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Something that often confuses people about historical dress from the medieval era through the 18th century is spiral lacing. Spiral lacing is a very distinctive way that people used regularly to close and attach their clothing. Instead of the criss-cross lacing that is so typical of our modern era (and seems to have become typical in the 19th century), it’s done with only one lacing string that starts at one end with a knot, and then is laced through to the other end, creating a different effect from the Xes we’re used to seeing. The problem is that modern costume makers in film and TV frock flicks seem to half know about this — they appear to know it exists, but not how to DO it. And if you do it wrong, it creates wonkiness! And if we’re not nitpicking, is it actually Snark Week?
So now: what is spiral lacing? How is it done and what does it look like? What’s the evidence? And who’s gotten it right and who’s gotten it wrong in historical films and TV series?
Spiral Lacing: Wait, What?
First, what do I mean by spiral lacing? Let’s contrast the way you lace and tie your shoes today with the way people used to do the same thing on their garments.
If you were going to lace some athletic shoes, you would take one lace (the string or cord), push it through the lacing holes at one end so that the midway point of the cord aligns there, and then use the two ends to lace up through the holes and tie off:

Spiral lacing, on the other hand, starts with one end of the cord knotted; then using the other end of the string/cord as your only working end, the cord goes through the remaining holes in a spiral or looping pattern. Here’s a video from the great company Burnley & Trowbridge (which sells fabrics, patterns, supplies, — and Kendra’s book! — for historical dressmaking) that demonstrates this process on a corset (I’ve jumped ahead to where the lacing process begins). The video also helps to explain why we call this “spiral” lacing instead of zig zag, because you end up lacing in a spiral pattern in terms of whether you’re under or over:


Why did people use spiral lacing for so long? Probably mostly tradition? If you were going to lace something closed, you’d do it the way you’d been taught! But there’s also a cool element of spiral lacing that you may not know: it removes the need for supporting edges. I don’t math or physics or whatever, so I’m the worst person to explain this, but let me try: imagine you’re making a corset or a fitted bodice. If you want to lace it closed, you need to reinforce the edges (e.g., with boning), right? Because otherwise they will buckle:

However, something about the physics of spiral lacing distributes the tension differently, and those same edges don’t need boning or other reinforcement. I didn’t believe it until I tried it myself, but it’s true! I think it’s because criss-cross lacing is pulling horizontally on the garment, while spiral lacing pulls top to bottom? Oh god, I got a D in high school physics, someone smarter than me explain this in the comments.


Now, there’s one thing that’s key to creating spiral lacing, and it’s how you lay out the lacing holes. Modernly, we’re used to the lacing holes being equal, side by side, right? Well in spiral lacing, you need to offset the eyelets, and that’s key to successful lacing. The fabulous Jen Thompson of Festive Attyre wrote a whole article about this called “The Zen of Spiral Lacing,” where she explains how to do this in-depth and provides this excellent diagram:

She also gives us a great example of what happens if you try to lace holes criss-cross when they are laid out offset as they need to be for spiral lacing:

On the other hand, if you don’t offset the eyelets, one side of the garment will ride up to try to equalize the lacing points:

Why? MATH. SCIENCE. I DON’T KNOW I JUST DO IT, OKAY?
Spiral Lacing: the History
Spiral lacing creates a few very specific finished effects that you can see in art from the medieval era (and maybe earlier? ancient world costume people, let us know!) through the 18th century. The first is where the finished lacing looks horizontal (or nearly horizontal):

The other is where the lacing looks angled, but always the same direction (not criss-crossed):

Take a look at art and extant garments from the medieval era through the 18th century, and most of what you will see is spiral lacing:
































Now, in the 18th century, you do start to get criss-cross lacing as a mostly decorative element:


But nearly all of the corsets I’ve seen from the 18th century use spiral lacing (check out these two examples from the Met, which are mis-laced criss-cross — both are just slightly wonky, and one side is riding up higher than the other).
This maternity ensemble is an early example of a women’s garment that uses criss-cross lacing for functional purposes:

And I’m even seeing spiral lacing on 1800s–40s corsets (but criss–cross too)! Although someone at the Met really doesn’t like it. Criss-cross seems to really come in mid-19th century, and probably has to do with the fact that the goal was now to achieve a narrow, wasp waist; I’m sure the physics people can tell me why horizontal lacing better achieves that:

Okay, now that I’m done clobbering you with too much information…
Spiral Lacing on Screen: Getting It Right
Because we are equal opportunity snarkers here, and because I am the good cop, I want to point out just a few of the films and TV series that have gotten spiral lacing right! (Hey, there’s no fairness in Snark Week and that goes both ways):







Spiral Lacing on Screen: Getting It Wrong
Now, there are FAR TOO MANY examples of criss-crossed lacing being used inappropriately in medieval- to 18th-century-set films and television series, but here’s just a sampling:




Spiral Lacing on Screen: Getting It Very, Very Wrong
And now, Kendra’s biggest pet peeve: when they tried to use spiral lacing, but didn’t know about offsetting the eyelet holes and so one side rides up higher than the other. Honestly, just use historically inaccurate criss-cross lacing and bone the edges so I don’t have to look at this!









Extra Credit for Frocking It Up


Which specific costume elements make you twitchy? Got any great examples of bad lacing? Post ’em in the comments!
Thank you for this wonderfully informative article, with SO many examples, both good and bad! I once left a comment card at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon, pointing out that a pair of stays they had on display needed to be spiral-laced rather than criss-crossed. Wonder if they ever corrected it??
HA!
Penny to a pound mention of the fact that, at one point, asymmetry was a deliberate fashion choice – trends having presumably been a Thing since even before people started doing numbers on social media (Possibly since even before people started doing NUMBERS, period) – will now be held up as an excuse for some of the mistakes in the images above!
Another benefit of spiral lacing is that you can back lace yourself into your own garment. Losely lace the garment, wiggle into it, and then pull the string up and it zippers shut.
Would the spiral lacing have made it easier for women to lace and unlace by themselves?
I feel like I really don’t see many offset lacing holes in the 16th century with the half-step? To stop half of my bodice from riding up I usually just lace through the starting hole twice and that keeps it all in place
This was really informative and interesting! On a somewhat related note, can I snark about people’s lacing gaps on their corsets being too large? I saw a photo the other day of someone whose lacing gap had to been at least four inches wide.
My costume pet peeve is knitted chain mail!