For a customer of mine I made a red version of the Elizabethan corset from my range. The pattern is a pair of bodies fitting for the period from 1550 to 1630. “

[It] is based on two preserved examples: a pair of bodies from the grave complex of the countess paladine Dorothea Sabina from Neuburg”, today kept in the Bavarian National Museum, Munich, and the bodice from the wax effigy of Queen Elizabeth I., which was carried along on her funeral procession and is kept in Westminster Abbey today.” (cited and translated from Nehelenia Patterns)

Korsett der Pfalzgräfin Dorothea Sabina von Neuburg, um 1598 München, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum

Corset of the countess paladine Dorothea Sabina from Neuburg, ca. 1598
Munich, Bavarian National Museum

Korsett vom Wachsabbild Elizabeth I., kurz vor 1603 London, Westminster Abbey Museum

Corset from the wax effigy of Elizabeth I., shortly before 1603
London, Westminster Abbey Museum

I have sewn it not entirely historically accurate with my sewing machine and strengthened it with metal bones. The eyelets for the lacing at the back are made from metal as well. But soon I’d like to try a version with cane and hand sewn eyelets. I can imagine that such a variation would be more comfortable to wear, since the cane is less stiff and instead evenly distributed over the whole corset.