Object: Corset
Date: c. 1770
Medium: Blue silk, white silk ribbon, and whalebone
Country: USA
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: P82.1.16
DescriptionBlue silk stays with elbow length sleeves, deep square neck and white silk ribbon trim; stiffened bodice with princess seams and pointed waist, laced at CB; linen lining and waist tabs
Label Text:Stays were obligatory for the “strait-laced” woman of the eighteenth century. Although they were associated with respectability and high social status, stays also held an erotic allure. In France, the toilette—a semipublic ritual of dressing and undressing—included the subtheme of putting on a corset. Stays with sleeves are rare, and may indicate that this corset was part of an at-home ensemble.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Statement Sleeves
- Exposed: A History of Lingerie
- The Corset: Fashioning the Body