Women’s lingerie is the staff of fantasy. Women have worn underwear since the dawn of civilization, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, as the social climate dictated.
The earliest undergarments for women date back to 2.000 BC in Crete, the crinoline and the corset. Women in Greece wore a zona under their gown. This was a type of gridle, a band of cloth or leather, whose only purpose was to accentuate the figure and emphasize femininity. On the other hand, Roman women wore tight-fitting, jeweled garters around their thigs, their sole purpose was to arouse men’s fetishist desires.
The First Corset. Crete 200-1700 BC.
Lingerie was no less popular in the Middle Ages, the golden age for lingerie. Women did not wear knickers, the gipon was invented and it was a new type of corset. This type of lingerie was worn to flatten them, placing greater emphasis on the stomach, which was regarded as a monument of femininity.
In the 17th century, they were replaced by the petticoat. The 18th century saw the invention of the pannier, a type of birdcage. At the turn of 19th century, the fashion industry eagerly appropriated pantaloons, making them more feminine. They were no transparent, richly embroidered and were so long that they showed below the dress, again catching the eye.
A woman needed several helpers when puttintg on a caroline. Circa, 1850
After the fat years come the lean years. By 1900, women’s clothes were more restrictive than ever. Their clothed bodies presented a peculiar appearance: a massive corset, a veritable instrument of torture worthy of the sadomasochist repertory, stretched from their shoulders to their thighs.
With every burst of artillery during 1914-1918 war, skirts rose by two centimeters, revealing first the calf, then the knee. The fast-shrinking corset was soon reduced to a mere suspender belt, worn around the waist and next to the skin. Until 1930, eroticism took up residence in that magical place between stocking-top and knickers, in the strip of bare skin glimpsed when women crossed her legs or got out of car.
Women’s lingerie had now been scaled down to “bare” minimum: bra, knickers and suspender belt. Pin up girls have taken the world by storm, they have invaded the tabloid press, advertisements, calendars and playing cards. Pin ups are used to sell all types of products and they were a little vulgar. Modern pin ups are shameless, they have become the symbols of our age of warrior sexuality.
Marilyn Monroe wearing nothing nut lingerie. 1954.
The end of Second World War ushered in a new era of prosperity and Christian Dior’s revolutionary New Look, in 1947, made up for a lengthy period of forced abstinence in terms of luxury products, leading to soaring demand for lingerie. Sexual archetypes dating back to classical antiquity came back into vogue: tiny waist, rounded hips and large breasts.
In 1960s, Mary Quant launch the miniskirt. Thighs exposed spelled disaster for suspender belts. The inevitable consequence of the miniskirt was the invention of tights of pantyhose. This one-piece combined stocking and knickers. The miniskirt marked a return to the straitjacket. Feminist movements hang out the flags. Young women were exhorted to wear the panty girdle, which boasted orthopedic qualities. This was a pair of knickers and corset all in one, it could flatten your stomach and help you shed 6lb at one go.
The banished stocking could make a comeback in the form of hold-ups (stockings that stay up on their own). They came up very high and were sheerer than tights.
1975. Argument for transparent fabrics.
Advertising industry has realized that underwear and sex are not necessarily a good fit. Sex can be used to sell most things, particularly to men. But underwear belongs to an essentially feminine world in which the woman, model, hostess, peasant, worker, secretary… and all these rolled into one.
The film industry is our barometer. It provides an accurate reflection of the latest trends in lingerie fashion and the fetishes that these generate. The emphasis is placed by turns on shoulders, breasts or legs.
Mirroring the development of sexuality, lingerie has continued its course into the once private, but now increasingly popular, domain of SM (Sado-Masochist). These garments lend themselves, at clubs or in private, to the most risqué performances and an infinite variety of sexual activities.
The benefit of all-in-one tights and briefs.
The history of lingerie, from its origins to the height of its glory in film and advertising, is an epic one. Women have always treated the need to cover up and the desire to uncover as a pretext for enhancing their feminine allure.
