Garment cutting in the twentieth century

by Günther F. Hertzer

Centers of the Back and Front.

Both of these centers must be very nearly on straight lines, as is proved by the fact that a vest can be fitted with very little curve on the center of the back or in front; and in fact, can be fitted from the waist to the neck with quite straight lines by simply cutting a trifle of a gore sidewise, either at the waist or at the neck, or at both. When we examine the body closely we find that it is not round, but has four well-defined corners, two in front at the center of the breast or at the nipples, and two in the back at each shoulder blade. If any reduction is required at the waist it should be made at these locations, for they are the turning points of the body. Between these points the normal body is perfectly flat in front and at the sides, though in length the front is curved, while the back is mostly hollow; but for all that, the normal back may be considered flat from blade to blade, as the hollow between is not intended to be shown, but concealed. If we view the body from side to side, the back and front appear to be a sharp curve, as is shown in Fig. [2]; but if we look at Fig. [1] we see both back and front flat. If a body were to be pressed flat from side to side, and then a cover cut for that form, both the center of the front and back would necessarily be cut on curved lines, because it would be essential to fit from front to back, or from back to front, just as we may take it. But on the human form both front and back must be fitted sidewise from their respective bases, and as both of the bases are on a flat surface it follows that both of them must be fitted, or nearly so, on straight lines, at least as far down as the hollow of the waist.

If we take a sheet of stiff paper we can fit it over the back and chest, and from arm to arm, all the way down to the hollow of the waist in the back, and to the turning points or pit of the stomach in front, with scarcely any break or wrinkle in the paper, which shows that the center of the back or front must be fitted on straight lines, and that all reduction, as shown in Dia. [II], or all additions, as shown in Dia. [I], at the waist must be made sidewise or nearly so. The reduction of the back of the waist depends entirely upon the position in which we choose to place the different parts. In fact, it may be claimed that the waist reduction of the back is wholly imaginary, because the whole part of the body between the arms and waist is a flat surface, and can be fitted with a straight piece of cloth. Considering that the natural position of a garment when on the body runs from the shoulder blade downward and into the hollow of the waist, it must come in contact with the seat below, and must be sprung outward, but differs somewhat according to the nature of the garment—all of which is clearly shown in the diagrams.

All the different shapes of gores or wedges in the back of a frock coat we can make, because we can open or close the sidepiece and back, upward or downward. On a vest with a straight back, we must cut it just so, and not otherwise; and a vest back must have a trifle spring over the seat in the center of the back. If we cut a vest off at the hollow of the waist, we can connect the sides also on straight lines and the whole garment can be cut with but one seam in front. In this case, however, we must consider the following: If the square of 20, with one inch cut out under the arm, and sewed up, fits the body, the back and front are not in that square any longer; but that square spreads on top, and contracts below, about 7½ deg.

But while the square of 20 is thus contracted at the waist, it spreads apart on top, or above line 9, and here a reduction of the waist would be visible as a gore above the armscye line in the armhole, but which is cut away and that gore is invisible on a vest. But even a vest on a square of 20 would necessarily have a gore there if the armhole would not take it away, and if the seam is thrown further backward, as in a sack coat, that gore will show; and if the seam is thrown still further backward, as on a frock coat, it will show still more, because the armhole does not approach it so closely.

Now, all of this shows that two straight edges can be joined together and fitted over the center of the back or front by cutting the gores sidewise, and thus compelling the straight back and front of a garment to conform with the bend in front and the back in length. The center of the front cannot be manipulated like the back, because there are no seams in the forepart passing from one end to the other, except in a double-breasted coat with the lapels cut off. It is true, we can cut small gores under the lapel or at the waist to make the forepart conform to the body, but they must be well understood by the cutter as well as by the coat maker.

We all know that a great many good coats are made every day without any gore whatever in the forepart, but we also know that such coats are pretty well worked, and the front edge drawn in, which is equal to cutting a gore somewhere. A gore under the lapel is always vexatious in the hands of an inexperienced journeyman, for it is quite easy to throw the shoulder of the garment out of place when basted on the canvas. For this reason no gore under the lapel should be sewed up until the forepart is basted on the canvas or padding, after which the canvas should be cut in just the shape of the gore, because a flat canvas will spoil all effects of a gore. On a double-breasted coat, with the lapels cut off, an exception must be made, when the lapels are sewed on before the foreparts are basted on the canvas. Within said lapel seam may be obtained all necessary oval form required for a forepart, and all other gores under the lapel are apt to do more harm than good.

But there is no question about the usefulness of a gore under the lapel of a double-breasted sack coat, and I may say it is indispensable there, for no double-breasted coat can be made to conform with the shape of the body unless one or two gores are cut somewhere. A lapel may be obtained without a gore in it, but as soon as the coat is to be buttoned up completely, there will be surplus cloth between each button and buttonhole, or the collar will be too loose under the chin, or the front of the waist will be too wide.