KCIDigital Archives

The KCI Digital Archives on the KCI website presents image and text information for the objects in the collection, arranged in chronological order.

Stomacher

© The Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi Hatakeyama

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Stomacher

1730s-40s - unknown (Country)

Material
White silk taffeta embroidered with a polychrome floral pattern in silk and silver threads; silver-twined silk lacing; tabs at both sides for holding to dress.
Inventory Number(s)
AC2224 79-9-29

A dress such as open robe in the eighteenth century was worn with a stomacher, a V-shaped panel, which covered the front of the bodice. To keep the bosom from standing out, the stomacher was extravagantly adorned with embroidery, laces, rows of ribbons called "échelle" (ladder), and sometimes jewelry. Since stomachers needed to be pinned to the dress each time they were worn, to wear was time-consuming.

1700s-1750s