Page:Science ofDress168.png

168 speaking, stays should be constructed of yielding material, with as few bones as possible, and the slightest, narrowest steel busks that can be obtained; and they should have narrow strips of elastic webbing let in throughout their whole length on each side. They should be well shaped over the abdomen, and should be made sufficiently long in front to support it. In putting them on they should be fastened from below upwards, so that the soft parts may be raised instead of being pushed down, as is the case with the ordinary stay, which is usually flat and shapeless in these parts, and to fasten which, people almost always begin at the top.

Fig. 8 shows stays constructed on these principles by Mr. Bourne, under my instructions.6 The white line from the arm-pit to the hip shows where the elastic is inserted, and the lower part of the stay, which fastens with a buckle, is shaped so as to support the abdomen.

For the reasons previously stated, woollen materials should be employed in  making stays, and they should  not be stiffened with  starch or any