professional bad example

played with the bernhardt stays pattern F a bit and found that the proportions are actually very similar to what i've drafted - except the lacing gap is really nonsensically big. like, i had to add 5 cm to the centre back piece to get a 5 cm lacing gap, meaning that the original gap would've been 15 cm (meanwhile the width of the centre front piece and the location of the armscyes were very close, so i don't think the whole pattern is just too small for me)... also it would be kind of weird if the straps were really meant to angle as far towards the centre back as they do on the stays that blog's author made. but if you wore stays that were actually too large for you, but had a huge lacing gap so you were still able to lace them, it would absolutely make sense for the straps to end up angled like that. and some regency stays do have huge lacing gaps, so that's my theory.

anyway i also found that the side front piece's grain line follows what would be the side seam on a modern bodice, then the seam lines of the other pattern pieces are lined up with the side front's and their grainlines drawn parallel to the side front one. i just don't think i can get myself to make stays where the centre front and back are not on the straight grain though, and as regency stays show, it can't be strictly necessary for a good fit with minimal boning either.