> I think of the melons on a platter in the 18th Century, not Elizabethan,
> as the corsets are shaped differently. The Renn and Elizabethan are
> more tubular in shape to the 18thC cone shape that gives you a higher
> bustline. That and the 18thC women showed them off a bit more than
> earlier women, what with the partlets of the earliers times.
It depends on what you mean by melons on a platter. In both time
periods, I think you see a lot more at Ren Faires and reenactments
than the ideal for the time period. 18thC is supposed to produce
"pleasing mounds", and I have not seen paintings where they show a
cleavage line (the actual line from breasts pressed together).
Winterthur Museum in Delaware has a portrait of a lady who is rather
large busted, and still no line! Bet she wasn't like that in real
life, but we're talking about the ideal.
And while Elizabethans had partlets, 18thC have handkerchiefs, a
folded square or triangle of cloth that covers the shoulders and
bosom. Sometimes they were sheer and some were embroidered. Wearing
one depended on time of day and age. They protect from the sun, and
young women would tend to go without while those with wrinkles could
keep covered.
And in both centuries there was a gamut of class distinctions,
ethnicities, yadda yadda.
-Carol
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