Stays vs. Corsets: A Clarification
The terms stays and corset are often used interchangeably in modern language, yet historically they describe distinct garments with different purposes, constructions, and cultural contexts. Understanding the difference is essential not only for accuracy, but for appreciating how structure, silhouette, and intention shape the language of dress.
What Are Stays?
Stays are the foundational bodice garment of the 16th through mid-18th centuries. Their purpose was not to cinch or reduce the waist, but to support the torso and define posture. Constructed with layers of fabric stiffened by whalebone, reed, or corded channels, stays created a conical torso—upright, elongated, and composed.
Stays were designed to distribute structure evenly across the body. They supported the bust, aligned the spine, and served as the architectural base upon which gowns were built. Lacing was functional rather than corrective, intended to secure the garment rather than reshape the wearer.
In historical dress, stays were structural garments, not instruments of compression.
What Is a Corset?
The corset, as it is commonly understood today, emerged later—gaining prominence in the late 18th century and evolving dramatically through the 19th century. Corsets introduced greater flexibility, curved shaping, and targeted waist definition. Steel boning, curved panels, and refined patterning allowed the garment to mold more closely to the body.
While corsets still provided support, they increasingly emphasized contour and proportion, responding to changing ideals of femininity and fashion. The corset became a shaping garment as much as a supportive one.
In short: where stays establish structure, corsets refine shape.
Why the Distinction Matters
Calling all structured bodices “corsets” flattens centuries of dressmaking knowledge. Stays and corsets speak different design languages. One prioritizes posture and architectural clarity; the other allows for curvature, adaptability, and evolution of silhouette.
At Immortelle, this distinction is respected—not as nostalgia, but as discipline.
Immortelle’s Approach to Corsetry
Immortelle designs draw from both traditions while belonging fully to neither. Our stays and corsetry are historically informed, not historically replicated. We honor the architectural principles of stays—the upright posture, the open-front structure, the relationship between bodice and gown—while incorporating the comfort, flexibility, and modern engineering expected of contemporary wear.
This approach allows Immortelle garments to remain composed rather than restrictive, structured without rigidity, and expressive without excess.
A Note on Language of Corsetry vs. Stays
Using the correct terminology is not about gatekeeping—it is about clarity. When a garment is called a stay, it signals architecture and support. When it is called a corset, it suggests shaping and contour. Knowing which language applies allows the wearer to understand not only how a garment looks, but how it is meant to feel.
Understanding the difference between stays and corsets is understanding how dress evolved from structure into silhouette—and why both still matter.
