The Swiss Waist: the Easy Way to a Victorian Silhouette (without a corset!)

Hello everyone and welcome to a new video!

After a little bit of a disappointment with my 1860s skirt, I widened the skirt band to fix it, and though it made it better, it still wasn't ideal. So I decided to explore period appropriate solutions: belts! In this case, a Swiss waist, or belt, or however you'd like to name it. It seems definitions were inconsistent across magazines and outfit descriptions, but you can trace these belts/waists through museum extants and photographs. They definitely existed and were definitely popular for a handful of years in the 1860s, most likely because they suited the new fashionable style of separates.

I used the free online pattern made by koshka-the-cat (http://www.koshka-the-cat.com/swiss_p...) based on an extant from their collection. I had to add significantly to the sides to make it my waist measurement (and it accidentally ended up a little wider when I messed up my seam allowance). I used around a half meter of cotton coutil and black velvet, as well as thread, bias tape, synthetic whalebone, and a handful of metal eyelets. Overall, I think this project took only a handful of hours, even with all the hand finishing, and I'm so happy with it! I think it's a great addition to historically inspired outfits and provides some support and silhouette shaping without the full need for a corset, especially when paired with historically drafted skirts (that hem to waist is the real trick at the end of the day!).

Have you heard of Swiss waists? If so, where, and what were they called? I'm so curious to know how they became known in our modern times!

You can see the making of the 1860s inspired ensemble here:    • A Little Women Dress: Crafting a Roma...  

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