Stomacher

A stomacher is a decorated triangular panel that fills in the front opening of a woman's gown or bodice.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, men and women both wore decorative stomachers (often called placards or plackets) with open-fronted doublets and gowns.

[citation needed] In 1603, Elizabeth Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, who was pregnant, wrote to her husband in London asking him to buy her a stomacher, 'buy me a "stumiger" of scarlet, half a yard broad, and as long at least, lined with plush to keep my belly warm a days when I must ride'.

Depending on the period, their bottom point was at waist level, or lower; towards the end of the 18th Century they could be as deep as 10 inches below the waistline, making it impossible for the woman wearing them to sit.

There was a brief period during the court of Louis XVI, when the neckline and stomacher actually were below the breasts, which were covered by a transparent ruffle of fabric called a fichu.