Images(2)

Stays

Date1770-1785

MediumCream Silk Satin (Exterior); Grey and Ivory Silk Ribbon (Center Front Trim); Silk Threads (Construction); Cotton (Lining); Silk Grosgrain Ribbon (Binding and Top Exterior Loops); Baleen (Boning); Grey Silk Tape (Bottom Exterior Loops); Linen (Internal Layer)

DimensionsLength: 20"; Waist: 34 1/2"; Chest (approximately): 39"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-729

DescriptionStays made of ivory silk satin, trimmed with white silk grosgrain ribbon, and lined with natural cotton. Stays are heavily boned with baleen with a "V"-shaped stomacher front. A length of grey and white silk ribbon runs down center front. They are styled without shoulder straps, with a high square back, and tabs along the waist. They are fastened at the back with lacing eyelets finished in white silk thread. Loops grey silk tape are sewn into either side of the back of the stays at the bottom edge next to back closure. At the back of the stays, white silk grosgrain ribbon is sewn across the corner of the apex of the armscye to create a shallow loop flush with the silk exterior. Silk loops in buttonhole stitch are sewn into the cotton lining at the top edge of three tabs on either side of the center point. Loops done in the same technique are placed at the front apex of the armscye and at the top center of the stays.

Construction History: (Alterations appear to be contemporary to stays)
1. 1770-1785: Initial Construction
3. Bottom Loops in gray silk ribbon possibly a later addition
4. Replacement cotton lining added
5. Loops at lining in buttonhole stitch added.
Label TextThese women's stays, which have a waist measurement of 34 1/2 inches, demonstrate that not all eighteenth-century women had tiny waists.
ProvenanceEx Coll: Doris Langley Moore.