Corset stays
c. 1750
Brocaded silk
Gift of Miss Adele Simpson
Object number68.144.14
Eighteenth-century corsets (also known as stays) straightened the back and enhanced the breasts by pushing them up and together. Stays were obligatory for the “straitlaced” woman, yet they also held an erotic allure. This corset was enlarged by adding panels of a different fabric at the sides. Although this alteration may have been made to suit the changed figure of its original wearer, it is also possible that the stays were passed down to someone else or sold in the secondhand market.
DescriptionStays in white silk brocaded with symmetrical multicolor floral pattern; decollete with high, laced back; stiffened, pieced construction with gussets and boningCollections
Exhibitions