Doublet

Doublet, or tight bodice, in an ivory silk gros de Napels. Sleeveless and with a broad neckline, it is very close-fitting to the torso and short to the waist which ends in a peak at the front. It is elaborately decorated with erudite relief embroidery with twisted gilt metallic thread [gold thread twisted on a silk core] that depicts vegetal and floral elements in a symmetrical pattern from a central motif. The inside is strongly fitted with fourteen pairs of whalebone stays that stretch downwards, protruding outwards. Thus, structurally it responds to the female bodice types in use in the mid-17th century across Europe. In Spain, these doublets were given the name “jubones encotillados” or corseted doublets, because of the combination of the doublet and the corset in one sole garment, in general, structured with the whalebone stays.