Historically the part of female dress clothing the torso from neck to waist was called a ‘body’ although it was united with the skirt until the mid-16th century, when body and skirt became separated. By the 1560s the plural term ‘bodys’, or bodice, was in use, as the fitted Elizabethan garment comprised a ‘pair of bodys’ joined together. One bodice style was figure-hugging with a short point to the waist and a side-fastening; the other was high-necked with a front-fastening, both variants fastening with hooks and eyes. Bodices had sleeves attached and were lined and often boned, or worn over stiffened under-bodices and/or rigid stays (later corsets), to give support and produce the fashionable silhouette.

Over the centuries, bodices altered frequently, reflecting new stylistic trends and, often, a desire to distort the natural body shape: for example, between the 1580s and early 1600s excessively elongated bodices were created with a separate inverted triangle of stiffened material called a stomacher, pinned or tied between the centre-front bodice edges. Again in the later 1600s and intermittently during the 1700s pointed bodices using stomachers or other construction aids were fashionable, although sometimes plainer, more natural styles developed and were more easily sewn to the skirt. Between the 1790s and 1810s, bodices were very short, expressing the prevailing neo-classical vogue for a high waistline. In general, bodices featured the lowest décolletage for evening wear and higher, concealing necklines by day, or a low-necked bodice might be modestly accessorised with a chemisette (under-blouse) or covered by a neckerchief.

While affluent ancestors had bodices and co-ordinating skirts professionally fashioned from costly silks and velvets, ordinary women used more practical woollen, linen and cotton materials, many hand-sewing their clothes or, by the later 1800s, perhaps using a domestic sewing machine. The smartest effect was achieved with a matching bodice and skirt, whether sewn together or worn separately as an integrated set, although contrasting bodices and skirts could be alternated to create different outfits. The formal bodice remained an important garment into the Edwardian era and we might still refer to the bodice section of a dress, but as the 20th century advanced modern fashion favoured blouses, sweaters and casual separates.