It is well known that the female shape varies a great deal. History tells us that it has always been so!
Throughout the ages, what's been fashionable for the shape of the female body has gone from one extreme to the other. However, the comely female body has always been subject to what happens to be covering it and history shows us that it's been covered in many different ways. Also, different parts of the feminine form have been highlighted, covered, reduced, increased by the style of the current fashionable trimmings.
We've witnessed some incredible extremes, from devices that needed a small army to force the unlucky fashion victim into, to the flimsiest, most whimsical mere flutter of a garment. Let's take a trip back in time at how sexy lingerie has developed and how it got to where it is today.
First of all, let's get some terminology sorted out. Thanks to the world's most passionate language, we now generally allude to female 'underwear' as 'lingerie' - unless we're being derogatory in which case, depending on where you happen to live, you can fill in the blanks!
When we (at least us males) imagine lingerie, we think of a flimsy material covering the female form in a way that gives us a hint of the delights that lie underneath. But the 'first' lingerie, probably from one of the Ancient Greek islands, was very different. These tantalizing Greek women used a boned corset fitted tightly around the midriff, not for support or even for a 'slimming' effect, but to attract their men by showing their thrusting breasts in a most unsubtle way. Probably not what we would call lingerie today but with much the same desired effect.
As time rolled on, the female form took on new 'perfect' shapes dependant on the vogue. As each 'perfect' form emerged, trimmings were perfected and developed to embellish and accentuate that desired shape. The culture of the society dictated whether the breasts, the bottom or both would be highlighted and exalted. You could argue that nothing much has altered!
During Medieval times it was thought that the natural form and shape of a woman should be constricted and that the breasts should be firm and small. This condition was probably ok for those naturally built that way but perhaps a horror for those of a more curvaceous construction. Many styles of corset were worn with the single purpose of flattening the breasts and/or the bottom. It is said that, in order to draw attention to that part of the anatomy that shouldn't draw attention, some women folk wore small bells around their neck to remind the men folk of the delights that still lay tantalizingly beneath.
The 'modern' corset is attributed to Catherine de Mdicis, wife of King Henri II of France. She enforced a ban on chunky waists at court attendance during the 1550s and had a questionable effect on women folk for the next 350 years.
The Renaissance saw another change in the preferred female shape. Women now required cone shaped breasts, flat stomachs and slim waists. In order to accomplish this look, they also needed to employ servants or family members to dress them due to the fact that the cinching up of their corsets was done from behind and demanded much effort.
Due to this unnatural method of actualizing 'perfection', Doctors and other notaries made the case that these corsets restricted women's bodies so tightly that their internal organs were being injured and their ribs were being permanently misshapen. Around that time it was common for women folk to pass out or fall into a swoon. This was usually attributed to their delicate nature but, in fact, it was due to the fact that they simply found it difficult to get oxygen! There are many stories of women folk dying because of deadly punctures to vital organs due to this practice.
In the early 18th century the whalebone corset still kept women folk tightly bound but the artistry that reflected the times was incorporated into clothing and the corsets were decorated with comely ribbons, lace and embroidery. A part of this lightening up was the fact that it became fashionable for the breasts to be pushed upwards to the point of almost popping out.
Towards the end of the 18th century the corset was being worn by gentle folk, the burgeoning middle class and even by nuns in convents. It was often proudly displayed by its wearer due to the fact that it was a visible outer item of clothing at that time. In itself it was an object of beauty and ornamentation and its display was part of social manners.
However, as people became more educated and aware, they started to question and critique many things including art, politics and, you guessed it, vogue. Backed up by professional people like doctors, public opinion became such that boned corsets were actually banned in many regions.
By the early 19th century, a much softer approach to the female shape became popular. The vogue still needed the support that the old corset had given so it returned with more elaborate methods of construction. Boning was still used in small sections which allowed for better and more comfortable movement.
The vogue at the time was for a more separated look for breasts and a corsetiere by the name of M Leroy (who designed the wedding corset for Marie Luise of Austria when she married Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810) perfected a model which he called a 'divorce', allegedly because of the 'separation' involved. The most significant aspect of this perhaps, was the fact that women folk were able to dress and undress themselves due to more elaborate lacing methods.
During the 1840s the extremely exaggerated shape for women folk caused whalebone to return with huge hoops and crinolines that were covered with all kinds of fabric and fineries. Unfortunately for women folk, it became the vogue to have waists small enough for a man to put his hands around and the need for even harder waist-cinching became the female nightmare of the day.
It wasn't long before hoops and crinolines were replaced by the soft 'S' silhouette. This style still used the corset but added a bustle to the back creating an exaggerated behind. Once again it was the women folk who had to suffer for vogue, needing to stand most of the time due to the cumbersome bustle on their behinds. Obviously men found this appealing due to the fact that it gave them more opportunities to stare at the sexy women folk with their large bustles.
As more innovation came to vogue design, greater varieties of corsets were developed. During the morning, a lady could wear a lightly-boned corset for visiting relatives, an elastic corset for riding horseback, a boneless corset for an excursion to the beach and a jersey corset for riding her penny farthing. The corsetry industry was in its heyday!
Towards the end of the 19th century the corset supported not only the breasts but also the newly introduced stocking. Stockings were held up by garters and suspenders which were then attached to the corset. These devices, although a triumph of design, probably added yet another frustrating aspect to the vogue-conscious female of the day.
By the beginning of the 20th century, corsets were being laced down as far as the knee. But many people didn't like that style, and vogue designers were leaning towards an uncorseted, more free-flowing style. Sexy lingerie was about to take a whole new dimension. With the advent of the industrial revolution, and the invention of the sewing machine, Germany and France began the first corset manufacturing facilities.
In 1910 Mary Phelps Jacob a New York socialite developed a new type of brassiere. Not happy with the corset reinforced with whalebone which she was supposed to wear under a new chic evening gown, Mary worked with her maid to sew two silk handkerchiefs together with some pink ribbon and cord. It was much softer and shorter than a corset and it allowed the breasts to be shaped in their natural condition.
Mary Phelps Jacob was the first person to patent an undergarment named 'Brassiere', the name derived from the old French word for 'upper arm'. a little while after, she sold the brassiere patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for ,500 (over ,600 currently).
In 1917 the War Industries Board of the United States asked women folk to stop purchasing corsets to free up metal for the production of war materials. This step released some 28,000 tons of metal, sufficient to build two battleships.
It seems that the success of the brassiere is due mainly to World War I. World War I altered gender roles forever, putting many women folk to work in manufacturing facilities and wearing uniforms for the first time. Women needed practical, comfortable undergarments. Warner went on to make well over 15 dollars from the brassiere patent over the next 30 years.
The other factor to consider in the demise of the corset was that World War I had taken its toll on the supply of men. This meant more competition for finding a man so women folk needed to look their sexiest!
With the Roaring Twenties and its sophisticated parties, vogue was turned on its back, the boyish style was in. The pursuit of flat chests and stomachs along with non-curvy hips and buttocks led to the creation of the liberty bodice, the chemise, and bloomers which were loose-fitting and light. For the first time pastel-colored underwear appeared to replace plain old-fashioned white. To reinforce the boyish style the first bras were perfected to flatten the breasts. What happened to the corset? The behind part that held up the stockings was made shorter and became the suspender belt.
The full-figured style came back in the 1930s. The feminine style once again became the vogue. Women were encouraged to look well-proportioned with a full-figure while keeping fairly slim in the hips. Now women folk had a full set of underwear to help with the image: breast-enhancing bras, elastic suspender belts, not forgetting the girdle, which kept all the curves in their designated place.
The 1930s also saw one of the biggest advancements in the underwear industry when the Dunlop Rubber company introduced Lastex, an elastic, two-way stretch material made from the fine thread of a chemically modified rubber called Latex. This could be interwoven with fabric which allowed the industry to make underwear in various sizes to appropriately fit a woman's figure.
The onset of the 2nd World War and its shortages meant that Germany was unable to import the fabrics they had used previously and their industry failed. Forever inventive, people started making underwear knitted at home out of materials to hand. Not sexy but at least they kept warm.
After the war underwear consisted of basic bras and suspender belts. This was acceptable to the majority of women folk but the teenage girl, just coming out of the oppression of the war years, became a target market. These young women were anxious to become women and wearing lingerie was a huge way towards reaching that milestone. The German underwear industry developed lingerie sets that appealed to these young girls and the industry never looked back.
In the U.S., the underwear industry was trying to create something new and different. Women were bombarded with all kinds of undergarments and top clothing to help them look sexy. The film producer Howard Hughes developed a new brassiere, a special wire-reinforced device for Jane Russell. This caused the censors throw a tantrum about Jane's breasts being blatantly exposed all because of Hughes' terrifically innovative brassiere improvements.
The Swinging 60s was an awful time for the underwear industry thanks to the rise of women's emancipation movements. Feminists burned their bras and many manufacturers were forced to close down. However Lycra had just been introduced and women folk began to wear tight-fitting leggings. The iconic vogue item of that time however, was arguably the sexy little mini-skirt and the demand for bikini briefs. Famously, for a short, wonderful moment in time, topless swimsuits and topless dresses were the rage. But, unfortunately for most men and fortunately for the vogue industry, they were only a 'flash-in-the-pan'!
The 1980s saw the wire-reinforced brassiere become the premier best seller. While these are still great sellers currently, the greatest seller now is the push-up bra. Statistics show the average American woman owns six bras, one of which is a strapless bra and one is a color other than white.
The modern female shape varies and is not as susceptible to fashion trends as in past times. However, the comely sex will always looks breathtaking in sexy, slinky lingerie!
So, there we are. From the push-up corsets of ancient Greece to the push-up brassiere of today. Sexy lingerie? Nothing ever really changes!
