Regency corset questions

[frualeydis]

Apparently the preserved regency corsets that can be seen on the 'net and in books like Fashion from the Kyoto Costume institute all are dated to 1820 and thereafter. They usually have the broad busk characterizing the "divorce" corset that is first mentioned in 1811. Norah waugh doesn't give a pattern for this period and the pattern in Hunnisett is also of the later type.
On the other hand, the very late, short 18th century corsets according to some sources continued to be worn at least up to the turn of the century.
When did the transition take place? How did corsets look between the 1790s and the 1820s?
Although I like the period around 1820 too, my intention is to make a dress from, say ca 1805-1810, what kind of corset would have been worn then? It would have been white surely, considering the transparency of some of the dresses, but would it have been shaped more like the 18th century corset or the corsets from the 1820s and 1830s?

x-posted to staymakers

Comments

[ginger-dragon.livejournal.com]

I've no idea, but I would like to know as well.

Perhaps it could have been a matter of shape? I mean, if you have large breasts I could imagine that the later kind would have been more comfortable. I've never worn one, but I sometimes feel very squashed up in my 18th century stays- and I sport a tripe E-cup.

[ginger-dragon.livejournal.com]

I mean triple, not tripe, of course.

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

Awwww, but a Tripe Cup left such an interesting visual... ;-)

[demode.livejournal.com]

This is a very interesting hole in the costume record!

I went to a presentation at Costume College by Mela Hoyt-Heydon, a very talented costume designer (she made Glenn Close's corset in Dangerous Liaisons) who has done research at the Smithsonian etc.

Her theory is this: the whole period is transitional, and what you wore would be based on your age and figure. Because there are so few extant corsets from the period, she's studied period portraiture and when you do, you really can make a decent guess of what people wore. In the 1790s, most women were wearing the shorter 18th c. style stays; by the 1820s, most women were wearing the separated-bust long-busk corset ("divorce corset"). In between, it would depend on your age: if you were younger and thinner, you would veer more towards wearing nothing (probably have linen straps built into your dress) besides a shift. If you were older and larger, you would probably be wearing some version of the 1790s shortened 18th c. style. If you were in between, it would depend on your preference. The older you were, the more likely to be wearing the 18th c. style.

In terms of what I would actually do, I decide based on your figure. For me (I'm large breasted and full figured), I would go with the 1790s/18th c. look because it's most flattering. If you're young and thin, go with the linen understraps or the 1820s style. If you're in between... well, then it's up to you! :)

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

I was reasoning along the same lines. I am definitely on the larger side, and I do need bust support. But (maybe) it would be fun to have cups.


Eva

[pinque.livejournal.com]

In Fashion there is a reproduction of a print from 1809 with several women (of all sizes) wearing the longer stays. Most of the prints of the time show them, though I seem to recall there is at least one that shows the shorter ones. But I have no idea where or if I'm simply making it up;)

The print is opposite the pictures of the stays from the 1790s.