18th century women without stays

Supportive garments, like stays, must be worn with most fashionable gowns in the 18th century. But let’s face it: stays aren’t for everyone. Some 18th century women wore jumps or quilted waistcoats for support. Many of the women in these depictions are wearing bedgowns — but they don’t seem to be wearing stays.

A stout woman in a simple dress in an etching by Paul Sandby, c. 1740-1765

Jersey Nanny, 1748

A woman reading a document by the doorway in Zitting van Commissarissen tot ontvangst der Liberale Gifte by Jacobus Buys, 1748

A woman in the right foreground holding a teakettle in The Sailor’s Revenge or the Strand in an Uproar, 1749 (h/t Jennifer Roy)

William Adam’s nurse by Paul Sandby, c. 1752

London Cries: Last Dying Speech and Confession, and Lights for the Cats, Liver for the Dogs by Paul Sandby, c. 1759

A fisherwoman, hands under apron by Louis Philippe Boitard

Woman standing by the table in High Life Below Stairs by John Collet, 1763

The Female Orators, 1768

Cream-woman of Trinity College Cambridge, 1770

The City Chanters, 1771

The Abusive Fruitwoman, 1773

Scheveningse visloopster by Paulus Constantijn la Fargue, 1775