No, I haven't found it a problem either: after all, the high waist of the
"Cavalier" style isn't as extreme as that of the Empire line. I'm
long-waisted, but I make my bodices come down to my lower ribs and wear my
bumroll round my waist. It sits on my hipbones and supports the waist of
my skirts level with the bottom of the bodice.
I wear a corset with my "best" dress, but for ordinary Living History I'm
thin enough to get away with bodices lined with strong fabric and lightly
boned.
Kate Bunting
Librarian and 17th century reenactor
You know, my current theory is that probably a good many women wore corsets
under their dresses, and some women had boned bodices or boned linings in
the dresses, and maybe some of them wore both. There's several ways to get
the correct line and without existant garments we really don't know. I'm
also pretty sure that lower class women didn't bone their garments as much
as the upper classes did, but again, we probably won't every know. So, I
look at as many pictures as I can find, read as much written evidence (wills
and other records) and then try my own theories to find what actually works
in wearing it.
Melusine
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