Out on the Town

The caption on this British Mezzotint, c 1772, reads "Lady Drudger going to Ranelagh". The old woman is primping for her visit to the 18th century pleasure gardens of Ranelagh, where there would be dancing, music and fine foods. Is the purpose of the print to poke fun at an older woman trying to look attractive, or is this cartoon aimed at a particular person whose identity is lost to us?

For the purposes of information about 18th century stays, it does show the pocket worn beneath the stays, a ribbon lacing across the front of the stays over the stomacher ( a different color from the rest of the stays) with the ribbon knotted into an attractive bow. It also depicts a pair of stays on a not so slender figure, and as in the "Tight Lacing, or Fashion before Ease" print, the underpetticoat is worn under the stays and is relatively short.

Courtesy of the Lewis Walpole Library Digital Collection