All posts filed under: 18th Century

Terminology: What’s the difference between stays, jumps & a corset

I’ve already posted about the difference between swiss waists, waist cinchers, corsets & corselets. This week, I’m going back in history, and back to basics, to discuss the differences between stays, jumps & corsets. Stays, was the term used for the fully boned laces bodices worn under clothes from the late 16th or early 17th century, until the end of the 18th century. Before this boned garments were called (in English at least) a ‘pair of bodies’ – for each side of the stays. via here (but if anyone knows the original source I’d prefer to credit it!) The term stays probably comes from the French estayer: to support, because that is exactly what stays did. Stays turned the torso into a stiff, inverted cone, raising and supporting the bust, and providing a solid foundation on which the garments draped. Despite their heavy boning, and how stiff and constricting they may seem to modern eyes, stays were originally seen as more informal wear, as opposed to garments with the boning built in, such as the …

Robe a la Uh-Oh

Published by The Dreamstress

First of all, thank you to everyone for your kind words in response to Friday’s post. I wanted to respond to them individually, but have been having trouble with this site’s server being down, so haven’t been able to. We really are fine, everyone is fine, just stressed and worried. We’re still so lucky compared to Christchurch (even after only the 2010 quake) because Wellington was built to be earthquake safe, and there has been so little damage that life can go on. You can go to museums, the theatre, an offbeat movie, cafes and restaurants, cute shops, to just escape for a bit. So much of that got destroyed in Christchurch that friends in the city told me it was really hard to have a normal life around the quakes, and to get any relief from the after-effects. I just needed to release a little tension, and then I could go on. One blog post and I’m fixed. What a privilege. My heart goes out to the small town of Seddon right now, where …

My, what an enormous padded fur or fabric hand receptacle/warmer you have

Published by The Dreamstress

So, I originally titled this post “My, what an enormous muff you have”, a la Little Red Riding Hood, because apparently I’m on a children’s story theme this week. Then Mr D pointed out that my title was perhaps a little more risque than I usually aim for with my blog. After blinking at him in confusion for a very long moment, comprehension finally dawned. Ohhhhhh…. I know I keep him around for something! Anyway, I’ve been looking at late 18th and early 19th century fashion plates, and, thanks to my love of muffs, I’ve noticed all the absolutely enormous muffs that were in fashion in the Regency period. I mean, look at this: Her head would fit in the hand hole! And if you thought that one was bad, look at this one: Forget keeping her hands warm, if she gets cold enough she could climb into this thing wholesale, and keep warm like a little post-Revolutionary space rebel. How did she even carry it? It would weigh half her body weight! Things got …