Wood Busk

Wood Busk

Made in the USA

Busks are slipped into a pocket In the front of the stays. If you do not have a special pocket built into your stays you can simply slide the busk between shift and stay and held in place by friction. The busk is intended to keep the front of the stays straight and erect since the front has a tendency to bend or buckle as they wear. These busks have the shape and style to be fit into a mid to late 18th century pair of stays. In Wives, Slaves, and Servant Girls in London of 1754 it was recorded “she said she had got a bulk, that keeps down her belly so flat that no body can tell that she was with child, till she comes to the last month: she lost the busk at my house, and I burnt it before she was taken up: she at that time mended her stays.”

These are individually hand crafted of various hardwoods (most are walnut), slightly curved on the outside and flat on the inside. They vary slightly in size but are around 12 1/2″ long and 2″ wide at the bottom tapering to 2 3/4″ wide at the top.