinctive silhouette. It covers various layers, patterns, and materials needed, emphasizing the importance of proper undergarments to create the desired historical shape. It also includes links to tutorials and resources for further learning and pattern-making.

1. Edwardian Undergarments
A Beginner’s Guide
All historic costumes begin with the right
undergarments, to give you the right historic
shape. And the Edwardian shape was
especially weird.
The Edwardian era seems to get a bit less
love than the Victorian, but there are still
resources out there.
By A Slip in Time
https://aslipintime.blogspot.co.uk/
This slideshow lists the layers you will
Need, plus photos of garments and
free historical patterns for them.

2. Sources
● I am too broke to go to costume college, and am new to the hobby
● Like all the resources at my site, I’m not writing as an expert teacher – I’m researching, as a student, and
then collecting everything I’ve found together into an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format.
● My key sources for learning are at these links! Please follow the links, all of which have more detail, more
information on variants and years, photos of costumes the author has made, and more:
– http://www.corsetsandcrinolines.com/timeline.php?dt=1900
– http://www.corsetsandcrinolines.com/timeline.php?dt=1910 - must read! Scroll down for many photos!
– https://thepragmaticcostumer.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/lifting-skirts-and-loosening-ties-what-goes-under-an
– https://fashioningnostalgia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/victorianedwardian-combination-chemise.html
– https://romancingthesewn.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/hsm-2017-january-firsts-a-1903-base/
– https://ladycarolyn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/interpreting-edwardian-undergarments.html
– https://fashionthroughhistory.com/category/20th-century-edwardian/
– Visual learners should check out the opening of Picnic at Hanging Rock (set 1900), which begins with
the students putting on layers and layers of undergarments.
– There’s also a scene in Titanic (set 1912) where the heroine is donning her undergarments

3. Get The Look
● Teeny waist
● Curved back
● “pigeon” chest
● Mono-boob
● FRILLS! LACE!
● Not much skin on show
● Natural curves skirt
● Check out that hat

4. About Underwear!
●
Having the right historic underwear is essential to making historic
costumes look good
●
They help you accomplish the weird proportions fashionable at the time.
●
Make your undergarments before your outergarments, for a good fit.
●
When modern people look at historic photos, they focus on how
painfully tight the corset must be to get the waist that small! But the
whole structure of the undergarments provides the illusion of a small
waist! By adding big butts, big chests, big sleeves, the waist seems
smaller by proportion, helping the corset do its work. Cunning!
● The complete Edwardian woman
wears:
1)A chemise/camisole/slip or
combinations
2)Drawers
3)Stockings
4)A corset
5)A corset cover
6)Chest improvers
7)A bum pad
8)A brassiere
9)Several petticoats

5. Fabric & techniques
Most underwear in history
was made of linen
Cotton began to be used
from 1900, which is great for
your bank balance. But linen
breathes well + is cooling,
which you’ll appreciate once
all the layers are on!
● Many of the underwear pieces have
“inserted lace”, cut out sections where
there is lace panels instead. Here’s a
tutorial on how to use this technique:
● http://wearinghistoryblog.com/2012/04/tutorials
● She also has a tutorial on gathering
lace, which you may also need:
● http://wearinghistoryblog.com/2012/04/tutorial-
● If you want to play on hard mode, you
can also make your own lace using
historic patterns from the lace or tatting
sections here:
● http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/html
/warm/main.htm

6. Layer 1: Camisole + Drawers
There are two patterns here to make a camisole
from hankies:
http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasury/articles/hancamisoles.html
Here’s another pattern taught IN A SILENT MOVIE:
http://www.edwardianpromenade.com/fashion/a-homemade-bras
Because fabric has ALWAYS been expensive, esp
historically and people in the past were always looking for
shortcuts to get around that. Plus la change.
A camisole is a thin, lacy, unstructured
top

7. Layer 1: or a Chemise + drawers
A chemise is essentially a thin,
plain, unstructured dress, and it
has been part of women’s
underclothes since forever. I
guess it fell out of fashion when
we became better at washing
things, removing the need for a
protective layer between
expensive clothes and skin
● This creator has a great
resourcepost with pictures of
chemises plus a great general
Edwardian undergarments
Pinterest board:
● http://www.sewhistorically.com/edwardian-lace-chemise-historical-sew-monthly/
●

8. Layer 1: or Combinations
● Combinations are an
undergarment which
combines the
functions of
camisole&drawers
● More info at:
https://fashioningnostalgia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/victorianedwardian-combination-chemise.html

9. Layer 1: or a slip
● Pragmatic Costumer links this
as another alternative under-
corset garment
● But the website describes it as
a combi-corset-cover-and-
petticoat?
● So which is it?
● MORE LAYERS. MORE
FRILLS. MORE LACE. FRILLS
FOR THE FRILL GOD LACE
FOR THE LACE THRONE.

10. Confusion!
● To sum up, you need a layer between your skin and
the corset.
● Your options are:
– A camisole & drawers
– A chemise & drawers
– A slip (presumably worn without drawers…? I’m not sure)
– “Combinations” - garments such as a one-piece-
combined-camisole-drawers
● Any ONE of these will do you fine!

11. ● A tutorial on drawers. Drawers seem to come to
just above the knee and, it’s important to note,
are “open” to the elements. A very practical
consideration when you’re wearing so many
layers!
● https://romancingthesewn.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/la-mode-
● A free 1907 drawers pattern – follow the link for
instructions:
● http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasury/freepatterns/w1907drawers.h
●
Drawers!
● What about
stockings? They
seem to have
come to the mid-
thigh
● Some images
here, including
for sale
http://blog.americanduchess.com/2013/06/victorian-edwardian-stockings.html
● I can’t find much
info, but the ones
I’ve found are
made of silk.

12. Layer 2: Now the corset
● Corset garters attach to stockings,
which are at the knee
● Some debate about HOW they actually
did this with all that frill going on, but
garter straps evidently are very long. In
this photo, you can see that the
underskirt/draws have been ruffled up
to make room for the garter. MORE
RUFFLES!

13. ● Here’s another demonstration of the garters attached
to the corset, making the underskirt ruffle up.
● There’s a really important comment from Lady Carolyn
at this link about how far we can trust photographs of
women in their undergarments as accurate historical
representation of what real women wore. There’s
every chance these photos were designed to be
saucy, and using them is the equivalent of consulting a
Playboy to learn about contemporary women’s clothes
● https://ladycarolyn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/interpreting-edwardian-undergarments.html

14. {Edwardian Corsets}
● Early Edwardian (1900-1910ish)
– Gibson Girl
– S-bend/straight front
– Pigeonchest/monoboob
● Late Edwardian (1910-1915ish)
– Long-line, smooth
– Titanic era
– Doesn’t kill your insides so badly
● Underbust corset
– Can only find information about
– this from online shops, alas, but
– there’s a photo of a brown one:
S-bend corsets are genuinely not great for your health, even compared to other
historic corsets. Modern patterns are often ADAPTED from accurate ones, to
minimise health risks. I think the patterns given in this slideshow are all originals:
so avoid wearing them daily, don’t overlace, and pay attention to your body!

15. ● https://corsetmaking.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/scaling-antique-corset-pattern.html
● S-line based off Nora Waugh
Incoming! Three corset patterns!
Corset-making is its own skill,
and requires some specialist
knowledge for fitting, choosing
materials, and following these
sparse patterns. The Bridges on
the Body link in 2 slides time has
a really good beginner corset
tutorial project. There’s also a
great resource list here:
https://corsetmaking.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/new-year-new-
corsets.html

16. 1908 corset from http://www.marquise.de/en/1900/schnitte/s1900.shtml - instructions at link

17. This late Edwardian corset pattern from https://bridgesonthebody.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/1911
Who has a super detailed sew-along tutorial, perfect for new corset-makers

18. Layer 3: corset cover
● A corset cover is essentially another camisole,
another lacy thin shirt.
● Because you don’t want your corset to be seen
through your outer garments, oh no no!
Frills on the corset cover often add chest bulk.
This helps you get that “pigeon-chest” shape
● This creator talks you through making one:
https://fashionthroughhistory.com/2014/03/17/edwardian-corset-cover/
● She has images of historic ones, and historic
brassieres too:
● https://fashionthroughhistory.com/2014/03/14/ed
wardian-corset-cover-inspiration/
This pic on the left is from
The pattern packet at
Truly Victorian:
https://www.trulyvictorian.n
et/womens-sewing-
patterns/edwardian-
patterns-1901-1914/

19. Layer 3.5: Chest Improvers
● Oh you thought we were
done?
●
● Some women wore a chest
improver under the corset,
essentially a padded bra, to
help get that chest shape.
● This creator demonstrates
bust improvers, complete
with a pattern:
● http://wearinghistoryblog.co
m/2014/03/finished-projects-
edwardian-s-curve-corset-
improvers/

20. Layer 3.5: The Brassiere
● Sometimes a bra was worn as well, as this
corset offers no bust support. This is the first
appearance of the brassiere in fashion history!
●
(More info on the bra here, behind a paywall:
https://www.foundationsrevealed.com/index-of-articles/lingerie/victorianedwardian/292-edwardian-and-1910s-brassieres)
●
This creator drafts a brassiere, which
demonstrates the kind of chest-padding a
fashionable woman might wear:
● https://fashionthroughhistory.com/2014/03/19/edwardian-brassiere/
Photo above from this link, with
LOTS of construction info
http://www.corsetsandcrinoline
s.com/timelineitem.php?
index=191038

21. Layer 3.5: Bum pad
●
We are basically post-bustle now! Ladies have an elegant,
essentially natural curve and fall over the buttocks
● The s-bend corset also provides a curved shelf at the back
which does some of the work of a bustle
● Nevertheless, some people still wore a bum pad, and here
are two photos of that. “Bum pad” isn’t a technical term, I
just think calling this a bustle is misleading
●
It’s not as dramatic as earlier eras, but can still be used to
contribute to the silhouette.
● Apparently the metal grommets are for ventilation????

22. Layer 4: PETTICOATS
● As many as you can get
away with, frankly
● This pattern from
http://www.marquise.de/en/190
● Another 1907 petticoat
pattern:
● http://www.tudorlinks.com/treas
● As you can see in the
photo, petticoats got just
as silly as overskirts did.

23. Layer 5: you can put on clothes now
● This was all necessary
because those gauzy
Edwardian blouses and
dresses were totes see
through
● A good starter set of free
Edwardian patterns at:
● http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasur
● And
● http://www.marquise.de/en/1
900/schnitte/s1900.shtml

24. Thank you!
● Go forth and shimmy elegantly
down the promenade, knowing
your undercarriage is fit for
wooing ladies and gentlemen,
going for ices, bicycling in the
park, chaining yourselves to
lampposts, taking jolly holidays
with Mary, making out with
hotties in the ship’s hold, dining
with our skeletal overlords,
vanishing enigimatically, and
looking fantastic with a parasol.