… at the turn of the 18th into the 19th century, stays were largely discarded.  Women with imperfect or larger bodies and older women, however, continued to wear stays.  As long as they were high waisted, they could be worn under the Regency gowns. (1790’s short stays went shorter yet, …

… like in the earlier decades, and as the decade progressed, many stays lost tabs entirely, but kept a little “tail” at the back to carry the lacing.  Sometimes puffs of fabric were attached to the back of this type of stays to which a bustle pad or petticoat was …

… the change of stays.  While the front of the stays in the 1790’s looked much the same as in the 1780’s, the back waist of the stays rose up high to match the high waist of the upcoming Regency style.  The front of the silhouette was still forward “pigeon” …

…scoop front stays.  The only real difference between these and the earlier stays of a decade earlier was the shape of the front.  In the latter, the front was cut low, but horizontal boning emphasized  and reinforced jutting the bust forward without letting it spill over. (Extant: Brown linen stays …

…a conical top created by stays and hoops to the “pouter pigeon” look with chest thrust forward and the hips back.  this early version of the 100 year later Edwardian “s Monobosum curve” was created by the use of bustle pads and false bums worn under petticoats. (Sketches: 1780’s stays …

… it wasn’t the number of panels that was making the shape, but the orientation of bones.  Bones were whale baleen.  As a result, some stays were reduced to 3 panels (a front and two backs) with very complex boning even when lightly boned. (Sketch:  Strategic bone placement for shaping …

… took a slightly different shape.  The 1760’s were strapless and had only a small functional opening at the top of the center front, perhaps to accommodate nursing.  These simple, commoner stays were constructed from linen.  Extant stays have been of brown linen lined in white and lavender wool satin …

…became popular.  This decorative element would show under the open-front mantuas that were popular at the time.  Typically this type of stays was flat lined to a decorative fabric like silk brocade.   (Sketch from Doyle’s “Waisted Efforts”:  1730’s-1740’s stays)

…stays had become their own garment and they were being constructed in worsted wools, linens and leather for common people as well as the beautiful silk preferred by the wealthy. (Extant linen stays for the common woman of the mid-18th century)   Excerpt from “Reconstructing History 2008”, available at your …

…(Direct excerpt from “Reconstructing History 2008 Copyrighted Available from your favorite historical pattern shop”) Since the 1660’s, stays and bodiced gowns without their skirts were practically synonymous  Except for a place to attach sleeves and skirts, stays and bodiced gown linings were the same  in construction.  One would think stays …