beggars-opera:@dragonsandangeldust Of course!“Stays” is just the word for a type of underwear that
beggars-opera:@dragonsandangeldust Of course!“Stays” is just the word for a type of underwear that predates and is analogous to a corset. For a variety of reasons people hundreds of years ago had different names for easily recognizable items, for for instance what we know as a “dress” was always called a “gown” and what we know as a “skirt” was called a “petticoat”. A lot of historians get pissy when people use the modern words for them (which as an educator makes me want to slowly strangle them at times, but I digress).The first time something resembling a corset pops up in Western fashion is in the late 1500s, and it was called a “pair of bodies”. It was designed to flatten the bust and make a smooth line for your outer garments to fit on, because stretch fabrics hadn’t been invented yet and this made things easier. In the early 1600s the longer and smoother your torso was, the better.By the 1700s, the shape of this piece of clothing had changed, and so had the name. It was now called “stays” or “pair of stays” and had a more rounded shape that made your torso more cone-shaped.This example is what most people would have worn, which is heavily stiffened with whalebone but not too extreme in shape. Eventually the very rigid, smooth fashions that made these things necessary fell out of style, and for a while people wore stays that were stiffened with quilting and lots of cotton cord instead. Rather than squishing your bust to your chest, there were separate cups for the first time. Around this period English people also stole the name “corset” from the French to differentiate it from the heavily-boned stays.After a few decades of this the sewing machine was invented and Victorian fashion started going crazy, so the more extreme-looking, super-reinforced corsets we all know and love came about to assist with that.For anyone who wants a more in-depth discussion:I would also like to confirm from personal experience that whipping your busk out and slamming it on the dinner table is, in fact, the most satisfying thing ever -- source link