How Should A Bodice Fit?

[elthefairy]

I bought a bodice, which is really more of a vest, a while ago. I got it off etsy, and there was only one size. I wore it to faire once, and it looks pretty bad. I'm finally going to take it in, but I'm not sure how it should fit. How many inches should the lacing gap be?

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Perhaps a photo of you in the bodice will give us something to assess.

As a rule, a bodice should looks smooth and non-wrinkly, be supportive if it has boning added, hit just a bit above the smallest area of the waist and at least 1" to 1 1/2' above the center of the breasts.



The Bodice of my Black gown, worn over a Corset, sits where it should. There are a few wrinkles because I have lost weight and I need to alter the Bodice part to accommodate the loss.

[isabelladangelo]

I bought a bodice, which is really more of a vest, a while ago. I got it off etsy, and there was only one size. I wore it to faire once, and it looks pretty bad. I'm finally going to take it in, but I'm not sure how it should fit. How many inches should the lacing gap be?

It depends on the style.  A bodice should NEVER fit like a vest.  Instead, a bodice is meant to hold you up comfortably w/o modern underwear supports (ie, no bra).  I'd suggest looking at period portraits to get a good idea of how your shape should be.

http://elizabethan-portraits.com/
http://www.wga.hu
http://aneafiles.webs.com/articles.html
http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/wardrobe/wardrobe.htm

These should get you started on what the proper look really is. 

[gem]

If you're talking wenchy/fairwear, I'd advise looking at catalogues/websites to get a visual sense of how it should fit. Here are a couple of good examples:

Venefica Corsetry's wench bodice
Odd Bodkin back-lacing bodice
Moresca Max II

In terms of how it should feel--not loose, anywhere. You should feel comfortably, snugly supported all around your torso. I make my own bodices, and I almost always have to take them in a little--I can tell they're too loose by how they feel around my back ribcage (that sounds weird, but that's where I need to feel the snug compression). You should breathe comfortably and be able to dance, sing, yawn, etc.

I personally don't like a gap in my lacing (in front), but YMMV. I wouldn't go over a couple of inches, though.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Depends what you mean by 'bodice'...  For standard Tudor/Elizabethan/early Jacobean English/Northern Europe/France, think of this:

A 'pair of bodies' or stays should fit snugly and support your bust, giving the 15-16th C 'cone' effect without compressing the waist.  Your bodice or jacket should fit snugly and smoothly over it without wrinkles.  Front opening stays should do up completely.  Back opening stays with a busk up the front can have an inch or two of gap, but not more...  You should be able to work in it: scrub floors, sit and embroider, climb ladders, dance, sit comfortably and read...  Look at lots of pictures of people DOING STUFF: you should be able to do all that fairly easily and without discomfort.

A boned bodice that does the same duty as a pair of bodies/stays should also fit snugly and support your bust, giving the 15-16th C 'cone' effect without compressing the waist.

If you want to be historically accurate, there should be little or no gap at the front in either stays or bodice unless you are wearing a stomacher that fills the gap.

Waist suppression did not really come in until the 1820's and later.

For 'wench wear', which is of no real historic foundation but huge amounts of fun, wear it with or without boning or stays, with or without a bra under it, and however is most comfortable!  Or go for the flavour and fun of court gowns with modern undies!  I designed this to look courtly but to drag on swiftly and wear with modern underpinnings:

[DonaCatalina]

Front Lacing Bodice

Back lacing bodice

[gem]

Looking at this again...

I bought a bodice, which is really more of a vest, a while ago. I got it off etsy, and there was only one size. I wore it to faire once, and it looks pretty bad. I'm finally going to take it in, but I'm not sure how it should fit. How many inches should the lacing gap be?

Any chance of a photo, either of the bodice itself or of you wearing it? How much boning does it have? If it really is just a vest--with no boning--there may be limits to what you can achieve with the fit, since, as Isabella pointed out, a bodice and a vest aren't meant to fit the same way. If you take in a vest too much, trying to make it fit like a bodice, it might pucker and pull in unattractive ways--and you definitely don't want that, either.

Photos or a more detailed description might help guide your alterations, too!