fashionsfromhistory:Chemise, Stays, & Panniersc.1760-1780 Throughout the eighteenth century,
fashionsfromhistory:Chemise, Stays, & Panniersc.1760-1780 Throughout the eighteenth century, the silhouette of a woman’s dress was formed with a corset or a pannier. In order to push up the bust for a feminine outline, the [stays were] framed with pieces of whalebone. First appearing in the early eighteenth century, the pannier became a mandatory item for court dress up until the time of the French Revolution. As the skirt widened in the mid-eighteenth century, the pannier was modified and split into left and right halves. Such huge panniers frequently became the subject of caricatures. Kyoto Costume Institute (AC337 77-12-51, AC7682 93-1-4, AC6289 89-4-6) -- source link