The Corsetière and her Trade
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Spirella At the end of the nineteenth century in America, at a dinner gathering, the wife of a Mr. Beaman broke a corset stay causing her considerable embarrassment. Mr. Beaman, or 'Pa' Beaman as he became known, decided to invent a better, stronger and more flexible stay. The spiral wound device he engineered has supported foundation garments ever since and in 1904 gave its name to the Spirella Corset Company
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Spirella Corsetieres of the Past
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These pages are dedicated to the corsetieres who measured and fitted clients with foundation garments.
Spirella was one of many corset companies that flourished during the twentieth century. I am fortunate to know a small part of their history in Britain and I would like to share that history with you because I find it fascinating and I regret its passing. Spirella corsetieres could join the Ivy Leaf Club. Emblems were issued and corsetieres could collect pins for each decade of selling. Spirella was bought by rival Spencer in the late 1980's (in Britain) although the name survives today as does the magnificent head office in Letchworth where a staff of hundreds manufactured made-to-measure corsets for eight decades.
TENAX ET FIDELIS - Persevering and Faithful
