Sentence:  Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on her shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place, it filled out its natural circle, it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by <WSD>stays</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A corset.