A History of Sexy Underwear

Historically, what's been fashionable for the shape of the female body has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous! However, the alluring female body has always been subject to what is covering it and history shows us that it's been covered in many different ways. Also, different parts of the feminine form have been emphasized, disguised, shrunk, increased by the style of the current fashionable frill fripperies.

We've witnessed some preposterous extremes, from devices that required a small army to coerce the unfortunate fashion victim into, to the flimsiest, most fanciful mere flutter of a garment. Let's take a look back 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 romantic language, we now usually allude to female 'underwear' as 'lingerie' - unless we're being derogatory in which case, depending on where you live, you can fill in the blanks!

When we (at least us of the male persuasion) envisage lingerie, we think of a flimsy material covering the female body 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 far different. These captivating 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 revealing their heaving 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 depending on the in thing. As each 'perfect' form emerged, frill fripperies were introduced and introduced to embellish and accentuate that desired shape. The culture of the society dictated whether the breasts, the bottom or both would be highlighted and glorified. You could argue that nothing much has changed!

During Medieval times it was thought that the natural form and shape of a woman should be constrained and that the breasts should be firm and small. This situation was probably ok for those normally built that way but perhaps not so good for those of a more curvaceous construction. Many different sorts of corset were worn with the single purpose of flattening the breasts and/or the bottom. I've heard it said that, in order to draw attention to that part of the anatomy that shouldn't draw attention, some women wore tinkling bells around their neck to remind the men folk of the delights that still lay beneath.

The 'modern' corset is thought to have been introduced by Catherine de Médicis, wife of King Henri II of France. She enforced a ban on thick waists at court attendance during the 1550s and had a questionable effect on women for the next 350 years.

The Renaissance saw another change in the preferred female shape. Women were required to have cone shaped breasts, flat stomachs and slim waists. In order to attain this look, they also needed to employ servants or family members to dress them because the cinching up of their corsets was done from the rear and needed much effort.

Due to this unnatural method of realizing 'perfection', Doctors and other notaries made the case that these corsets restricted women's bodies so tightly that their internal organs were being impaired and their ribs were being permanently misshapen. Around that time it was common for women to pass out or fall into a swoon. This was usually put down to their delicate nature but, in fact, it was because they simply found it almost impossible to draw breath! There are many accounts of women dying because of deadly punctures to vital organs due to this practice.

In the early 18th century the whalebone corset still kept women tightly bound but the artistry that reflected the times was incorporated into clothing and the corsets were decorated with alluring embroidery, ribbons and lace. 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 the aristocracy, the burgeoning middle class and even by nuns in convents. It was often proudly shown off by its wearer because it was a visible outer garment at that time. In itself it was an object of beauty and ornamentation and its display was part of social deportment.

However, as people became more educated and aware, they started to question and critique many things including art, politics and, you guessed it, in thing. Backed up by professional people like doctors, public opinion became such that boned corsets were actually banned in many countries.

By the early 19th century, a much softer approach to the female shape became popular. The in thing still demanded 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 in thing 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) introduced 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 were able to dress and undress themselves due to more elaborate lacing methodology.

During the 1840s the extremely exaggerated shape for women caused whalebone to return with huge hoops and crinolines that were covered with all kinds of fabric and fineries. Unfortunately for women, it became the in thing to have waists small enough for a man to put his hands around and the need for even more 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 butt. Once again it was the women who had to suffer for in thing, needing to stand most of the time due to the cumbersome bustle on their butts. Obviously men found this appealing because it gave them more opportunities to stare at the sexy women with their large bustles.

As more innovation came to in thing design, greater varieties of corsets were introduced. During the morning, a lady could wear a lightly-boned corset for promenading, an elastic corset for riding on her horse, a boneless corset for an excursion to the beach and a jersey corset for riding her bicycle. 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 developed 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 in thing-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 in thing designers were leaning towards an uncorseted, more free-flowing style. Sexy lingerie was about to take a whole new turn. With the advent of the industrial revolution, and the invention of the sewing machine, Germany and France introduced the first corset factories.

In 1910 New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob introduced a new type of bra. Not satisfied with the corset reinforced with whalebone which she was supposed to wear under a new evening gown, Mary worked with her maid to stitch 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 to patent an undergarment named 'Brassiere', the name derived from the old French word for 'upper arm'. shortly after, she sold the bra patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for $1,500 (over $25,600 today).

In 1917 the War Industries Board of the US asked women to stop purchasing corsets to free up metal for the production of war materials. This step freed up some 28,000 tons of metal, sufficient to build a pair of battleships.

It seems that the success of the bra is due predominantly to The Great War. The Great War changed gender roles for all time, putting many women to work in factories and wearing uniforms for the first time. Women needed practical, comfortable underwear. Warner went on to rake in well over 000 dollars from the brassiere patent over the next 30 years.

The other thing to acknowledge in the death of the corset was that The Great War had taken its toll on the supply of men. This meant more competition for finding a man so women needed to look their sexiest!

With the Roaring Twenties and its refined parties, in thing was turned on its side, the boyish style was in. The pursual of flat chests and stomachs along with non-curvy hips and buttocks led to the introduction of the liberty bodice, the chemise, and bloomers which were loose-fitting and light. For the first time pastel-colored lingerie appeared to replace plain old-fashioned white. To reinforce the boyish style the first bras were introduced to flatten the breasts. What happened to the corset? The butt part that held up the stockings was cut down and became the suspender belt.

The full-figured style came back in the 1930s. The feminine style once again became the in thing. Women were encouraged to look well-proportioned with a full-figure while remaining fairly slim in the hips. Now women had a full set of lingerie 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 lingerie industry when the Dunlop Rubber company developed Lastex, an elastic, two-way stretch textile made from the fine thread of a chemically modified rubber called Latex. This could be interwoven with fabric which allowed the industry to make lingerie in various sizes to appropriately fit a woman's shape.

The arrival of the 2nd World War and its shortages meant that Germany was unable to import the fabrics they had used before then and their industry failed. Forever inventive, people started making home-knitted underwear out of materials to hand. Not sexy but at least they kept themselves warm.

At the end of hostilities lingerie consisted of basic bras and suspender belts. This was acceptable to the majority of women but the teenage girl, just emerging from the hardship of the war years, became a target market. These young women were anxious to become women and wearing lingerie was a fantastic step towards attaining that aim. The German lingerie industry introduced lingerie sets that appealed to these young girls and the industry never looked back.

In the United States, the lingerie industry was trying to create something new and original. Women were bombarded with all kinds of underwear and top clothing to help them look sexy. The film producer Howard Hughes introduced a new bra, a special wire-reinforced device for Jane Russell. This caused the censors throw their toys out of the crib about miss Russell's breasts being blatantly exposed all because of Hughes' fantastically inventive bra improvements.

The 1960s was a bad era for the lingerie industry thanks to the rise of women's emancipation movements. Feminists burned their bras and many manufacturers were forced to cease trading. However Lycra had just been developed and women began to wear tight-fitting leggings. The iconic in thing item of that era however, was arguably the sexy little mini-skirt and the demand for bikini briefs. Famously, for a scant moment in time, topless swimsuits and topless dresses were the rage. But, unfortunately for most men and fortunately for the in thing industry, they were merely a 'flash-in-the-pan'!

The 1980s saw the wire-reinforced bra become the premier best seller. While these are still popular today, 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 previously. However, the alluring sex will always looks astounding in sexy, slinky lingerie!

So, there we are. From the push-up corsets of ancient Greece to the push-up bra of today. Sexy lingerie? Nothing ever really changes!
 
 
About the Author
Clive Johnson works in the fashion industry and runs an Underwear & Lingerie website

Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/author-articles/1691/1.html
 

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