US2475175A - Garment - Google Patents

Description

E. CADOUS July 5 1949 GARMENT Filed June 16, 1945 Patented July 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to the upper or waist portion of garments to be worn particularly by women and may be adapted for skirts, slacks and other types of Womens garments.

Broadly, it is an object of my invention to provide a garment which is automaticall adjustable to girths of varying widths without the necessity of additional cutting, sewing, or other tailoring, or the use of fastening means, such as hooks and eyes, zippers, buttons and button holes, generally used for retaining the garment upon the person; my garment retaining at all times the appearance of a finely tailored garment, which maintains its shape during the various movements of the body.

Another object of my invention is to provide in a garment a combination of elastic and inelastic areas so joined together to give the appearance of a graceful and hand tailored garment without the necessity of using pleats, tucks, or gathers.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a garment with automatic waist and thigh adjustability without the use of pleats, tucks and gathers or the necessity of surplus material, or the use of various types of fastening means, which have heretofore been found necessary in this art.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatically adjustable waist portion of a garment which assumes a graceful appearance and which presents a smooth and unpleated surface at the mid-section of the body.

A further object of my invention is to provide a garment which has a great many advantages of a foundation girdle without requiring the use of a girdle when my garment is Worn.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide in such a garment, in addition to all the advantages heretofore described, a novel elastic section to hold the rest of the garment in wearable position without the need of an additional belt.

Another object of my invention is to provide in such a garment some means of abdominal support and. for aiding and supporting the h p D tions of the body.

Heretofore it has been a disadvantage in garments purchased, to recut and. reset such garments in order to fit the different girths of each purchaser in order to assure a tailored appearance of the garment. It is also necessary to pleat, tuck, and gather the material in the abdominal region to provide a measure of adjustability for the varying girths of the purchasers; such garments do not generally find favor with the wearer since women usually prefer a smooth fitting, flat lying garment about the abdominal and waist region of the body.

The use of a band of elastic fabric forming the top portion of such a garment for adjustability does not solve the problem, since a rectangular elastic band requires the cloth of the garment along the line of jointure of both these areas to be pleated, tucked, or gathered to permit the inelastic area of the garment to expand to the increased girth. Such a result is unsightly and lacks gracefulness and the appearance of a tailored garment. If the cloth were not pleated, tucked or gathered, the strain of the increased girth would stretch the elastic portion but would unduly strain or possibly tear the inelastic portion.

In my garment all such disadvantages would be obviated, and an adjustable garment provided having all of the objects heretofore described which may be made by cutting the elastic portion so as to provide a line of jointure between the elastic and inelastic portion. This type of construction eliminates the need for unsightly pleats, tucks or gathers and various types of fastening means, and produces a garment which moulds itself to the shape of the body and fits snugly and gracefully upon the person of the wearer. A garment so constructed for one girth and width about the waist and hips is readily and automatically adjustable to a person of large proportions. The garment, when used by a person of increased girth and width about the hips and waist, requires no cutting, sewing or other tailoring. When the garment is drawn over the legs and when the thighs are reached, which are generally the widest portions of the body, there is no danger of abnormal strain or possible tearing of the inelastic fabric. My garment will easily pass such wider Width without the necessity of using pleats, tucks or gathers or separable fastening means to compensate for such increased width. The necessary elasticity is provided by the elastic members at the waist and hip portions. The fabric along the line of jointure remains smooth and gives a tailored appearance, the increase in width being automatically provided by the elastic members at the waist and hip portions thus obviating the need of tucks, pleats, gathers and various types of separable fastening means. If the line of jointure of the elastic and inelastic fabrics had been cut horizontally across the garment, the inelastic cloth would have been placed under an excessive strain in passing the thighs and might result in tearing or weakening the garment when drawn over the thighs.

My garment eliminates all of such disadvantages, obviating the necessity of a foundation girdle and. gives a neat, smooth and graceful appearance which is sought to be attained by the use of a foundation girdle. Furthermore, abdominal support is provided and also support for the hip portions of the body. My construc- 5 tion also permits the incorporation in the garment with an area which may be braced by bone or spring steels to provide additional support for the abdomennand other pontions ofethe body, leaving the garmentfadjustable, .neat; comfort 1O able, tailored and graceful in appearance.

My invention also resides in the combination; and arrangement of parts and the details of construction as herein set forth and claimed.

In order to clearly explain and .describer-my. 3

invention to others, I have shown it applied to slacks and skirts although iti!may easilyibes ape plied to other articles of wearing apparel such as trousers of all kinds,, pajamas, tennis shorts, mens shorts and other articles to produce all of the objects -and advantages above enumerated.

My invention is -illustratedin-1the accompany-'- ing drawings, in which Fi'gal is-a frontjelevation-ofa skirt=with the lower portion cut away:

Fi 2 is aside" elevation 'ofthe' skirt shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is -a front elevati'on' of-"a modified skirt.

Fig-L 4 1s *az-fr'ont elevationof another modified skirt;

Fig. 5' is a front elevation-of still another modifi'ed skirt.

Fig: 6" is a front elevationf still anothermodif fied skirt.

Fig. 7 shows an' elevational sectional viewtaken along "line 1'--l 'of "Fig; 8 viewed inthe direction of the' arrowi Fig; 8; is a -front elevation ifr' perspective ofthe upperportionof a pair offslacks showing-the provision of-a sectionopposite theabdomen and 40 rear region', said section containing bon-e or spring steel members.

Fig; 9 'is' an=:elevationa1 "diag rammatic; view of the section containing the boneror spring steel members. 4.

Fig; 10 is a :front= el'evati'on of' apair; of slacks showing afurthers modification; in-

the line of jointure in whichthe elastic area is interrupted byflthe inelastic fabricwhielr'is carried tothe top otithee sla'ck's.

' Fig. 11 is=a front elevationzef aepairof-slacks showing another 1 modification in the "line of J' ointure:

Fig; l2 is a front elevation-of apair of "slacks showing afurtl'iermodification in the line of jointure:

Fig-131s afront eleyation of alpair, ofslacks showing another modification in the line of join: ture'.

Similar numbers refer to sir'nilar.parts.through out the several views.

Referring to. the drawings, skirt a -=is .madeof: ordinary. fabric. 2 6 of inelastic material, save for the limited I stretch proyidede, bygplacing 1 the mae terial on the. bias; which}. fabric comprises the main .-portionof-the garment; .thefbalanceof the garment beinggv madeazof f elastic: fabric 21. n Theelastic fabric is \preferab'iy? made of the *typeof cloth: :in" which rtheethreads are acombination Y of fabricf and; rubber: yarnsin -order to provide clas tici'ty: in": the v resulting fabric; The elasticity in this fabric isflinf the -direc-tiom of-"the width- -ofthe garmennathat is, in-a horizontal plane; andbeingsub'stanti-ally inelastic along its verti'cal a'xi'sz 75 4 This fabric is well known in the art and particu-- larly in the girdle art.

In Fig. 1 the skirt is provided with front and back elastic sections 28 and 29, respectively, and substantially triangular sections 30-30 on each side of the garment. The arrows on sections 28 to 30, inclusive, represent the horizontal stretch of such elastic members and such sections are stitched...togethen and alsoatouthe. fabric 26 as shown in the drawing taproduce aagarment which fits gracefully and smoothly at the waist and hips and the upper portions of the thighs. The side portions 30 drop to a point 3| at the thighs in order to assure proper adjustability in the garment.to p ersons of wider girth and proportions,

"thus permitting the garment to be drawn on withoutytearing,.thesintermediate elastic cloth 2B and preserving the smoothness, grace and neatness of the garment. The horizontal stretch of the elastic members also permits uniformity of height of the; bottom of the skirt 1 from" the ground. No pleatsgathersytucks, buttons, button holes; hooks and eyes; zippers; or similar devices=are necessary. The front andback elasticsections. give'th'e appearance of a,- belt ormay be: concealed bya new. while still providing1the aclded stretch for the-- garment.- The comparative. narrowness; of the elastic front and back; sections- 28 and 29, while insuringfiproperlfitgwilli not:causeiexcessive perspiration at the: waistline ofz:thevwearer; If such; elastic memberswvere to=beimade too1wide in the height; in. warm weathenzthe wearer Would he causedatonperspirenmone:freely In-rEig; 3:: the'sinelasticafabr-ic 26.5-is. :carried; between: elastic .2 front. and: backir 'sectionsi 32 32 respectively. The triangularrside sections :30 are the. same; and: the: result T of: the action; ofv this garmentiisaveryymnchi.likel that i'sh'owrn in Figs. 1- and/.2;-v Alb of: the& elasticnmembersn stretch horizontally;

In FigaA zalla of :the:memberslare identical' with that of'Flig, 3:except that-.iinsteadiofxstraight sided triangularz:sideifisectionsg. suchiusidea sections are curvedsassshownabyline 344.43; x

Thecfi'gure. showminFig: 5 issidentica/lwith that showncirrFig'. .1; except thatithe; triangular side sectionsiarepurved;aslshowmat 35-r-'35 instead of straight as: shown: in Fig-s1: 1. and 12;;

In Fig: 6iallthezsectionstareaidentical with that shown in Fig. 5; except that-:thefifron-t-iand back elasticcsectiorrsid-roprlower :ir r .th'eficentral. portions as-sh'own by numera'Is'S 6.36i;

Referring; topFigs. .75Ea-nd :8}: thereeis disclosed 1a modifications of J-my inyerrti'oniin which the gar= m'en t 'is .providediwitlr.:sectiorrs 3F! ifront and back, irr. -constructing-atsaid?- sections; inelasticfabric is cdtatowae size: and? shape corresponding to. lines o, .e f; andsgeasshmmr in:- Figs. Strand-9. On-to onexfaee -tofrthe sectionzthereeare-zaflixed stays' 38; either of:b'oneonspringsteell Theserare confined upon the. ssurfacea ofr= the section: by sewin -stripsof:taper39izoverxtlrem; The SCtlDIlS th1HS -1COm-.. pleted are then made part of .the gemment ibysewing.:the:.:samenwithinzthez garment"). front xand back aseindicated;..by sewingralongslinesac; d', e; f, and ig aslshowmin Fig: .8;

In insertingxsections-z Slcwitliim the garment; in thermodification in my inventiorrshownin Figs; 7 8 and 9;outer seamsrare*left'unsewed for a short distance commencing: helow pointst wtand 144 I and along; HWIBSMQ-I 4 2;": In' this; condition. of "t-he. :gariment section's- 31; the front *and* bacle are readi-l'y' fitted withintlie.garment, against tlie correspond mg -elastic sections and-*arethen stitched along lines 0, d, c, and g topermanently-afiixthe same to the garment; the bottom line of said sections shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8 is left hanging free and unsewed. The garment is then completed by completing the sewing of the seams to the top of the garment. The result is a garment which :as the additional features of added support and contraction for these portions of the body to assure in certain instances additional neatness and grace in the wearing of ladies apparel.

If desired, the garment may be provided with an elastic section in the front alone, or with the elastic section in the back alone, leaving the front or back respectively of inelastic fabric, if it is desired to obtain the advantage of my invention on one side of the garment; I prefer to use an elastic section, however, in the back and front.

In Fig. 10 the inelastic cloth 42 is carried between the elastic side sections 4343 to the top of the garment. Sections t3 are stretchable horizontally as indicated by the arrows to provide an identical result to that of the heretofore described skirt except that the application is to slacks.

In constructing the garment the elastic and inelastic sections are cut separately, according to pattern and the two joined along the line of jointure by sewing. Of course, it is possible to prepare the trouser or leg region and to knit integrally with this section, a section of elastic fabric so as to produce a garment having the prepared line of jointure. In the usual method of manufacture, however, the garment will be made in the manner indicated out of two separate sections; the elastic and inelastic sections then being joined as indicated.

The elastic section may be comprised of a single front and single back portion, the two being sewed together. It may also be made of one piece or the elastic portion may be comprised of four quarters to wit: a front and back for the left side, and a front and back for the right side, the four sections being sewed together to form one unit, this being the preferred manner of construction.

In Fig. 11 the upper portion of the slacks is somewhat like that shown in Fig. 10, except that the side sections 44-44 are joined together at the central portion so that the elastic members present a horizontal stretch all around the waistline as indicated by the arrows.

In Fig. 12 the slacks shown are very similar to those shown in Fig. 11, except that the side sections 45-45 have their lower portion straight as shown at 4646 instead of curved, and stretch horizontally around the waistline as indicated by the arrows.

The slacks shown in Fig. 13 are very much like those shown in Fig. 12, except that the side sections 41-41 have the lower portion of the front and rear portions cut so as to present points 48-48 as shown in the figure. The elastic members 41-41 provide horizontal stretch around the waistline.

In all of the above modifications, I employ the principle of having the line of jointure so designed that the lower portion of the side or hip 6 sections are in a lower plane than the lowest point of the central section of the elastic members, thus presenting an inelastic fabric section between the elastic side sections.

I claim:

1. A garment having a lower part of inelastic fabric to conceal the lower limbs of the wearer, an upper elastic band about the waist and hip regions of elasticity across the width of said garment, said elastic band being lowest at the thigh regions and narrower across the midsection of the body of the wearer the narrowness of the elastic band, at the midsection of the abdomen of the wearer, approximating that of a conventional belt, and a flat seam uniting said band at its lowermost boundary with the lower part of said garment whereby the region of union remains sufficiently elastic across the width of the garment to varying girths, to conform the same to the shape of the wearer.

2. A garment having a lower part of inelastic fabric to conceal the lower limbs of the wearer, substantially triangular side sections of elastic fabrics having horizontal stretch at the upper side portions of said garment, elastic front and back sections at the upper portion of said garment, said front and back sections joined to the upper edges of said side sections, said sections presenting a horizontal stretch around said garment, at the midsection of the abdomen of the wearer approximating that of a conventional belt, said sections being stitched at their lower portion to inelastic material comprising the rest of the gar ment, providing an area with inelastic material between said elastic side sections, whereby the upper portion of said garment has sufficient elasticity across the width of the garment to fit varying girths and to conform itself to the shape of the wearer.

3. A garment having a lower part of inelastic fabric to conceal the lower limbs of the wearer, substantially triangular side sections of elastic fabric having horizontal stretch at the upper side portions of said garment, elastic front and back sections at the upper portion of said garment joined to said side sections at the midsection of the abdomen of the wearer approximating that of a conventional belt, inelastic material on the bias joined to the lower portions of said elastic sections, said inelastic material running to the top central portion of said garment whereby sufficient horizontal stretch is provided across the width of the garment for varying girths and to conform the same to the shape of the wearer.

ESTHER CADOUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,149,271 Lazarus Aug. 10, 1915 2,092,152 Daniel Sept. 7, 1937 2,334,311 Cadous Nov. 16, 1943

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