Linen and Wood Stays, 1750–1770
Stays,
sometimes called a pair of stays, were a common woman’s garment in the
18th and early 19th centuries. Rather like a corset, stays were commonly
worn under a dress to support and shape a woman’s figure. They could
also be worn like a bodice as outer clothing over a blouse and skirt.
Stays for a wealthy woman might be made of costly fabrics and have whale
bone stiffening. Sometimes they would be made of fabric matching a
skirt and actually serve as part of the top of a dress. The stays
pictured here were utilitarian and may have been owned by a woman of
more modest means. They are made of heavy linen fabric, closely stitched
from top to bottom, with rows of thin slats of wood or cane sewn in.
The edges have been reinforced with leather. They would have been
tightly laced up the back with a leather lace and may have had shoulder
straps. Young girls often wore stays like their mothers.
In the middle of the 19th century some women began protesting the fashion of wearing tightly laced stays or corsets. They adopted looser clothing and lighter weight skirts.
https://njwomenshistory.org/learn/time-period/inen-wood-stays-1750-1770/
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