Different stays under the same gown?

[lastbloom]

Do those of you who have more than one set of stays find that you must only wear certain stays with the gowns that were specifically designed to fit over them, or are you able to wear either set with any gown in your wardrobe?

I'd like to make a short set (probably Dawn's Daffodown Dilly pattern) and a long set (Hunnisett's), but I don't want to have to sort my gowns into two piles. Would the final silhouette be quite different between these two styles of stays? (I am slender, short waisted, and have a small bust.)

[bennettgirl]

I actually do have two set's of stays that I wear with different gowns.
I have a set of short stays that I wear under day dresses and then i have a rather un period strapless corset that I wear under my ballgown because my ballgown has a rather low square neckline and the straps of my short stays will show.

[Izodiea]

Has anyone ever made a pair of long stays and then modified and made a second pair of short stays from the same pattern? If it worked I would assume you could wear them with all dresses you might have since the bodice of the stays would be the same?

[dawnluckham]

I have (well, a bunch, actually) of Regency era stays all of different designs. For the most part, they all give an individual silhouette.

HOWEVER, My short wrap stays (the Daffodown Dilly pattern) and my long stays, made from the Hunnisett book, “Period Costume for Stage and Screen” both have busks, and both give a nice, gusseted and busk-separated shape, which does not require different fittings to my gowns.

izodiea, the suggestion of cutting off a pair of stays (or shortening the pattern taken from well fitting long stays to a shorter design) is actually mentioned in “The Lady’s Stratagem” which is the reprint and translation of several period books by Frances Grimble… Fran, jump right in here if you’re reading.

[lastbloom]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that both patterns I had in mind are "compatible" with each other. Are the wrap-around stays fairly quick to make? I was thinking they would be good to make first while I worked on the longer stays which will require more labor with the cording, and good to have in case we decide to expand our family