The milliners and lady's-maids of the time were expected to fully understand all matters relating to the training of the figure.
A writer of this period, in speaking of the requisite accomplishments of a mantua-maker, says--"She must know how to hide all the defects in the proportions of the body, and must be able to mould the shape by the stays so as to preserve the intestines, that while she corrects the body she may not interfere with the pleasures of the palate."
Some difference of opinion has existed as to the period at which the word "stays" was first used to indicate an article of dress of the nature of the corset or bodice. It is evident that the term must have been perfectly familiar long anterior to 1713, as constant use is made of it in the letters we have just given. Gay, who wrote about 1720, also avails himself of it in _The Toilette_--
"I own her taper form is made to please, Yet if you saw her unconfined by _stays_!"
The word "boddice," or "bodice," was not unfrequently spelt _bodies_ by old authors, amongst whom may be mentioned Ben Jonson, who wrote about 1600, and mentions
"The whalebone man That quilts the _bodies_ I have leave to span."
General use of the word "stays" after 1600 in England--Costume of the court of Louis XVI.--Dress in 1776--The formidable stays and severe constriction then had recourse to--The stays drawn by Hogarth--Dress during the French revolutionary period--Short waists and long trains--Writings of Buchan--_Jumpers_ and "_Garibaldis_"--Return to the old practice of tight-lacing--Training of figures: backboards and stocks--Medical evidence in favour of stays--Fashion in the reign of George III.--Stays worn habitually by gentlemen--General use of Corsets for boys on the Continent--The officers of Gustavus Adolphus--The use of the Corset for youths: a letter from a gentleman on the subject of--Evidence regarding the wearing of Corsets by gentlemen of the present day--Remarks on the changes of fashion--The term "Crinoline" not new--Crinoline among the South Sea Islanders--Remarks of Madame La Sante on Crinoline and slender waists--Abstinence from food as an assistance to the Corset--Anecdote from the _Traditions of Edinburgh_--The custom of wearing Corsets during sleep, its growing prevalence in schools and private families: letters relating to--The belles of the United States and their "_illusion waists_"--Medical evidence in favour of moderately tight lacing--Letters from ladies who have been subjected to tight-lacing.