Corset, stays

Stays covered in brown glazed cotton or linen.The sections of the stays are channel-stitched and boned separately then whipstitched together and the seams covered with narrow figured silk tape. All edges were bound with wool twill tape (upper and lower) and the underarm areas with leather before the linen lining was mounted. The tabs were lined separately before the lining was set in. No signs of alterations but the wool twill tape loops at the upper backs of the stays suggest there used to be shoulder straps.

Fully boned with narrow (1/8") lightweight bones. A thick metal rod runs horizontally across the front just below the top edge and a ridged busk stiffens the centre front which has decorative lacing approximately halfway up to upper edge. The tabs on either side of the centre back might have been used to fix the gown.