Join Jenny Tiramani, Principal of The School of Historical Dress, as she explores the many layers of dress worn by the Georgians. Find out more about the importance of women’s underpinnings and learn how vital they were in creating the extravagant silhouettes that were so popular in the period. 

The fashion silhouettes of women's dress changed dramatically from 1710 to 1830. The stitched and smooth-covered stays that shaped women's upper bodies throughout the 18th century were gradually replaced in the early 1800s by corded corsets, while the extravagant shapes of hoops from 1720 onwards and later the large rumps so popular in the last quarter of the century were gradually replaced by modest skirt supports until all that remained by 1810 were tiny pads worn at the back of gowns with raised waists. This lecture will explore the material nature of such underpinnings, the difficulties they presented their wearers with and how these were overcome.