I haven’t blogged much about Emily’s dress lately because I have been focused on my 17th and 18th century sewing, but I have been plugging away on it. Obviously the thing that I really need to make a the dress fit right is a 1903ish straight fronted corset. Based on period advertising, the most common straight fronted corset imported and sold in New Zealand in the first five years of the 20th century was the famous W.B. Erect Form Corset. For my 1903 corset, I used images of the WB erect form, and Norah Waugh’s ca. 1901 straight fronted corset pattern. The patterning on these things is insane.  The panels are ridiculously curved, and the seaming has no relation to the bone placement. I’m draping my pattern on Isabelle.  I’m not sure if this will really work.  The 1903 silhouette is so extreme that it’s really hard to fit and figure out from anything that remotely matches a normal body shape.  I’m just going to try my best, and hope!