18 Sept 2024

Pocket hoops and panniers: Georgian undergarments

Written by Eleanor Vaughan-Davies, graduate student

A close-up of a woman lifting her white linen skirt to reveal a red ribbon tied just below the knee, around finely woven white stockings. She wears burgundy pointed flat shoes.

Stockings worn by Jenny, a volunteer who modelled a recreated 1760s gown, made in June 2024 at the Georgian House.

Undergarments in Ramsay’s portraits are often hidden by gowns and petticoats, but they were as essential as the outer garments in representing a woman’s wealth and status in society. Eleanor Vaughan-Davies, a graduate student, takes a closer look in this sixth instalment in our Ramsay & Edinburgh Fashion blog series.

The foundation of every portrait is the canvas; but for the people in the Ramsay paintings on display at the Georgian House and in the National Trust for Scotland’s collection, undergarments were the foundation of their appearance, both in art and in real life. A woman living in the new townhouses of Charlotte Square would have been expected to wear the fashionable dress of the time, which was shaped by undergarments. In addition to a linen shift or shirt and woollen stockings, stays, stomachers, pocket hoops and panniers helped to create one of the most memorable silhouettes in fashion history, and were an essential part of their wardrobe. Ladies would visit textile merchants, clothiers, tailors and staymakers to ensure they acquired the correct fabrics, and then would have undergarments made for them.

A woman stands with her back to the camera in a Georgian drawing room. She wears a long white linen shift with a boned bodice. She also has what looks like a bicycle pannier on each hip, made of cream linen, and tied about her waist.

A view of the back of the stays and pocket hoops used to shape the gown made during the live dressmaking event at the Georgian House

Shirts and shifts

The first garment a lady would need to buy and have made up was a shift, normally made of linen. She may have had the linen spun on her own estate or she would purchase a length of linen from a cloth merchant. Shifts were worn by women as the first layer of clothing that touched the skin. They helped to protect the outer garments as the linen would absorb the body’s oils and perspiration.

During the 18th century, it was common for portraits to display the wearer’s linen, for example the collars of the shift or the sleeves. This was a nod to the wealth of the person in the portrait, because the white linen showed that they could afford to wear clean linen – thus they were able to pay to have their clothes cleaned properly as well as own more than one set of undergarments. Ramsay’s portrait of Janet, the daughter of the Honourable Sir David Dalrymple, displays her wealth through the depiction of her shift’s voluminous sleeve at the forefront of the portrait. Large-sleeved shifts, with an excess of material, were extremely fashionable throughout the 18th century; Janet’s portrait places her firmly as a fashionable and wealthy woman.

An oil painting of a seated woman wearing a pale green silk dress with linen sleeves and a lace collar. Her hands are folded neatly on her lap.

A portrait of Janet, daughter of The Hon Sir David Dalrymple, Bt., in a white dress, signed and dated 1749 | Newhailes collection

Women were also required to organise their children’s clothing and make sure they were presentable. Ramsay’s beautiful portraits of of Anne Erskine and her sister Magdalene Erskine show them in portrait fashion (almost a costume) similar to the art of Anthony van Dyck, rather than in clothing they would have really worn. However, these beautiful portraits still show the linen sleeves of the children’s shifts. Children wore what could be considered miniature versions of adult dress, and this included undergarments.

An oval half portrait of a young girl dressed in a formal blue dress, with pearl decoration.

An oil portrait of a little girl, sitting in front of a dark background. She wears a dark green dress with light blue sleeves and a red shawl wrapped around her. She has rosy cheeks.

Stockings

Stockings were also an essential part of dress for men and women. They were usually woollen and knitted, in a variety of colours, and secured in place with ribbon, above or below the knee. In 1758, the Derby Rib machine was invented, which meant elastic could be added to the stocking – but this was expensive, and only the wealthiest wore elasticated stockings.

A woman living in the Georgian House would have likely purchased good quality stockings from a supplier in Edinburgh, such as those on the Royal Mile. In female portraiture from the 18th century, it is extremely rare to see a woman’s stockings displayed, as this would have been considered improper. However, since men’s breeches or pantaloons reached just below the knee during this period, stockings worn by men are often on display. Finely woven stockings were more expensive.

Stockings worn by Jenny, a volunteer who modelled a recreated 1760s gown, made in June 2024 at the Georgian House.

Stays and stomachers

A pair of stays (a boned bodice) helped to create the structured and straight silhouette well known in 18th-century fashion. The term ‘stays’ was used from the 1600s up to the 1800s. Katherine Anne Graham, Mrs Mure of Caldwell, would have worn a pair of stays as part of her everyday ensemble. Her portrait was painted in the 1760s, and at this time stays were supportive, rigid and similar to the style worn by our model during a live dressmaking workshop that took place at the Georgian House this summer.

From canvas to silk – making a 1760s sack gown

A Georgian portrait of a young woman shown seated, with her arm resting on a book. She wears a beautiful turquoise silk dress with elaborate lace trimmings and a small sprig of flowers pinned to her chest. Her hair, by contrast, is quite simply pinned back in a bun.

A lady stands with her back to the camera in the middle of a Georgian drawing room. She is wearing a beautiful long blue silk dress in a Georgian style.

Edinburgh had an abundance of staymakers throughout the city. Women could visit a staymaker or simply provide their measurements to have a pair made. For example, Alexander Lind was originally from London and moved to the Canongate in Edinburgh to make a range of stays in a ‘complete manner’. Similarly, James Paterson and his wife (who was a mantua maker) had moved from the Canongate to the new Exchange. The couple advertised their shop, telling customers they could meet orders from all over Scotland.

A beautiful dress that survives from the 1760s, on display at the Georgian House during the Ramsay & Edinburgh Fashion exhibition, shows how the 18th-century silhouette was created with structured undergarments. We can see how the gown’s bodice was flat and conical. The stomacher of the gown is a triangular piece of fabric that covers the stays at a woman’s bust. Pinned onto the stays, the stomacher is also rigid, having been made from one or two pieces of fabric stiffened with paste or glue. It is this layering that gives the front of the dress its distinctive shape.

A Georgian gown is displayed on a mannequin in front of a white wall. The gown is made from cream silk and covered in red and blue embroidered flowers.

A close-up of a Georgian dress, showing the neat embroidered flowers stitched into the panels of cream silk.

Ramsay’s portrait of Agnes Murray Kynynmond displays her as a young girl, in a beautiful salmon-pink silk gown. Agnes’s side-facing position allows the viewer to see her bodice’s centre front. The straight, flat line shows that she is wearing a boned pair of stays underneath the gown. It was common for girls to begin wearing stays at a young age as they copied the women around them; it also helped to encourage the correct posture. Stays were made to support the female form rather than restrict it. As a member of the upper classes, Agnes’s stays would have been made bespoke to her measurements, to help support her posture and body.

Agnes is wearing an outfit designed for portraits; it is not something she would have worn on the high street. However, she does still have the fashionable mid-18th-century silhouette, which is an essential nod to her place in society as a wealthy heiress.

An oil portrait of an aristocratic Georgian girl. She wears a long pink silk dress with a blue shawl arranged over shoulder. She is shown picking roses, with some smaller flowers arranged in her hair.

Portrait of Agnes Murray Kynynmond | Newhailes collection

Bum-rolls, pocket hoops or panniers

Bum-rolls, pocket hoops or panniers were also worn by 18th-century women to add shape to their skirts and exaggerate the size of their hips.

Hooped petticoats helped to support the widening skirts. They were referred to as panniers and were most often worn at court from the early 1700s, until Queen Charlotte stopped wearing them at the beginning of the 1800s. Queen Charlotte and the royal family influenced the fashion at court, as well as in wider society.

However, panniers were not the fashion on the high street or in town; instead it was an adapted, smaller hooped skirt called pocket hoops that were worn outside of court. Pocket hoops were made of two semi-circular side bags, which were attached around the wearer’s waist and extended from the hips. Cane or whalebone was inserted into seams to create the shape. Pocket hoops were introduced in the early 1700s and worn until the 1780s. They were worn by women of all classes, but most often by those of middle to upper social statuses.