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| Child's stays with detachable sleeves |
My sleeved stays are progressing nicely,
which they have to as I need them finished on Thursday. It is a bit difficult
to get an overview as I’m working on several parts at once. Sewing the brocade
on the stays is fiddly and best made at home and when I’m not tired. The
petticoat, on the other hand are perfect to work on when I do feel tired and
the shoulder straps and sleeves are small enough to take with me. So today my
tally looks like this: The stays have 2 ½ pieces of brocade left to finish and
then the shoulder straps need to be sewn in. The shoulder straps are halfway
done. The sleeves are finished apart from the lacing holes. The petticoat is
hemmed, but need to be pleated and attached to the waistband.
But right now I’m taking a sewing break
and show you a few more sources for stays with sleeves. The picture sources I
have found are still Italian or French, but I have found a few written sources
that are British. In “The Gentleman’s Magazine” from 1791 there is a letter
that mentions “stays or boddices with sleeves”.The 1790’s seems a little late for this
fashion which seems to belong to the first half of the decade, but the letter
writer says this happened several years previously, so we can’t be sure of the
exact year. Thanks to justawench on LJ I found Old Bailey Online and when searching for sleeves found
several cases of theft where separate sleeves have been stolen. I don’t know
what they are supposed to be attached to, if it is stays or not, but up until
the 1750’s they emerge quite often. They are usually not described, but
sometimes they are mentioned to be of linen or Holland or once or twice cotton.
One pair is described as lac’d, but if that means that they are meant to be
laced on or have lace on them, is unclear. It is also uncertain if they are
worn by both sexes. Some are stolen from men and some from women, which may not
mean much, but in one case they are said to be women’s sleeves. Not exactly on
the topic of stays, but the further in into the century you come, sleeves that
belong to shift turn up again and again. What does that mean? That you
habitually changed sleeves of a shift when they got too worn but the body of
the shift was sound? I have no idea.
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| Corset blanc (white corset), from M. Garsault's Description des Arts et Métiers, 1769 |
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| Magdaleine Pinceloup de la Grange by Jean Baptise Perronneau, 1747 These and the ones below has more laced on sleeves than tied on. These don't look like they are boned either. |
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| Girl In A Blue Dress by Pietro Rotari |
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| Giovane donna con rosa by Giacomo Ceruti |
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| Giacomo Ceruti |
