ABSTRACT
The 1793 short stays are fully-boned with a large armhole and extra horizontal boning across the front and around the armhole. The stays are described as being covered in cream silk brocade, hiding the bone channels in the lining fabric; they have four small padded balls that support a skirt to give it extra fullness. Similar stays are illustrated in Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedie, 'Tailleur de Corps' and have been recorded by Norah Waugh in her book Corsets and Crinolines. The stays are laced at the centre back and centre front and may have been worn with a stomacher. The original stays had 42 bones in each half of the stays; I have reduced the number of bones in this corset to ease the construction process, comfort of the wearer and cost. The bone channels are placed in the appropriate position to give support and structure to the stays, and to create an accurate historical silhouette.
