Redthreaded Blog — 17th Century

We've been seeing more and more buzz about the fashions from the turn of the 18th Century, partially due to the popularity of the 2018 film The Favourite (we loooved it!). The new Patterns of Fashion 5 volume also contains heaps of information about the stays for this period. The fashions are...weird...to a modern eye, but that's part of what we love about them! Prior to this period, bodices generally consisted of smooth-covered stitched stays, with sleeves. The structure and the outer layer were built as one. The Mantua gowns of the 1680's changed this, with soft, draped gowns pinned...