In order to construct a truly well-made pair of stays, I believe that we need to study original stays in detail and attempt to imitate the techniques and sequence of construction. This article will look closely and in depth at as many details of these stays as possible.
As modern staymakers we must make compromises, since many materials and fabrics are just not available to us. None of us has served an apprenticeship under a master staymaker, so our drafting and construction skills are not on a par with those of an 18th century staymaker. That said, we will do our best to create a pair of stays that will mold our twenty-first century bodies into a pleasing 18th century shape.
This month, we will explore in detail an original pair of fourth quarter (c 1776-1785) 18th century stays. Next month, will deal with the actual pattern, construction and replication of these stays.
Please note that I do not use the word reproduction. It is my belief that the works we create with contemporary materials, while approximating the originals as closely as possible, can not and do not reproduce them faithfully in every detail. To call them reproductions can be misleading to others and to ourselves.
Stays, fourth quarter of the eighteenth century
These stays are English in provenance and fully boned with baleen. Their condition is fair, with some of the stitching worn and a few bones free of their channels.
Some stays dating from the late 1770s-1780s are only partially boned, with complex boning patterns and often with shoulder straps to help support the fullness of the breasts.
The shape intended to be produced by these stays is no longer the long conical shape of earlier decades. These stays are at the forefront of the revolution taking place in fashion during this time period, being made to support and shape the rising waistline of gowns and the rounded shaping of the bust. In other words, the stays must change in order to adapt to the new styles. It is questionable which changed first, the outer garment or the stays, or did they evolve simultaneously?
These stays do not have shoulder straps, but the pattern can easily be adapted to include them.
Measurements
Center Front Length 10¾" (27.3cm)
Center Back Length 13½" (34.3cm)
Bust circumference is 31" (78.7cm)
Waist circumference is 25" (63.5cm)
Underarm to waist is 6¼" (15.9cm)
|
Fashion Fabric The outer fashion fabric is light brown cotton twill, with a darker, heavier brown cotton twill covering the lacing holes in the back piece.
|
Channels The channels are sewn with what appears to be brown linen thread. The stitches are sewn with a backstitch and average 13 stitches per inch (SPI) (metric stitch length 2mm). The same hand appears to have sewn all of the channels. The thread appears to be a two ply twist and is dyed to match the fashion fabric. The channels are, on average, 4mm wide (just over 1/8"). |
Darker and heavier brown twill fabric covers the lacing holes.
|
Channel width varies from 4-5mm (2-3 sixteenths of an inch).
|
|
Lining The loose linen lining is applied in three large pieces to the body of the stays, one central piece and two side pieces. Two different linen fabrics are used: natural (undyed) linen twill on the lining of the body, and natural (undyed) plain woven linen on the fingers/tabs. The lining of the body has raw edges turned to the inside and tacked down to the lining of the tabs, top of the stays and sides with large whip stitches, 4-6 stitches per inch (metric stitch length 4-6mm) using natural linen thread.
|
Lining of the body is in three pieces.
|
|
Each finger/tab of the stays is lined individually. The reasoning could be that the lining on the tabs would not need as frequent replacement due to perspiration/body soil, or that there is a functional aspect as the tabs swing out more easily from the body if they are not cut in one with the body lining. Personal experience with the fit of the stays on the body suggest the latter and you will find a better overall fit if the time is taken to line each tab separately. Natural (undyed) linen thread is used to tack the finger/tab lining to the previously applied binding. This is a typical 18th century construction technique and appears on early through late 18th century stays that retain their original linings. |
Each tab is individually lined.
|
|
Binding These stays are bound with two different materials. The majority of the stays are bound with blue linen twill tape. The original color is a bright shade of sky blue, which has faded over time to a dull blue. The blue tape binds top front, back and bottom fingers/tabs. |
Blue twill tape is attached to the fashion fabric, then brought over the stays and secured to the inside. This is done prior to attaching the loose linen lining.
|
|
Under the arms, a decorative and practical application of white leather replaces the linen tape as binding. This will absorb the heavy wear under the arms and may make for a more comfortable experience as protection from the boning. The decorative razor teeth on the leather stand out as a professional detail: it is my belief that these were made by a professional staymaker. The leather extends 1" (2.5cm) onto the face of the stays. It is stitched through 1/8" (3mm) from the top to the body of the stays and stitched again right above the teeth of the binding. It extends at least ¼" (6mm) to the inside of the stays. |
Decorative and functional leather binding under the arms.
|
|
Lacing Holes These stays have the typical configuration of lacing holes found in 18th century stays. These are made to be laced in a spiral, starting from the bottom and lacing to the top. Two offset holes on the proper right (as you are wearing the garment) at the bottom and two offset holes at the top on the proper left prevent the stays from torking and twisting on the body. There are eleven holes on each side, approximately 1" (2.5cm) apart. The center of each hole is approximately 1/8" (3mm). The eyelets are set in with a whip stitch; the stitches are large and not the least bit regular. The thread appears to be linen, dyed to match the brown fashion fabric, heavily waxed and used doubled. Doubling thread is not a common 18th century sewing technique, but it is found in the staymaking trade. There is a large piece of baleen that lies under the lacing holes in each center back section. This is an unusual feature and one that I have not seen in other stays. It is very difficult to determine how this is placed in and the relationship of this piece to the lacing holes. |
Back lacing holes are configured for spiral lacing.
|
|
What Cannot be Seen In order for these stays to perform their function of support and rounding out the bust, some underlying structure to curve the bust portion of the stays must take place. The baleen boning in and of itself is not enough to achieve this shaping. Under the lining, you can feel and see the outlines of the supports. There is a piece of baleen running across the the bust line. It has been curved (using a heat source) and stitched down to the interior buckram, forcing the stays into the curved shape. |
Curved baleen across the front is ¾” (19mm) wide and 11" (27.9cm) long.
|
|
Another very large piece of baleen is placed onto the belly portion of the center front of the stays. This provides a rigid stomach section to the stays and will help to keep the tummy in line and the front of the stays from flipping up. This has also been shaped to fit the stay pieces as they curve at the belly, and is extremely rigid. |
Supplemental baleen re-enforcement is 8½" (21.6cm) at the longest point and 4½" (11.4cm) at the widest.
|
| The addition of both of these supplemental boning pieces gives an extreme curve to the front two stay sections. When placed on a flat surface the forced shaping is easily seen. |
The influence of the curved baleen boning keeps the bust and belly portion of the stays in a curved position even when laid flat.
|
|
Foundation Fabric The foundation fabric not seen from the outside of this garment is linen buckram, used in two layers as the interior foundation for the entire garment with a thread count of 20 per inch (TPI). The threads are not even throughout, and as can be seen in the image, they are not tightly woven. This coarse yet sturdy goods is the foundation fabric found throughout 18th century staymaking. Finding a good substitute is difficult, but not impossible. |
 |
|
Construction Notes: The stays are joined section by section using an overhand joining stitch and plain linen thread. This joining stitch allows the stays to curve around the body since the joined pieces act like they are on a hinge and there is little impediment to movement as the stays wrap around the body. |
 |
|
Decorative blue woven tape approximately 1/8” (3mm) wide was placed over the joining stitch as a decorative element. Little remains of this tape, but some pieces are still visible. The original bright blue tape and binding on the brown fashion fabric would have been quite a nice color combination.
Other Examples of 18th Century Fourth Quarter Stays from Museum Collections McCord Musuem - Brown Cotton Stays Victoria and Albert Museum - Red Wool Stays Museum of Fine Art, Boston - Brown Cotton Stays Metropolitan Museum of Art - Brown Cotton Stays
|
 |
Conclusion
Close examination of all the details tells us how to make these stays. Each small piece of information adds up to the total picture of 18th century staymaking.
While there is still a challenge in finding the proper materials and fitting the pattern to the body, knowing how the stays are put together and more importantly, imitating those techniques and not inserting our modern sewing habits, will result in a garment that more closely resembles an original than just sitting down and making a pair of stays the fastest and easiest modern route. It is time consuming, but worth the effort!
Hallie Larkin is the proprietor of Sign of the Golden Scissors and publishes information about 18th c stays on her blog, 18th c Stays
add
The way the front is shaped is really beautiful, in my head I'm already looking for alternatives the baleen.