US3155983A

US3155983A - Wearing apparel with adjustable belt

Info

Publication number: US3155983A
Application number: US255795A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lois F Myers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-02-04
Filing date: 1963-02-04
Publication date: 1964-11-10
Anticipated expiration: 1981-11-10

Description

Nov. 10, 1964 L. F. MYERS WEARING APPAREL WITH ADJUSTABLE BELT Filed Feb. 4, 1963 R ms Wm 5 Mi. my #N M R o 5 y? w 4 0 m W United States Patent 3,155,983 WEARING APPAREL WITH ADJUSTABLE BELT Lois F. Myers, 320 W. Oak St., Vassar, Mich. Filed Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 255,795 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-76) This invention relates to wearing apparel and more particularly to a dress construction utilizing a belt which is attached to the dress in such manner as to enable adjustment of the belt, within limitations, to compensate for differences in waist lengths of girls or women who wear the same size dress.

Uniforms for nurses, beauticians, waitresses, and the like, usually are produced in several sizes in large quantities such as

sizes

10, 12, 14, etc. A size 10 dress, for example, may be the correct size for two different women, but one woman may be longer or shorter waisted than the other. Consequently, a belt stitched to the dress at the proper waist position for one woman would be in an improper position for the other woman, and vice versa. Moreover, a belted dress manufactured to a size to fit a child frequently must be discarded long before its full Wear is attained, because the growth of the child causes the belt to assume too high a position on the waist of the child.

Dress constructions having adjustable belts have been proposed heretofore, but none of the known constructions permits the use of pleats or ornamentations as freely as dresses wherein the belt is detachable or wherein no belt is provided.

An object of this invention is to provide a dress construction provided with an attached belt which is adjustable upwardly or downwardly so as to compensate for difierent waist lengths and to compensate for growth of a child.

Another object of the invention is to provide a belted dress construction wherein pleats may be provided in either the bodice portion, the skirt portion, in both portions, or in neither portion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a belted dress construction of the kind indicated which permits ornamentation of either or both of the skirt and body portions, if desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dress construction having an attached, adjustable height belt and wherein the appearance of the belt is the same regardless of its position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out specifically or will become apparent from the following description when it is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a dress constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view, similar to FIGURE 1 but on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but illustrating the back of the dress;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but illustrating a modified form of the invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIGURE 5.

A dress constructed in accordance with the embodiment of the invention disclosed in FIGURES 1-4 comprises a body covering bodice portion 1 having a front portion 2 divided at 3, and a back portion 4, the divided front portion normally being closed by buttons 5 or other suitable means. The dress also includes a body covering skirt portion 6 having front and rear portions 7 and 3,155,983 Patented Nov. 10, 1964 ICE 8, respectively. As is customary, the skirt includes a hem by means of which the hemline may be adjusted. As is best illustrated in FIGURE 4, the bodice portion 3 terminates at its lower end in an in turned edge 9, and the upper end of the skirt portion also terminates in an in-turned edge 10 that is parallel to, but spaced from, the edge 9.

A belt 11 comprising

double layers

12 and 13 of material has the major portion of one side thereof interposed between the

edges

9 and 10 of the bodice and skirt, respectively, and the

edges

9 and 10 may be secured to one another and to the side of the belt by means of stitching 14. If desired, a stiffening member 15 may be received between the

belt layers

12 and 13. Since the belt is secured along only one of its sides, it may be adjusted upwardly or downwardly, as is indicated in dash lines in FIGURE 4.

The ends of the belt are free of the bodice and skirt, as is indicated in FIGURE 2, and the belt preferably is of such length as to permit the free ends to overlap one another. Between the free ends of the belt, the skirt and bodice edges are stitched directly to one another to provide a smooth seam 14a. The construction disclosed in the drawing includes a conventional buckle 16 having a center post 16a to which one end of the belt is fixed. The opposite end of the belt may be separably secured to the buckle, as is indicated in FIGURE 1. In lieu of the buckle, opposite ends of the belt may be provided with snap fasteners or other suitable separable fastening means. In either event, the belt fastening means should be such as to permit the belt to have a uniform appearance when the belt is in either of its adjusted positions. The free portions of the belt should be of such length as to permit fastening of the belt ends and to avoid sagging of the free ends of the belt.

In either adjusted position of the belt, the buckle may be manipulated so as to face outwardly. The belt 10 will be swung upwardly for short-waisted women and may be swung downwardly for longer-waisted women. When a dress is purchased for a growing child, the dress should be of such size that the belt initially may be worn in its upper position. As the child grows, the hemline of the skirt may be lowered, as is indicated in dotted lines in FIGURE 1, and the belt turned down ward so as to enable the dress to be worn and fit properly even after a child has grown several inches.

Inasmuch as the bodice and skirt portions are formed separately and subsequently joined to one another, it is possible to provide a plain bodice and a pleated skirt, all of the pleats terminating at the juncture of the bodice and skirt, as is indicated in the drawing. Alternatively, the dress may have a plain or pleated bodice and a plain or pleated skirt, or any combination thereof, or any other variations in design amenable to dresses having a seam at the waist line. It also is possible to provide ornamentation such as lace 17 or the like on the bodice or on the skirt and either terminate the ornamentation at the juncture of the bodice and skirt or continue the ornamentaiton for the full length of the dress.

As will be apparent from FIGURE 4, both

layers

12 and 13 of the belt 11 present an identical appearance. Accordingly, the apearance of the belt is the same regardless of the position in which it is worn. Although a double layer belt has been referred to herein, it should be understood that a single thickness, sash type belt may be used, if desired.

When the belt is worn in its upper position with a pleated skirt, the upper ends of the pleats will terminate at the lower edge of the belt, as is indicated in full lines in FIGURE 1. When the belt is worn in its lowered position, the true upper ends of the pleats will lie under the belt and be obscured from view, but the appearance will be substantially the same as when the belt is worn in its upper position.

The embodiment of the invention disclosed in FIG- URES and 6 is substantially the same as the earlier described embodiment, with the exception that the

edges

9 and 10 of the bodice and skirt portions, respectively, are turned outwardly so as to be received between the

layers

12 and 13 at one side of the belt 11. The

edges

8 and 9, therefore, lie in back-to-back engagement and are secured to one another and to the belt by the stitching 14. At the point where the ends of the belt are free, the

edges

9 and 10 are cut as at 18, turned inwardly, and stitched to one another as at 19 so as to lie face toface and present a smooth seam between the free ends of the belt.

Although the disclosed embodiment of the invention illustrates the dress as having a bodice opening at the front and as being adapted to buckle the belt at the front, it should be understood that the bodice opening and the free ends of the belt could equally well be located at the back or at the side of the dress.

The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presently preferred form of the invention, but is intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. An article of wearing apparel comprising a bodice portion having a lower edge; a skirt portion having an upper edge adjacent the lower edge of said bodice portion, the adjacent edges of said portions being turned outwardly of the article along the majority of their length and lying in back to back engagement, the remaining length of said edges being turned inwardly of the article and lying in face to face engagement; a belt formed of two layers of material receiving therebetween the outwardly turned edges of said portions; stitch means joining said belt along said one side only to the outwardly turned edges of said portion, thereby enabling said belt to be turned upwardly to overlie said bodice portion or turned downwardly to overlie said skirt portion, said stitch means also joining said outwardly turned edges to each other; and other stitch means joining the inwardly turned edges of said portions to one another.

2. An article of wearing apparel comprising a bodice portion having a lower inturned edge directed inwardly of said article; a skirt portion having an upper inturned edge adjacent the lower edge of said bodice portion and directed inwardly of said article; an elongated belt having free ends and opposite side edges, the major portion of one side edge of said belt between its ends being received between the adjacent edges of said bodice and skirt portions; and stitch means securing the adjacent edges of said bodice and skirt portions to one another and to said one side edge of said belt therebetween, the other side edge of said belt being free, whereby said belt is capable of being turned upwardly to overlie said bodice portion or turned downwardly to overlie said skirt portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 290,797 Parsons Dec. 25, 1883 564,925 Grafitey July 28, 1896 1,008,493 Reed Nov. 14, 1911 1,331,754 Gellenbeck Feb. 24, 1920 2,331,079 Pearl Oct. 5, 1943 3,059,240 Johnson Oct. 23, 1962