What are alteration 'stays'

Hi,

I went for my first fitting last night.

My dress started riding down and the bra riding up. The seamstress said 'Dont worry, we'll put stays in the dress'

What are stays? Did I hear her wrong? I felt weird asking.

TIA!

I have no idea, but what comes to mind is maybe they can sew it in in a couple of places so it stays in place?

my guess would be a similar concept to boning?

ETA: stays are also little plastic pieces men put in their shirt collars to make them, well, stay

Stays keep things from riding up or down, in most cases the two 'stays' attach to each other to keep the pieces moving together.. so if one goes up, both go up, actually the stays keep them from moving much, if she's a good seamstress :)

P.S I got this info from grandma, she was a seamstress many years ago

Tell your grandma I said thank you!