A stomacher - sometimes called a devant de corsage - is a piece of

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

worn on the centre panel of the

bodice A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the ...

of a dress, which is itself also called a

stomacher A stomacher is a decorated triangular panel that fills in the front opening of a woman's gown or bodice. The stomacher may be boned, as part of a corset, or may cover the triangular front of a corset. If simply decorative, the stomacher lies ov ...

. In the 18th and 19th century, stomachers became large, eye-catching pieces of jewellery to be worn with formal

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

robes or ball gowns. Like the

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

, it was a jewel pre-eminently suited to expressing social status.

Description

A stomacher is worn on the centre panel of the

of a dress, which itself is also called

. A stomacher can consist of one or more elements. If it consists of one element, it can be best described as a large and elaborate

brooch A brooch (, also ) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with vitreous enamel, ...

to be worn at the top of the bodice, in the centre of the

neckline The neckline is the top edge of a garment that surrounds the neck, especially from the front view. Neckline also refers to the overall line between all the layers of clothing and the neck and shoulders of a person, ignoring the unseen undergarmen ...

. A stomacher that consists of more than one element often has the overall shape of an inverted triangle: the element to be worn at the neckline is widest, with the lower elements tapering downwards towards the waist and covering the entire centre panel of the bodice. The elements can usually also be worn individually. Ever since the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, the centre panels of bodices were adorned with precious stones and pearls that were sewn onto the fabric. The stomacher as a detacheable piece of

became popular in the second half of the 18th century, and was in fashion until the beginning of the 20th century. It was mainly worn with ball gowns or ceremonial gowns for events at

. Stomachers were made of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

and richly decorated with

precious stones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

and

pearls A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living animal shell, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pea ...

. Because of its weight, a large stomacher could only be worn if the bodice of the gown was corsetted. In some countries, a similar, but simpler, piece of jewellery is part of the traditional folk costume. A stomacher could be part of a

parure A parure () is a set of various items of matching jewelry, which rose to popularity in early 19th-century Europe. Terminology A parure typically consists of a combination of a matching necklace, earrings, brooch, bracelet and often a diadem or tia ...

, a set of jewellery with the same design. Stomachers went out of fashion at the beginning of the 20th century. Nowadays, an antique stomacher (or one of its elements) is occasionally worn as a brooch with an

evening gown An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from ballerina (mid-calf to just above the ankles), tea (above the ankles), to full-length. Such gowns are typically worn with evening ...

. It is then usually worn on the shoulder or on the belt, and not on the neckline. File:18th century portuguese devant de corsage made of chrysoberyls and amethysts, National Museum of Ancient Art.jpg, 18th century stomacher made of chrysoberyls and

amethysts Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that ...

, File:Joshua Reynolds - The Countess of Dartmouth - WGA19336.jpg, Countess of Dartmouth wearing a three-piece stomacher over ceremonial robes (

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

, 1757) File:Mary of Teck 4.jpg, Princess (later queen)

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

wearing a three-piece stomacher (1901) File:18th century portuguese devant de corsage or stomacher made of gold and diamonds, National Museum of Ancient Art.JPG, 18th century stomacher made of

and

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

References

{{Reflist Types of jewellery