History of Lingerie through the centuries to date
Lingerie History BC - Full Frontal - cleavage and breasts
Women of this time were very full frontal and they were not subtle in the display of their cleavage and push up and out was the style of times when showing the cleavage and breasts. No tease was taking place where they were concerned and a bra at the time was more to do with display rather than support
Lingerie History - Mediaeval times - Lingerie Corsets to disguise femininity
Medieval times were a time of repression and denial and lingerie of the times
reflected that. Corsets worked hard in hiding the female form; flattened
breasts almost to no existence were the targets and requirements
of the day. Corsets made of iron would trim the waist and conceal
the chest giving women a boyish figure well away fro their femininity.
They would even decorate their chests with bells
Lingerie History - Renaissance times - lingerie for the hourglass figure
The hourglass figure was the desire of women of these times and their lingerie
was supposed to create and force into place the perfect hourglass
figure. Extreme measures were afoot and lingerie was tightened to
the stage of being down right dangerous and would now be seen as
fetish like. The lingerie bone corsets of the time were most likely
to cause injury with ribs been broken and misplaced under the stress
created by tightened corset strings and ridged one structure.
Lingerie History - 18th Century - Lingerie more decorative Cleavage and corsets
Corsets continued to be popular and the heaving bosom or cleavage were still much
sort after. Although corsets became more decorative with the adornment
of ribbon and detailed and intricate embroidery. The medical fraternity
spoke out at this point and made a stand regarding the corset and
how restrictive this lingerie was and how it would damage the female
form and cause health issues.
Lingerie History 1900 onwards..
Lingerie History - 1900 - bloomers panty and underpants
As women archived more freedom in the turn of the 20th century their requirement for lingerie became integral to their activities. More sports such as cycling and this saw them wearing big bloomers named after Mary Bloomer and would then also known as 'rational dress' a very earlier version of the lingerie item panty or under pants. Worn under thin dresses this type of lingerie would have been viewable and thought to be a very racy lingerie garment!
Lingerie History - 1903 - chemise and drawers
Lingerie combinations were born during these times and would be made up of lingerie chemise and lingerie drawers. This increasingly popular aspect of lingerie would have been made up of the finest silk and would have supported the fine figures of women of that time . Dr Jaeger created a woolen version that would have been warmer and in addition an excellent lingerie item for the colder winter months. Being Sexy, functional and attractive but warm lingerie further more frills would have adorned the lingerie and will have been a feature of the lingerie wardrobe for further years to date.
Lingerie History - 1907 - lingerie for the beautiful figure
Up to this time in lingerie history corsets would have been the lingerie most commonly worn. However Paul Poiret looked further than this and developed lingerie for the natural beautiful figure's of the women of that time. The French government took this to heart and defended the corset industry and corset makers seeing this as a threat to the lingerie corset industry. They even took the step of trying to prevent Poiret from creating his lingerie but he refused.
Lingerie History - 1909 - night time lingerie
Night time garments were very diverse during this time and lace lingerie and even pajamas were evident and worn in the bedroom. Indian and Persian garments inspired the first pajamas that were firstly worn by men in the seventieth century. The word pajamas come form the word 'pae' which means foot or leg and Jamah which means clothing or garment. Girls and women now love their pajamas and these take up part of the typical lingerie range available. Sexy, lace and silk pajamas see - through or short cut are those lingerie garments that cause the red blooded males to fall to their knees in the bedroom. They are now known as negligees and peignoirs lingerie.
Lingerie History - 1911 - silky pajamas lingerie
Lingerie pajamas stepped up a gear with vibrant coloured silky pajamas and satin finished edged night clothes appeared in the bedroom. In India they were also worn with matching vibrant turbans to accompany the pajamas worn. A ballet - Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russe - inspired this trend and inspired the creative designs of the exotic and daring design of Lev Bakst
Lingerie History - 1912 - Rayon artificial silk stockings
Rayon was used for the manufacture of stockings used by the company ' Viscose
Company Stockings ' who were an American lingerie manufacturer.
Rayon was also known as artificial silk. At last fitted stockings
became more available to women of all levels of Society and accompanied
the raising of skirt lines; where a little peak of stocking top
became the norm.
Lingerie History - 1913 - lingerie whalebone corset
The whalebone corset became the lingerie garment of the past when a new type of
elascticated material appeared creating the American Slip-on lingerie
corset. The corset was a necessary lingerie garment of the times
and this elasticity aided the wearing of such a lingerie garment.
Lingerie History - 1914 - the flapper lingerie bra
The corset took a further knock from the lingerie possibilities with the advent of the 1st Work War and these were a hindrance to the women working in the munitions factories of the time. 1914 also saw the creation of the first lingerie bra which was patented by Mary Phelps-Jacobs; manufactured from a length of ribbon and two handkerchiefs. The flapper shape bra was created with the boneless middle body bra which flattened the bust pushing it down the body.
Lingerie History- 1915 - rising hemlines and suffragettes
In 1915 the height of hemlines of skirts rose even further to halfway below the knee. A movement called the suffragette movement gave women more independence and with a right to vote becoming more of a possibility
Lingerie History - 1916 - shorter panties and drawers
With women now working it became necessary for garments to become more flexible and less hindering with advent of more physical occupations by women. Shorter panties or drawers became ore of the norm and lacy garters also accompanied the range of lingerie of which stockings were then attached to. Lacy and fishnet stockings would have been the rage accompanying these new shorter panties.
Lingerie History - 1921 - bare thigh and lingerie stockings
The new women of the 20's came from the French tennis player Susanne Lenglen french tennis champion of the 20's. She had an asexual look which was the centre for this new style, that being the show of top with a strip of bare thigh been shown i.e. showing between the skirt line and stocking top. With a short dress and stocking top showing this lead to the more racy way women would look and adopt their lingerie garments.
The 20's also saw the end of the lingerie corset and into play came bras and panties in an assortment of colours and fabrics
Lingerie History - 1922 - luxurious lingerie beautiful silk fabrics
Luxurious and beautiful lingerie was born in 1922 with silk tricot, heavy crepe satins and crepe de chin being some of the lingerie fabrics and materials adorned the garments worn then. The term ' lingerie ' first appeared at this time and was derived form the feminine and racy underwear of the time.
Lingerie History - 1924 - Coco Chanel Cotton Lingerie
Comfortable and attractive were the lingerie garments created by Coco Chanel. The lingerie was made from Jersey Cotton and was worn in preference to the cami-knickers and baggy French knickers worn at that time. Coco Chanel got a lot of criticism for her range of lingerie but this soon won through and became a household name then and now for the lingerie range available throughout the world.
Lingerie History - 1925 - lingerie bra cups and darts
The 'Kostos' Bra was the first commercial success of a bra that rather than flattening the breasts would actually shape to the natural form of the women. The bra has fastening buttons under the cups and darts under the bust with elastic backing and became a popular lingerie garment of choice amongst women of the time. Because of the bra 's supportive nature it became the preferred choice and saw sales and popularity of the bra row immensely.
Lingerie History - 1927 - lingerie petticoat skirt hems slip
The lingerie item the petticoat became redundant when the skirt hems rose and the petticoat then became known as the slip. The petticoat had been a lingerie item for forty years but it was now time for a change although the petticoat would still remain the fantasy lingerie item of men then and of course - now!
Lingerie History - 1931 - fitted panty line knickers and knicker line
The long dresses of the time would have had slim fitting knickers worn as lingerie underneath them, the benefit being that they were invisible and would remove the dreaded panty line. A smoother hip line was needed and larger women would go for a lightweight corset over the knickers for added control. May now were fastened using the zipper- invented in the 1935. The 30's also bore the lingerie girdle with which became a very popular piece of lingerie with fuller breasts seen as attractive but fat ladies not; so the lingerie girdle became a necessary support to the vanity of women of the time.
In addition the 30's saw the discovery of latex which was and is an elastic fibre invented by Dunlop Rubber and its versatility allowed designers to produce garments in latex of various shapes and sizes
Lingerie History - 1932 - plunging neckline strapless bra
With fashions now leading towards the plunging neckline then the bosom became more popular and the uplift from a bra became more desirable. With dresses made of satins and crepe de chine cups bras were needier of the uplift and with Paris fashions dominated by Adrian, Madame Gres and Madame Vionnet many dresses were backless leading also to the launch of the strapless bra. The first strapless bra was launched in 1934.
Lingerie History - 1934 - lingerie Hollywood influences
The film industry was an influencing factor in lingerie fashion and the growing popularity of Hollywood was another contributing factor in lingerie of the times, Claudette Colbert, a French actress, stripped down to her underwear and this set-off copycat fashions at that time with various lingerie design echoing that worn in her film.
Lingerie History - 1935 - sleekies corsolettes lingerie combinations
Sleekies and corsolettes were the new lingerie of the time. Women were very keen to get hold of the corsolettes which were made up of elasticated panels and were much more comfortable than that of the bone corsets of the early 20th century, Sleekies were a version with integrated bra and garters making a matching set of lingerie.
Lingerie history - 1936 - lingerie bras cup size
Lingerie and bras became more sophisticated with the advent of the cup size for
the bras on sale at that time. The size of breasts and cup size
were now being considered in the bra lingerie of the time and combinations
of both became the norm and open up ranges of sizes for any particular
bra design.
Lingerie History - 1937 - nylon stockings basques corsets panties
Nylon came to the fore with US company DuPont patenting the first nylon which made lingerie light, strong and that that could be knitted by machine. This lingerie and stockings particularly became available in different widths and in the case of stockings deniers or weights. This lingerie also required no ironing as it would drip dry. Nylon found itself into Bras, Basques, Stockings, Corsets, Panties and all other under garments of the time.
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