Draft:Catherine Allsop Griswold

• Comment: Thank you for creating this but please fix the citations. I've fixed some of them for you. Please see WP:INTREFVE as instructed before by another reviewer. X (talk) 20:20, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

• Comment: Hello IP editor, it would be useful for you to format your references properly by following the tutorial at WP:INTREFVE. Currently refs #2 to #5 are not formatted correctly (though you do have a #1 ref which is).
  When you follow that tutorial, it will automatically generate a reference list for you.
  Once you've fixed that, I would say we can accept this article. Qcne (talk) 07:13, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

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Catherine Allsop Griswold was a corsetmaker whose 31 apparel-related patents played a role in the Dress Reform Movement of 1876. Among Griswold’s 31 apparel-related patents, was the skirt-supporting corset. Griswold had the most patents held by any woman in the United States of America at the time.[4] 19 of the 31 patents were related to improving the comfortability of corsets for women by adjusting the mechanical design.

Historical Context

Women’s clothing in the United States of America was extremely uncomfortable and heavy during the 1800s. Similar to the modern-day bra, corsets were used to support a woman’s chest in addition to holding together her shift, which was an undergarment that was often puffy and what gave 19-century women's outfits their signature fluffy look. The corset would allow high-waisted skirts to smoothly cover a woman’s shift and would enforce the so-called desirable hour-glass figure.[5] The way a corset was functionally designed, it needed to be wrapped around the chest and laced up in the back.

Some less uncomfortable corsets only used cotton cording and a single busk, which was a rod made of wood or bone, that provided structure and tightened the corset in the center pocket in the front. These corsets were thought to be less restricting compared to other corsets that used bone or steel to tighten corsets instead. What made corsets harmful was the fad of “tight-lacing” by which corsets were purposefully tightened to the point where a woman’s ribs and organs were actually being squished inwards to create an hour-glass figure. According to the Royal College of Surgeons, long-term tight-lacing often led to breathing restriction, poor digestion, muscle atrophy, and rib cage deformities.[6] Griswold took it upon herself to modify the corset to serve its wearers, women, rather than only focus on its purpose to serve society’s view of women and the male gaze. One of her most notable innovations was a corset that had skirt-supporting ribbons, which helped distribute the weight of heavier skirts over the entirety of a woman’s body.[2] It allowed for women to be less fatigued and have a greater range of movement.

References

2. Greathouse, J. (2021, March 24). 7 female innovators who created 218 inventions-decades before women could vote. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngreathouse/2021/03/24/7-female-innovators-who-created-218-inventionsdecades-before-women-could-vote/?sh=4ae2e0b1b11a
3. Lederle, C. (2019, November 5). Bicycles, bloomers, and the vote: Dress reform: Teaching with the library. The Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2019/11/bicycles-bloomers-and-the-vote-dress-reform/#:~:text=The%20dress%20reform%20movement%20began,worn%20by%20many%20prominent%20suffragists.
4. "AmericanHeritage.com / THE CHAMPION OF WOMEN INVENTORS". Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
5. Woman’s corset, 1810-1820. National Museum of American History. (n.d.). https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_366282
6. Isaac, S. (2019, May 13). The dangers of tight lacing: # The effects of the Corset. Royal College of Surgeons. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/effects-of-the-corset/
7. The inventive minds of Connecticut women: Patents in the 19th Century. Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project - Stories about the people, traditions, innovations, and events that make up Connecticut’s rich history. (2023, September 27). https://connecticuthistory.org/the-inventive-mind-of-connecticut-women-patents-in-the-19th-century/