Mademoiselle Angélique Caroline Milliet

In 1856 the Frenchwoman Angélique Caroline Milliet invented the first steel skeleton petticoat or cage. She received patents in France, Belgium and England and used her patents to sue competitors for infringement. In 1861 she sold her patents for a large sum to the American brothers and skirt manufacturers W. S. & C. H. Thomson. These brothers founded big crinoline factories in New York, London, Paris, Brussels and Annaberg. The mass-produced Thomson crinolines became famous all over the world. The Dutch Amsterdam Museum owns an original skeleton petticoat designed by A. C. Milliet. It is stamped and looks exactly like the illustrations of the French and English patents. This unique design has a built-in bustle and the circumference of the hoops can be altered according to the requirements of the wearer. American hoop-skirt manufacturers, like Thomson, managed to improve the Milliet design with their patented metal fasteners to secure the horizontal hoops to the vertical tapes. During the 1860s the Thomson cages, which were manufactured by the thousands every day, conquered the fashionable world

Art · Art history · Visual arts · Engineering · Fashion and Cultural Textiles

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