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Bodice

1660-1669 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This bodice trimmed with parchment lace is a rare example of late 17th century women's dress in the V&A collections. Typical of 1660s fashion are the long waist, off-the-shoulder neckline and short, full, cartridge-pleated sleeves. The bodice fastening took the form of a lacing through the eyelets at the back. It has a complex understructure of boned channels and layers of linen, with a channel for a separate busk at the front. A petticoat of matching satin, with a padded roll underneath, would have been worn with the bodice, as part of a formal ensemble.

The bodice is decorated with a two-coloured silk cord in mushroom and cream, and a silk bobbin lace with silk-wrapped parchment, in green, pink, yellow, black, cream and tan.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silk, linen, whalebone, bobbin lace, parchment, linen thread, silk thread, metal strip, hand-sewn
Brief description
Woman's boned bodice, 1660s, ivory satin, trimmed with bobbin lace with parchment & coloured silk
Physical description
A boned silk satin bodice with off-shoulder neckline, elongated, pointed waist and short, full, pleated sleeves. Two lacing bands with eyelets for fastening at the back. Trimmed with bobbin lace made with silk-wrapped parchment and a variety of passementerie elements made of metal strip and purl wrapped with coloured silk threads. The bodice is lined with green, pink, blue and white chiné silk.
Dimensions
  • Overall length: 59cm (approx)
  • Shoulder to lowest point at front length: 20cm
  • Circumference:
  • Bust under armholes circumference: 70.5cm (approx)
Production typeUnique
Object history
Purchased from Miss Gifkins in 1889. No details of provenance on registered description.
Summary
This bodice trimmed with parchment lace is a rare example of late 17th century women's dress in the V&A collections. Typical of 1660s fashion are the long waist, off-the-shoulder neckline and short, full, cartridge-pleated sleeves. The bodice fastening took the form of a lacing through the eyelets at the back. It has a complex understructure of boned channels and layers of linen, with a channel for a separate busk at the front. A petticoat of matching satin, with a padded roll underneath, would have been worn with the bodice, as part of a formal ensemble.

The bodice is decorated with a two-coloured silk cord in mushroom and cream, and a silk bobbin lace with silk-wrapped parchment, in green, pink, yellow, black, cream and tan.
Bibliographic references
  • Avril Hart and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries, London: V&A, 1998, p. 192
  • Rothstein, Natalie, ed, Four Hundred Years of Fashion, London: V&A Museum, 1982, p.18
  • Thornton, Claire, 'Satin Bodice', in North, Susan and Jenny Tiramani, eds, Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, vol.2, London: V&A Publishing, 2012, pp.38-79
Collection
Accession number
429-1889

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Record createdJuly 23, 2007
Record URL
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