Shaping Femininity: Foundation Garments, the Body and Women in Early Modern England

Highly Commended, Society for Renaissance Studies Biennial Book Prize 2022

In sixteenth and seventeenth—century England, the female silhouette underwent a dramatic change. This very structured form, created using garments called bodies and farthingales, existed in various extremes in Western Europe and beyond, in the form of stays, corsets, hoop petticoats and crinolines, right up until the twentieth century. With a nuanced approach that incorporates a stunning array of visual and written so...