A Partially Boned ''Transition Stay'' Fashionable Circa 1793-1820
by Past Patterns. #038
Order this pattern in sizes 8-26 (bust 31-1/2 - 48).
Purchase 45"-wide fabric in the following amounts: Sizes 8 - 14 require 7/8 yd.; sizes 16 - 20 require 1 yd.;
sizes 22 - 26 require 1-1/8 yds.
The #038 pattern was pulled, with permission, from the Connecticut Historical Society stay number 1963-42-4.
The pattern package contains Past Patterns' Background Notes, published for the first time, reviewing differences among
eighteenth-century stays, transition stays of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and classic stays of the
first quarter of the nineteenth century through the early twentieth century. The Background Notes also show detailed drawings
of transition stays in museum and private collections, plus contemporary documentation dating the Connecticut Historical
Society stay to between the late eighteenth century and 1820. Additional illustrations from advertisements, catalog companies,
United States patent records, and ladies' magazines of 1840-1899, as well as original garments, document cupped stays made
both at home and commercially. These garments were in addition to, if not a complete substitute for, the stiff and inflexible,
waist-compressing item that most people imagine when the word corset is mentioned today. Detailed illustrated fitting and
construction instructions complete the package.
Saundra Ros Altman has been indebted since at least 1993, and will be for the remainder of her life, to clothing
historian Nancy Rexford. She was the person who first introduced me to the administration at the Connecticut Historical Society
and who sought permission for me to produce the Connecticut Historical Society stay pattern. This pattern would not exist without
her support.
Ms. Rexford is a guiding light, sharing her knowledge with both veteran and novice students of costume history.
Inspired by her dedication and example, I have continued to work to share historical fashion with the public at large, via
historical patterns. By researching in public and private collections and archives, and by creating patterns from original
garments, I have, I hope, allowed people to make and wear clothing that exemplifies fashion history in the round. We all owe
Ms. Rexford more than we can ever acknowledge.
Thanks to Nancy Rexford for allowing Past Patterns to reprint portions of “Frocks and Curls.” For access to original
garments, I thank the Connecticut Historical Society; the Danvers Historical Society; the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.;
Conner Prairie; The Hermitage, Ho Ho Kus, N.J.; the Kansas City Museum; the Chester County (Penn.) Historical Society; the Society
for the Preservation of New England Antiquities; Leslie Bellais at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison; Alden O'Brien at the
DAR Museum; Kristina Haugland at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Paula Richter at the Peabody-Essex Museum; Megan Spagnolo at the
Western Reserve Historical Society; Marianna Klaiman; Beth Miller Hall; and Catherine Bishop. For access to archives and libraries,
and for research assistance, I wish to thank Elizabeth Bryan at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Erin
Schleigh and Susan Ward at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England; and Yolanda Blue at the
University of California, Santa Barbara. For assistance producing the pattern packet, I am deeply indebted to Peggy Falk of Falk
Designs for the cover art, the illustrations of original stays, and freehand art in the fitting sections; Elizabeth Bowling for
editing and research; Holly Turner of Holly's Custom Sewing (573) 438-4596 for testing the pattern and instructions; Catherine Bishop
for supplying period advertisements; Virginia Mescher; the ladies who enthusiastically tested the pattern at workshops; and the
people who generously opened their homes to me when I traveled to research.
This pattern is copyrighted and is for personal non-commercial use only. Dressmakers and other commercial users
contact Past Patterns
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