If the woman is upper-class, she'll wear a stiffly boned bodice. Ordinary women, though, need more freedom to do everyday tasks. A bodice takes a bit of strain so buttons are to weak of a fastening. Instead, bodices are fastened with hooks or laced up. It's shape is dictated by the shape of the undergarment.
Wheel farthingales require huge skirts, heavily gathered at the waist.
Women who do not wear farthingales wear many layers of petticoats to increase volume. The last style of female garment is a gown, which is a bodice and a skirt sewn together. The gown is worn on top of a kirtle or a petticoat. The gown is the richest form of all garments, often with huge sleeves that hang down the back and open skirts in front to reveal other skirts underneath. Good idea, we'll tell them all about undergarments.