THE STORY OF LINGERIE

Lingerie is very directly and strongly linked to a women’s intimacy. For centuries, men have always believed that lingerie was created with the objective of seduction. There is no question that this aim exists. However, by choosing to put on pretty, seductive underwear, all women develop a slightly self-centred, even narcissistic, behaviour and attitude. In fact, lingerie contributes to a woman’s sense of ease with her body and, in this way, she accepts and loves her body better, becoming more confident and showing real assurance. The reason for this is very simple. Surprisingly, even though nobody can see her underwear, it really accentuates a woman’s figure and can sometimes shape her body to satisfaction.

Lingerie has too often been treated as an element of seduction. Men themselves created this phenomenon: a woman clad only in her underwear seems infinitely more sensual and sexual than a woman entirely in the nude. One could associate underwear with high heels. The latter have an effect on how a woman walks, making her more attractive, seductive and provocative. When combined with stockings, high heels have a certain charge, and an undeniable fetishist quality, as much for women as for men.

The perception and appreciation of the female form has undergone many radical changes. We could compare, for example, our early 21st century perception, to the 1960s and 1970s. In the sixties, when a woman got married, and even more so when she became a mother, her body was no longer meant to be seductive. Today this attitude is completely outdated and obsolete. In fact, women feel the need to be attractive at all ages, both before and after marriage, and even during their later years. This can be illustrated by the fact that, these days, a grandmother can be a beautiful woman and wish to dress to her best advantage in alluring underwear which enhances her figure. This revolution in customs concerning underwear is linked directly to innovation and technical considerations in the design of undergarments, and is subject to historical events. The history of lingerie deserves to be studied here. Lingerie, as opposed to the world of fashion, is a state of mind. A woman can love lingerie and wish to enhance her figure from the age of 15 to 75! Ready-to-wear fashion is a completely different universe from that of underwear. Clothes are always aimed at a distinct age group: fashion for a 15 year old girl is different from that of a woman of 30. Underwear, meanwhile, is much more a question of attitude and how a woman feels: a larger woman can be happy with her body, accepting herself as she is, and wish to enhance her figure with beautiful underwear. So lingerie should meet all aspirations and suit every kind of woman. As a designer, my work is focused in this direction. In order to design underwear which satisfies many types of woman, I like to observe those around me: my daughter, my assistants and women whom I encounter in the street. I can also be inspired by behaviour I have noticed in films.

Apart from my entourage, which plays an important role in suggesting new pieces to me, materials also inspire my designs. Textiles are essential. Since lingerie is closest to the female body and in intimate contact, the fabric and lace have to be soft, but this is not the only criterion. Today lingerie has to be comfortable and practical. In fact, although only 30 years ago French women (as opposed to Americans, for example) did not baulk at wearing and hand-washing very fragile undergarments, often lacetrimmed, sometimes needing ironing, today this would no longer be acceptable. Lingerie must be able to withstand machine -washing, be non-iron, and combine comfort (essential) and beauty in each piece. We cannot overlook the development of different textiles in the design and manufacture of underwear. Going beyond materials, colour also plays an important part in lingerie. Black and white are always extremely flattering to the skin. Black (more particularly) can also diminish the defects that we all have. Warm colours (pink, red, raspberry) also help enhance the figure. On the other hand, lingerie in cool colours is harder to work with. Green and blue are beautiful, but are too often reminiscent of swimwear.

Lingerie should be associated with pleasure for a woman. The element of seduction remains, especially with certain undergarments: some of them are fascinating and inevitably inspire attraction. Stockings and suspenders make a woman extremely attractive, even bewitching. Bustiers, waspies and brassieres can be worn under a transparent shirt. The effect of this is bound to be equivocal, ambivalent and extremely fascinating when seen by others, and very flattering for the woman dressed this way.

I can distinguish two types of lingerie. On the one hand, the underwear that one wants to show off (particularly waspies, suspenders and stockings) and on the other hand, underwear just for the woman herself. This last category should be nice to look at but also comfortable. With regard to tights, for example, I particularly like to make attractive, lovely tights so that they can be worn everyday and so that they can maintain, in spite of what they are, an air of seduction when they are removed in the presence of one’s lover.

The essence and attitude of lingerie is all in suggestion. Three terms can be applied to lingerie today: elegance, seduction and comfort. These three ideas have to be combined when designing underwear, and any vulgarity has to be ruled out. To avoid this, underwear has to be humorous and fresh. The world of lingerie affects everybody: women, who are wearing this underwear, as well as men, who believe women were wearing it merely to seduce them. The story of lingerie, as well as its history, deserves some attention.

(Preface by Chantal Thomass)

UNDERWEAR AND FASHION

Lingerie, corsetry and hosiery

Underwear is varied and prolific, whether it is hidden or displayed, discreet or provocative. There are three usual ways to classify this multitude of garments: lingerie, corsetry and hosiery. Lingerie’s main role is that of hygiene. It is positioned between the body and clothes, and it protects the body from outerwear made of less comfortable textiles while it protects the clothes from bodily secretions. Because of this, it is generally made from healthy materials which have varied according to the times. In this way lingerie is really about feminine intimacy and hygiene. In fact, the first linen that was in contact with the female body was used for menstrual flow and is the precursor of our sanitary towels.1

The term body linen is also used for lingerie. We use this term to talk about certain undergarments such as petticoats, chemises, bloomers, long johns, briefs, vests and slips.

In families of modest means, or in wartime, certain undergarments have been made from worn out household linen, often old sheets. Materials used for body linen are similar to those used for household linen. Comfort is the first thing they have in common, with cotton being the most popular, as it is soft, light and hygienic. Other materials of all types of luxury are used to make lingerie: linen, silk, relatively light synthetic weaving, such as cloth, satin, jersey, lawn, muslin, percale or net. Sometimes these fabrics are embellished with ornamentation and, very often, with provocative decoration. Because lingerie is not limited to a protective role, it is also an elegant part of clothing. We often see lingerie “coming out on top” as it is revealed or is completely displayed for reasons of seduction, fashion or provocation. It also presents frivolous ornamentations such as lace, embroidery and ribbons. Depending on who is wearing it, colours can vary according to the age, social position, taste, or the effect required by fashion of the wearer. But it is rarely completely revealed as it is associated with nudity, as can be seen in Georges Feydeau’s play Mais n’te promène donc pas toute nue! (“You are surely not going out completely naked!”) where Ventroux takes his wife Clarisse to task when their son sees her in her chemise. “We can see through that like tracing paper!” he says but she, in turn replies that wearing one’s daytime chemise is not like being naked.2 This episode shows that a woman feels that lingerie covers her while for a man it draws attention to the nudity beneath.

Because of its contact with the skin and its closeness to the female form, lingerie has always been the object of male fantasy, a fact which is judiciously played upon by woman and their lingerie. Catching a glimpse of petticoat frill in the 18th century, as in the 19th century, had an impact on the observer’s imagination in the same way that detecting panties or a G-string under a girl’s jeans would have today. Lingerie has an erotic charge because it is the closest clothing to the private female form.

Corsetry also plays a part in the world of seduction. This garment is to clothing what a framework is to a building. But this framework is applied to an existing foundation; the female body. The role of corsetry is to shape the body and to impose a fashionable silhouette upon it.

Pieces of corsetry were used to transform the three main parts of the body: the waist, bust and hips. The new silhouette was constructed around these three points. In Les Dessous à travers les âges (“Underwear throughout the ages”), Armand Silvestre describes a “good corset” in the following terms: “the top must be sufficiently widely cut to support the breasts without crushing them, the armholes should be well-formed; the lining of the fabric should be fine, well-inserted and flexible [...] finally, it should follow the lower body and finish on the hips at a firm point of arrival and follow the natural direction of the woman’s side”3. Corsetry enhanced the body’s curves and moulded it into new lines. It made the bust round, uplifted, curvaceous or flattened; the waist could be larger or smaller, non-existent or well-defined; hips could seem slimmer or wider. Corsetry dictated the shapes of fashion and often worked against nature. While lingerie revealed a woman’s private world, corsetry was made to create illusion. Corsetry was what made the woman wearing a certain dress fashionable.

The term ‘corsetry’ includes undergarments such as stays, corsets, girdles, waspies, bustiers, farthingales, panniers and crinolines.

Corsetry was made of internal bones which compress and control the body. These bones were made from sturdy materials such as whalebone, cane, horsehair, steel and elastic fibres. Originally this underwear was meant to be worn over clothes, then over lingerie, so it would be less obvious that it was made out of more sophisticated fabrics than those used for lingerie. Sometimes pieces of corsetry were matched to the clothing or to certain types of lingerie, such as a petticoat.

In this way one can see that corsetry was more fashionable and followed trends because it is visible (in the Middle Ages particularly, corsetry was worn over the dress) and especially because it moulds the figure.

Because of this, corsetry has been criticised to a much greater extent than lingerie. The supporters of corsetry saw in it a symbol of female morality – a woman’s body being maintained and reflecting her upright behaviour. Doctors, hygienists, and later, feminists, have accused designers and manufacturers of wanting to confine the female body inside a structure which is far from natural and that can damage the body. In spite of this criticism, women have accepted and put up with boning since, for them, it was simply a question of fashion: it was a way of disguising figure faults. The female body has long been considered weak, and extra support was considered necessary. 1932 Vogue testified: “Women’s abdominal muscles are notoriously weak and even hard exercise doesn’t keep your figure from spreading if you don’t give it some support”4.

In fact, corsetry is a woman’s major ally (if she can bear a little suffering) as it allows her to hide any bad points and accentuate her good points! This is the case of Caroline, Honoré de Balzac’s Petites Misères de la vie conjugales (“The Small Miseries of Married Life”), who wears her “most deceptive corset”5. Finally, like all lingerie, corsetry carried a significant erotic charge, as it accentuates the most emblematic aspects of the female body.

We would not have covered everything if we failed to mention hosiery here. This third family consists of the manufacture, industry and sale of clothing of knitted fabrics including stockings, socks and certain items of lingerie such as briefs or vests. Hosiery is characterised by the weaving technique which is employed when using materials such as wool, cotton, silk, nylon and today, micro fibre. Hosiery completes the lingerie-corsetry family and has benefited from great technical advances as a result of improvements in trade and the industrialisation of the sector.

Today, the distinction between lingerie, corsetry and hosiery is rarely made as there is often an overlap between the various different domains (underwired bras, support tights, support briefs). The underwear which we wear today is the result of the development of these three families. Their hygienic, supportive and aesthetic qualities interlink in 21st century underwear.

How underwear began to allow the silhouette evolve

Each era develops its own aesthetic idea that replaces the previous one. Underwear plays a fundamental role in creating a fashionable silhouette. Changing shape is based on integral points in clothing: shoulders, waist, bust and hips.

In ancient times, a draped form covered the body and outlined one’s figure. This was the case in Egypt where underwear did not exist and the body was naked under the tunic. Slaves, dancers and musicians were entirely naked, which marked the difference in status between themselves and their masters who wore translucent tunics. Even though an open tradition existed in classical and Hellenistic Greece concerning clothing and draping, the female form was disguised with straps that flattened the bust and hips. The figure was ruled by androgyny6. Hellenistic women appeared completely draped and their femininity disappeared under the panels of their robes. Roman civilisation also fought against curves. In an exclusively male world where women had no role, they were forbidden from showing any specific body characteristics. Certain doctors even proposed treatment to prevent the bust developing too much: Dioscoride7 advised applying powdered Naxos stone to the breasts; Pline8 suggested scissorgrinder’s mud, and Ovid9 recommended a poultice of white bread soaked in milk. There is no evidence that these magic potions were effective, but their existence does show a certain disdain for curves and soft shapes as well as a desire to disguise the female form.

In the Middle Ages the figure was slim although the waist was beginning to be defined. During the 14th and 15th centuries it was important to be slender. This was helped by adjusted underwear and, in particular, a surcoat which flattened the breasts, accentuated the curve of the hip and showed off the belly. The end of the Middle Ages was marked by the great Plague epidemics and a round belly and visible belly button were appreciated as a mark of fertility and a sign of promise for a depopulated Europe. The English poet John Gower (1325-1403) mentions this taste for women with a prominent belly in these terms: “Hee seeth hir shape forthwith all / Hir body round, hir middle small.10”

The strict confinement obtained with interior boning which compresses and rules the body is in opposition to these supple clothes of olden times is.

European 16th century clothing is marked by a certain uprightness influenced by Spain. The farthingale was a garment which was designed to make skirts more voluminous. It was adopted in England in 1550 and it became all the rage in 1590. In Spain, it did not disappear until 1625. The farthingale gave volume to the hips, accentuated the belly and demarcated the curve of the body. Underneath, women wore bloomers which were sometimes “deceptive” (padded) that shaped thighs and buttocks and increased the volume of skirts. The bust was shaped like a funnel, held rigidly by the basque which compressed the waist and opened up towards the shoulders.

In the 17th century, the female bust regained its round shape and was accentuated by stays up to the top of the torso tightly laced to the waist. Around 1670, the bust lengthened as the stays reached further up the front and the back of the waist. In the 18th century stays were worn very early by young girls and they reached even higher up the back. At the end of the 18th century certain women cheated by reverting to false breasts hidden in their stays.

The 18th century saw a definitive end to the farthingale when the fashion for flowing dresses arrived. Panniers shaped the skirts, following rapidly evolving trends. The panniers of 1718 were quite rounded, and became oval around 1725, remaining this way until 1730. Later, they took on a multitude of forms including the elbow pannier which stretched out a long way to the sides. After 1740, each side of the skirt had a pair of small panniers which gave it a flattened shape from the front and back but a very wide aspect from the front. At the end of the 18th century, panniers were replaced by the bustle worn behind and which improved or enhanced existing curves. From 1770 onwards, there was some contemporary criticism of stays, including from Jean-Jacques Rousseau who advocated a return to simplicity and nature. Other critics, such as Bonnaud in the 1770s La Dégradation de l’espèce humaine par l’usage du corps à baleine (“The Degradation of the Human Race by the Use of Stays”), launched real medical and educational “crusades”. Nothing could be done: a small waist, large skirt and generous bust remained the flavour of the day. Nevertheless, fashion evolved towards a return of the slim figure, and the pannier gave way to the bustle which, in turn, gradually disappeared. The result of this revolution was a new slender fashion. It started in France, introduced by the “Merveilleuses” (“The Marvels”) like Mme Récamier and Mme Tallien. This long, straight silhouette conquered England following the emigration of Rose Bertin after the French Revolution. With the return of the Greek tunic, the first fashion revival in history was recorded. The silhouette was long and straight with a high bust. But this did not mean that underwear disappeared for those who were not built like fashion plates. In 1800 the corset was still necessary to disguise too ample curves: the best-known corset makers were Lacroix and Furet. During the first Empire, the fashion for widely spaced breasts was launched by Louis Hippolyte Leroy and made corset-wearing indispensable. The “Ninon” was padded to give opulence to the body and reached to the waist. It marked a return to the voluptuous and fertile womanhood desired by Empire politics. The “divorce corset”, which separated the breasts, appeared in 1816 and followed the trend for wide-apart breasts. The waist returned to its natural place. A romantic woman would have her waist defined by a laced corset; she would wear a flared skirt in a wide bell shape which was supported by a crinoline, and she would have boned, bouffant sleeves. Drop shoulders accentuated by low inserted armholes were popular. The crinoline was really a large bell shape, rounded at the bottom and slightly curved at the back. After 1860 the back became much longer and gave the impression of a large corolla. But after 1868, as a reaction to these excesses, the crinoline was reduced to a simple cone which only appeared behind the costume. Around 1865-1870, silhouettes became less voluminous: the “Parisian bustle” accentuated the curve of the body and allowed the folds of the skirt to be trained behind. The front was very flat due to high corsets restraining the bust. These cramped the waist and gave the figure an hourglass shape. This gave birth to great debates concerning the benefits and disadvantages of corsets11 which in turn led to a far-reaching debate on the injustice of the female condition. Some protagonists, such as Amalia Bloomer (an American journalist), attempted to introduce practical clothing made up of a short tunic worn over trousers, but it was judged to be ridiculous. Female clothing continued to accentuate curves. In the 1880s the front of the silhouette became more and more visible due to corsets with long metallic stiffeners that flattened the belly and an “S”-shaped figure. Her chest was pushed out in front while hips and buttocks were pushed out behind. The bust was low, full and with no division between the breasts which made them very obvious, an effect sometimes accentuated by false breasts made of chamois leather, quilted satin or rubber. The Parisian bustle lifted the buttocks and accentuated the curve of the hip. This new curvy silhouette is reflected in Art Nouveau lines.

In the face of this new, sinuous silhouette, new forms of corsets revealing the thorax made their appearance, like those designed by Doctor Franz Glénard and Mme Gaches-Sarraute (a corset-maker with a medical background). They supported the abdomen without compressing it and let the chest and diaphragm breathe. This idea was continued by the appearance of Anglo-Saxon anti-corset leagues that aimed at making clothing more practical. Eventually, the authorities in several countries opposed the use of the corset.12 This fight against the corset (restricting women’s bodies had long been associated with maintaining tradition) was echoed in the English Suffragette movement that campaigned to give women more rights.

The “S” line was less popular after 1907 and simpler silhouettes took over. Figures took on a more Empire shape with high waists, flattened busts and narrow hips, making a woman look like a tube. This new fashion marked the end of lacing in order to reduce the waist, but it needed the hips and buttocks to be flattened and thus necessitated wearing a corset low on the hips with a flat, rigid front. The bust was shaped due to the invention of the brassiere (bra)13. Slenderness was still all the rage, as confirmed by Vogue in 1922: “the pursuit of slimness is one of the chief labours of the modern woman” 14. This liberty of the body was encouraged in shows in which the artists’ bodies performed freely on stage. These shows were very popular and included the Russian Ballet which performed at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris in 1909 and the performances of the dancer Isadora Duncan. The fashion designers Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet and Nicole Groult were aware of these developments and helped suppress sinuous figure shapes. These innovations were taking place at the same time as the new craze for Latin-American dances (such as the Tango and the Charleston) that required freedom of body movement. In addition, the emergence of the middle class with its demand for more functional dress for the purpose of work contributed to simpler shapes. The First World War simplified these shapes even more and ruled out volume.

Nevertheless, only the intrepid and the slimmest abandoned the corset: as for the others, their use of the garment was reduced and indiscernible. Women wore dresses which reached to the knee and did not accentuate bust or waist. In the 1920s, there was no question of having a full bust. Like the Romans, women wore bodices or long bras with no relief which flattened the breasts.

At the end of the decade, curves began to return: the bust was defined and accentuated and had to be supported by boning. Kestos, for example, launched the new idea of the bra as a non-restrictive control garment, because any corsetry that was still worn had to be less restrictive. The human anatomy was beginning to be understood better and corsetry started to follow the natural lines of the body. In Australia, the house of Berlei ordered the first anthropometrical study which was carried out by two Sydney University professors and which defined five types of women showing differing morphology.

Warner made innovations in cup measurements with the sizes A, B, C and D. The “Garçonne” (“Tomboy”) became fashionable at the beginning of the 1930s. Manufacturers tried to respect the diversity of figures by offering a large choice of sizes. The pre-Second World War high bust appeared in 1939 supported by bras and corsets with round and pointed cups. After 1935, padded cups were introduced to enhance small busts and three years later the underwired bra gave the bust more curves. The small waist also made a comeback assisted by the girdle. The woman of 1940 was thin but with rounded hips and a pointed, curvy bust. She had help from a new type of bra with overstitched cups and often reinforced cones. During the 1940s the bust rose with the fashion of the pullover which clung to the torso. In order to have a small waist and flat belly, the waspie was introduced by Marcel Rochas.

This was the “New Look” - a silhouette created by Christian Dior in 1947, with full skirts, wasp-waist and a full bust. At the beginning of the 1950s, the figure lengthened, the breasts were high up, the bust was smaller and a flat stomach was accentuated. Corsetry and padding were necessary. Journalists wrote about the benefits of a healthy diet and exercise as well as good corsetry. In 1950 the bust was oversized following the fashion for “zeppelin” or very full breasts and was obtained by wearing an overstitched bra. The image was popularised by actresses such as Anita Ekberg, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Jane Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. Manufacturers such as Marcel Carlier, Carles Krafft, Jessos, Scandale and Star designed underwired corsetry to enhance the “flower woman”.

In the 1960s the female form followed the changes of the day by being liberated. The fashion was for gamine breasts, narrow hips and extreme slenderness. This glorification of youth was only generalised after 1965 when André Courrèges’ collection showed androgynous shapes and modern woman at ease with her body. Underwear, particularly briefs, followed the line of the body. As a result of the liberation movements of 1968 and Women’s Libbers who burnt their bras, at the end of the 1960s, breasts were emancipated under form-hugging sweaters and Indian tunics: complex underwear sets gave way to almost nothing. The fashion was for leggy, small-breasted women like Jane Birkin or the model Twiggy. After the hippie trend, fashion became more sophisticated and feminine again. There was an obsession with slimming and body-toning to enhance firmness. Gym and aerobics were in vogue. 1980s women exchanged briefs, girdles and corsets for weight-training and hunger. Support came from the inside: women created their own corsets. At the same time breasts became ample and firm. This fashion for a small waist, toned buttocks and ample bust gave a feminine shape that called for underwired bras for those “under endowed by nature”. At the end of the 20th century an ambiguous silhouette began to appear. It was extremely tall and slim, with narrow hips but a generous bust. It can be summed up as a woman who is simultaneously gamine and sensual, an effect which is hard to reproduce and which implies measures from draconian diets to padded bras, if not cosmetic surgery.

From Ancient Greece to modern woman: what have they been wearing under their clothes?

Since the ancient Greek and Roman empires, women have been clad in piles of underwear under their clothes. Many garments were used to shape the body as well as to ward off amorous approaches. So let us undress them!

Hellenistic Greek women (1st century BC) were hardly naked under their robes. Once a woman’s robe was removed, her body was still draped in a linen tunic. Under this tunic she was wrapped in straps to control her shape: apodesme to support and control the bust, mastodeton which was a narrow red ribbon which encircled the bust for young girls and zona which pulled in and flattened the belly.

Roman women, in turn, were drowned in their underwear. The first undergarment was the cingulum which held back, a dress panel. Once the dress was held back a garter was displayed above the knee. It was completely useless as Roman women did not wear stockings. Nevertheless it was pretty and this garter, which was sometimes decorated with a jewel, was purely for seductive purposes. Under the dress, women wore a knee-length tunic. Under this tunic the woman’s body was enveloped in the cestus
bodice from below the breasts to the groin. Her hips were bound with zona and thus obliterated. Her chest was held in with bands: taenia or facsia for young girls and for women with fuller figures the leather breast-flattening bra was used. The most common garment, however, was the strophium, a scarf which covered the breasts and supported them without crushing them. Some women wore the sublicatum, which was originally designed for acrobats and actresses and which consisted of a sarong with one panel knotted around the waist and the other between the thighs.

We know there were types of underwear which resembled our present-day briefs and bras, as they are depicted in frescoes and mosaics on Roman villas. The best-known of these is the Sicilian mosaic of the Piazza Armerina (3rd and 4th century). It seems that these pieces of fabric were destined for sports. Nevertheless, these surprising undergarments and the sublicatum marked the end of open clothing. In Rome, the growing popularity of underwear contributed to the removal of shape. At the same time women were removed from the political arena.

European women in the 15th century

In 15th century Europe, corsetry was worn outside clothing: the surcoat was a waistcoat laced over the dress, which flattened the breasts and enhanced the belly. Under the dress, mediaeval woman wore a band which pulled the waist in. Her bust was confined in the fustian, a bodice laced behind or on the side. The fustian also included another short bodice, a doublet, made of bands which squeezed the chest, and there was also sometimes an under-bodice made of stiffened linen.

In the Cluny and Galliera Museums in Paris, one can observe 15th century iron corsets, but they appear to have been designed for women suffering from deformities. All these garments were worn over the “chainse”, the “linen dress” which was the forerunner of the chemise. The chainse was voluminous and wide-sleeved and made out of linen or cotton. Chausses were the forerunner of stockings and were held up by garters which gave them an erotic quality. In the 15th century women were still naked under this underwear. The closed system of underwear began to be generalised in the 16th century.

Renaissance women

Renaissance women wore the farthingale under their dresses which were made of heavy, precious fabrics from Italy and Spain. The farthingale was made of a system of strips, whalebone, wire and sometimes wood or wicker. It rested on the waist and held out the skirt. The alternative to the farthingale was a tube of hardened materials which was placed around the waist under the skirt.

When there was no corselet integral to the dress, a basque was worn. This was a corselet stiffened with whalebones and made of linen or wool reaching as far as the ruff and held in place by a lace. The
basque was reinforced by bone, wood or iron busks so it was more rigid. It was worn over a linen or cotton chemise, the hem of which was tucked into the bloomers.

It is said that Catherine de Médicis initiated the wearing of bloomers by women. They were also called “buttock straps” and covered one’s legs from waist to knees and enclosed the female body. Garters attached it to stockings. Rabelais refers to this in his description of the outfits of the nuns of Theleme Abbey. He says that garters were regarded as jewellery: “Les jaretières estoient de la couleur de leurs bracelets, et comprenoient le genoul au dessus et au dessoubz.15” (“The garters were the colour of their bracelets and were above and below the knee”).

Underwear became more confining during the Renaissance. It is possible that bloomers were adopted for reasons of prudishness and hygiene: so bloomers, which ladies chose in luxury fabrics, were designed to be displayed during horse riding or when using the stairs. They were more than a protective garment, becoming a titillating item which enhanced the thighs.

Women in the 18th century no longer wore bloomers and were thus nude once more under their multiple petticoats which they revealed, along with their chemise.

Petticoats were worn under the dress in the French fashion and over the panniers. The uppermost petticoat was always visible and had the function of a skirt. The petticoats underneath were made out of more modest fabrics and were placed under the pannier. The further one “rummages” through these layers, the more intimate the names of these layers become: “modest” is followed by “cheeky” and finally “secret”. The pannier was the successor of the farthingale and had been used in England since 1711, appearing in France in 1718. At first it reserved for rich women, but by 1730, it reached the entire population. The pannier was composed of three circles of wood or wicker hung from the waist by vertical spills or ribbons. Around 1725 the pannier took the form of a waxed canvas petticoat reinforced with five to eight circles of cane, braided steel or whalebones which shaped it into a dome.

For young, elegant women the stays were de rigueur and were laced in the front and/or back. The lining was roughly made of linen, but the outside was covered in luxurious fabric. For town, the stays had straps which outlined a square neck-line, whereas the formal court corset had an oval neckline; stays gave a stylised bust and an upright carriage and symbolised the superiority of aristocratic women over women of the general populace. A woman of modest means had no underwear, and wore a skirt and chemise with a laced corset which pulled in the waist and supported the breasts.

In the 18th century, the chemise became a slightly flared, knee-length tunic, with mid-length sleeves sewn on with straight stitching, and a gusset. There were draw-strings to puff up the sleeves and to vary the width of the neckline, which were particularly helpful when putting it on. It was made of thick fabric to stand up to friction from the stays. Lace edging was added or sewn onto the chemise, the sleeves and the collar and these were visible under the costume. In this way the undergarments were displayed as part of the outerwear.

Once undressed, 18th century women put on a nightgown to go to bed. Nightgowns were getting more complicated: laces, ribbons and lace were added, as well as a little shawl which was thrown over the shoulders when one received visitors, this last because it was usual to receive in one’s bed chamber and the chemise was worn later and later into the morning. The only time when one slept naked was on the wedding night, as described by Molière’s character Cathos, and not without humour, in Les Précieuses ridicules: “[...] le mariage [est] une chose tout à fait choquante. Comment est-ce qu’on peut souffrir la pensée de coucher contre un homme vraiment nu”16. (“Marriage is a totally shocking thing. How can one endure the thought of sleeping with a completely naked man?”). As a result, there were visible flounces in petticoats and chemises which rendered them more seductive and the garters holding up stockings were sometimes decorated with ribald inscriptions.

Romantic women had many undergarments. Under their costumes, they wore a high corset with cups to hold the breasts that was long enough to flare over the hips. At shoulder level the corset had large shoulder pads and there was a rigid busk at the waist. For the first time, the waist was pulled in using metallic eyelets through which it was laced17 , and this new lacing system meant that a woman could take off her corset unaided.

Under her corset, the woman of 1815-1840 wore a knee-length chemise which had long sleeves in England, but in France, the sleeves were short and puffed. Around 1835 these sleeves became reduced until they were small and flat. The neckline was wide and gathered and followed the shape of the dress. After 1825 skirts became bigger and bigger and needed to be supported by an ever-increasing number of petticoats, sometimes up to six or seven petticoats in increasing sizes. The one underneath was flannel whereas the ones on top were cotton and gathered or embroidered. Moreover, the more petticoats a woman wore, the higher her social status. Fewer petticoats became necessary as a result of the introduction of a petticoat made out of a stiff fabric and edged with horse hair, a precursor of the crinoline.

Bloomers had made their reappearance around 1810 and were worn under the skirt. They were very long, split between the legs, gathered at each leg and decorated with lace frills. They were knotted around the waist and the long chemise could be tucked in which puffed out and gave more volume to the skirt. Bloomers became common for the working classes and shocked prudish Victorian England even more. In France, under Louis-Philippe, they were heavily embroidered and were longer than the dress, so they could be seen when the woman moved. They were sometimes held by stirrups decorated with golden buttons. They became more and more popular in the towns, worn by the working class, and only country-dwellers remained unaware of this new trend. Underneath, stockings were held up with garters or, for the first time, with garters attached to the corset, if it was long enough.

Romantic women’s costumes were completely closed, and they were hidden under layers of lingerie.

Women in “1900”

At the dawn of the 20th century women were known as “femmes-sirènes” (“mermaids”), and under their dresses they wore a surcoat first, which became popular at the end of the 19th century. This surcoat was modified in 1900 to shape the waist. Around 1908, the over-corset could be worn with bloomers or a petticoat to make either a bloomer set or full-length petticoat.

Underneath there was a long corset with reinforcements to accentuate the curve of the body. It was so tight that it was difficult for women to bend over. Besides the corset’s suspenders, there were extra garters worn below the knee. Under the corset there was a long, full chemise which was pulled tight to support the bust. Although bras were exhibited at the Universal exhibition of 1900, they were only effective when worn with a corset, and they were not yet widely-used.

The excess material of the chemise floated around in the bloomers, which in turn were knee-length: they were laced at the waist and split at the crotch. This split was smaller in the ruling classes but remained completely open when worn in the provinces, by the working class or by prostitutes, as mentioned by Emile Zola in L’Assommoir, when describing the fight between Gervaise and Virginie: “With renewed vigour, she grabbed Virginie by the waist, bent her over and pushed her face into the cobbles with her rear in the air; and despite their continual movement, managed to lift up her skirts substantially. Underneath she wore bloomers. She reached in through the gap, tore them apart and displayed everything – naked thighs and naked buttocks18”.

In the 1880s, the system worn on the lower back to give volume behind the dress was, at first, a demi-crinoline known as a “fish tail”. It later became a long canvas bag held out by hoops. Eventually this was reduced to a small pouch of horse-hair at the small of the back and still later a mere pile of stiffened folds of fabric. After 1890 the bell-shaped skirt only required a small padded cushion at the small of the back which was sewn into the dress lining to enhance the curve of the body. After 1890 the skirt was supported by petticoats, but there were more and more of them: highly flounced petticoats puffed out the back, and the woman’s form was tightly encased by narrow skirts.

By the Art Nouveau period, women were tightly bound by their costume and by their numerous undergarments.

It has often been said that women of the 1920s benefited from a new freedom, but this was only in appearance. It is true that under the “flapper’s” short dress there was no corset-cover, but there was still a short corset to pull in the waist. It was worn low on the hips, and it held in the top of the thighs. Some women wore a “garter-belt”, even next to the skin. In addition, the bust was diminished with correctors or flatteners which usually came from the United States. The so-called “stylish” dresses were tubular, flared over the hips and needed to be supported by circular boning inspired by that of 18th century panniers.

Under their corsets women wore a new type of combination underwear composed of a bra joined to a narrow petticoat or to short bloomers, which could be split or not.

Eventually, as dresses grew shorter, black, white and flesh-coloured silk stockings became popular, sometimes embroidered with patterns. If a woman felt the cold, she could wear woollen flesh-coloured stockings under the silk ones, but this widened the leg and so was quickly abandoned.

Now let us have a look at the “flapper’s” night attire. In the evening their outfit became more masculine with pajamas becoming popular after the First World War. In fact, pajamas were actually first worn as at-home outfits, as described in Vogue in 1924: “Pajamas are now by far the smartest form of negligee. 19” The new use fitted in with the current taste for Eastern-influenced fashion. Nevertheless, the nightdress was not abandoned, it just became narrower.

If we look for the liberation of women’s clothing in the period between the wars, it is to be found in skirt lengths and the way that legs were consequently revealed.

Elegant women of the 1950s wore waspies to pull in their waists under their Jacques Fath suits or their Christian Dior designer cocktail dresses. Attached to the former was a boned half-cup bra: this was the most popular combination for evening wear. A woman could also choose a bra, a garment which was becoming more widely available. A model with or without straps could be chosen, depending on the occasion.

The chemise had disappeared. In its place, a slip with straps was worn over the pieces of corsetry, and the corsetry was worn right next to the skin.

The waspie was worn with a long, full petticoat in nylon fibre which fluffed out the New Look skirts. Under this petticoat the bloomers gave way to form-fitting briefs.

In this way woman’s underwear finally arrived at a point where it was completely closed, and in sets composed of girdle, bra, briefs and petticoat, which were sometimes matching. Under the petticoat, nylon stockings were worn, held up by garters.

Once she divested herself of her daytime underwear, the New Look fashion plate preferred nightdresses. They could be very long or knee-length. As for pajamas, they were less in vogue.

After the Second World War and during the 1950s, the number of undergarments was reduced and the dichotomy between lingerie and corsetry began to ease off.

“Miss Swinging Sixties” was lightly clad: she wore a great deal less underwear than her mother did, but her body was completely enveloped. Under her A-line dress, young women (this new fashion was aimed at the young: the older generation kept their girdles) wore matching bras and panties, the latter flattening the belly. On certain models, garters were fixed inside the panties.

Other women chose briefs and bras worn with panty-hose.

Underwear was becoming a second skin. This was the idea behind panty-hose or the all-in-one Dim body, for example. In 1958, Mitoufle was the first brand of panty-hose in France, and it was only in 1962 that Dimanche (it became Dim in 1965) invented seamless stockings and, due to the prices they charged, panty-hose became accessible to all.

The 1960s saw the start of the bra and brief combinations that are still worn today and which, despite the limited number of garments, enclose the female body… until the G-string made its appearance in the 1980s.

In 1891 the Aertex Company began to design women’s underwear. In the same year the Viyella brand appeared, produced by William Hollin & Co, with the slogan “Viyella does not shrink”22. These innovations made healthier underwear which was more pleasant to wear. Cotton went hand in hand with the growing trend for natural living. It became a symbol of fresh, pure lingerie and was the favourite underwear material in the 1970s. It is still widely used today combined with Lycra.

Animal materials are used less for underwear these days because they are fragile and difficult to maintain. Since the 16th century solid materials such as horn, ivory or whalebone have been called upon for use in corsetry. They were used for the busks inside basques and for stays. Whalebone was the only material that was flexible enough and which predated steel and elastic. Whales were hunted from the 12th century in the Bay of Biscay (on the Spanish coast), and then, in the 17th century, the whale industry moved to Greenland. In the 18th and 19th centuries leather and suede began to be used for certain corsets for rigidity and decoration. These animal materials made way in the 20th century for steel. The Warner Company launched their “Waterproof Corsets”, which were stainless steel corsets that overcame the shortfalls of this metal.

Silk culture came to France relatively late. It was already common in China and India when it arrived in France in the 14th century, at the time when the Papal court moved to Avignon. Silk weavers set up in Avignon to meet the demands of the popes. When the popes returned to Rome, some silk mills stayed in the Uzès region, then opened in Lyon. François Ist primarily encouraged the silk mills in Lyon, then Henri IV continued his work with Olivier de Serre and Laffemas who planted their grounds with mulberry trees, as the mulberry bombyx, more commonly known as the “silkworm” feeds on mulberry leaves. It also secretes a very fine and remarkably supple thread.

Silk insulates very well, is extremely soft to the touch, and is perfect for lingerie. The principal silk fabrics are made in cloth, muslin, taffeta, pongee or crêpe weave. Others are satin, jersey and twill for girdles and corsets. Silk is difficult to wash, however. It is fragile and expensive which means it is not of interest to clients of modest means. Nevertheless, its softness and shine give an immense power of seduction. The French silk mills expanded rapidly in the 17th and 18th centuries and provided France a monopoly in terms of fashion. The silk mills in Lyon manufactured all types of undergarments, petticoats, luxurious stockings for ceremonial wear in European courts and brocade exterior of stays.

In the 19th century, the silk mills of Lyon were still appreciated in the same way. It was only when synthetic fibres, which could imitate the shine of silk, were invented that silk was used less for underwear and was limited to luxury lingerie. Until the Second World War, petticoats were made out of silk; corsets were covered in silk satin, and nightclothes were made out of satin, velvet, cretonne, or silk crêpe. Today, silk is still important for designers when they create luxury underwear, and for sexy nightwear such as baby-doll nightdresses.

Wool has always been used, in the countryside especially, for stockings, corsets and petticoats because it is warm. It became popular for underwear again in the 19th century, and was appreciated because it was hard-wearing, supple and especially because of its thermal qualities. For underwear, the main wool fabrics are cloth, serge, jersey and flannel. This last was said to protect against cholera. Bloomers and petticoats were made out of flannel and corsets which were particularly recommended for cycling. As people’s interest in health grew, wool became the hygienists’ favourite material. One of them, Doctor Gustave Jaeger, professor of zoology and physiology at the University of Stuttgart, wrote an essay on health and wool “cures”. It was published in 1878, and he began to manufacture 100% wool clothes in 1884. The “Sanitary woollen corset” was made entirely of wool and was supposed to cure digestive problems and help if one were overweight. One of the merits of wool for Doctor Jaeger was the fact that it was porous. Of course, this idea was refuted by the creators of Aertex and Viyella. A large woollen underwear industry was developing over the whole of Europe. Doctor Jaeger’s innovations were promoted in England by Mr Tomalin, the manager of a London department store, while in France, in 1877, Doctor Rasurel introduced a wool and cotton mix which claimed to be more effective. This type of underwear was very successful at first although later wool was passed over in favour of more aerated fabrics. Nevertheless, in 1953, Damart introduced “Thermolactyl” and designed woollen underwear which allowed the skin to breathe. 20th century woman could justifiably claim: “Cold? Me? Never!”

At the beginning of the 20th century chemical fibres began to eclipse natural fibres. Viscose is the name given to cellulose threads and textile fibres which are produced by the viscose process (the material, in a viscous state, is poured onto a drawplate which is then immersed in a tank which coagulates the fibres as soon as they emerge). For continuous thread the name given is rayon-viscose, and for broken thread, bonded fibre viscose. The first rayon thread was invented in 1884 by the Frenchman Hilaire Bernigaud, the Count of Chardonnet23 who presented his first rayon articles at the Universal Exhibition in 1889. Other chemists were doing the same type of research, particularly in England where Cross, Bevan and Beadle patented their discoveries in 1892. Rayon was manufactured in England from 1905 and in the United States of America in 1911 due to the support of Courtauld. Rayon was actually only used for clothing after the 1920s, and the most popular rayon fabrics were crêpe, organdie, twill and jersey. Petticoats, slips, bloomers and nightclothes were made out of it. The shine of rayon was appreciated and earned it the name of “artificial silk”. Now all women could afford luxurious-looking underwear at a lower price.

Nylon also brought about great changes. Dupont de Nemours Inc began research into the first synthetic thread in 1927. This research was lead by Doctor Wallace H. Carroters and his team. The first nylon stockings were presented at the New York World Fair in 1937 and they went on sale in 1939 in the United States of America. Nylon arrived in Great Britain in 1940, distributed by British Nylon Spinners Ltd, and became widespread in Europe by 1947 for all types of women’s underwear.

During the Second World War, nylon was strictly reserved for parachutes, and clothing in Europe was rationed. So underwear had to be made out of household linen (this was already the case for modest pre-war families) and women dyed their legs to give the illusion of stockings. After 1949, nylon became very popular and allowed lingerie to be accessible to everyone. It shone like silk, was easy to maintain and was affordable.

At the end of the 20th century laboratories began to create more synthetic fibres, first to make sports underwear which held firm and aerated the body. Sports bras were made of polyamide, elastane or a mix of these fibres. This underwear was made from micro fibres composed of microfilaments and was very light, seamless and often with controlling properties such as Dim control. In addition to synthetic materials, underwear needed elastic materials made from latex or rubber, for example. Once again, this new material was introduced through sportswear. The first corset reinforced with rubber was presented in 1851 at the Universal Exhibition in London, but the first elastic corset (in latex) was only sold in 1911: it was a sports corset. The development of elastic fabrics made of latex posed a major problem, as latex coagulates. It has to be mixed with ammonia to maintain its liquid state. Threads are made out of it and it is then woven (Dunlop improved this process). Elastic progressively replaced boning, steel and lacing. In addition to this, circular knitting machines were being designed to develop girdles which were entirely made of rubber. Latex was knitted into a sort of fabric. It was used by all brands, some of them perfected its usage such as Kestos and Warner who introduced two-way elasticity.

At the end of the 1950s, researchers developed a more versatile fibre: Lycra, which was patented in 1959 by Dupont de Nemours. It had all the properties of rubber without its disadvantages. It was up to four times more resistant, three time lighter, and resistant to abrasion, perspiration and damage from detergents and lotions. Lycra was first used for sportswear such as bathing costumes and bodies, and then was introduced for underwear. It was used in combination with other textiles, usually at a rate of 15 to 40%. It was elastic and followed the shape of the body, as described by Vogue in 1968: “Drive, jump, ride, stretch, accelerate into spring with briefer simpler foundations, that you can put on and forget...they look like you, move like you, feel like you.24” Playtex opened in France as a result of its “Cross your heart” model (1969) and also due to the “18-hour girdle” (1971) which had such light elastic fibre that one did not feel one was wearing it.

Finally, lingerie would not have as much charm if it was not decorated.

Lace made its appearance in the 16th century. Venetian lace was made on needle-point and Flanders lace on a spindle. The lace was made with white linen threads and was used to trim chemises and bloomers. Flanders and Italy supplied the whole of Europe with lace. To avoid this mass importation, Colbert divested himself of foreign lace makers and set up Crown factories in France: Valenciennes, Chantilly and Alençon were famous for their lace which decorated numerous undergarments. In 1817 the first machine-made lace appeared, developed by the Englishman Mr Heathcoat. It was less hard-wearing but the price was lower and the machine-made lace could imitate that of Valenciennes, Alençon and Puy. It was perfected in 1840 due to a jacquard technique adapted in France to the English production process. It remained popular throughout the 19th century.

After the Second World War, latex and elastane were added to give elasticity. Cadolle underwear in the 1940s was made of “Dentellastex”, elastic lace developed by Tiburce Lebas from Calais. Finally the New Look prioritised machine-made lace which was now woven with nylon threads. Today it is made with ribbons and beaded embroidery to decorate bras, briefs and G-strings.

Ornamental embroidery is done with thread: it can be cut-out (broderie anglaise), flat or in relief and it allows all sorts of ideas and decoration. In the 18th century, the outside of stays and the hems of petticoats were embroidered, and today the front of briefs. For a more luxurious effect, embroidery can be in metallic thread, gold, silver or sequins, which make women’s underwear, resemble jewellery. At the beginning of the 21st century, underwear is designed to be more and more like jewellery: bras with chain or bead straps, curaços with a sequinned or diamante neckline or G-strings made of a triangle of fabric held up with a string like a necklace. Is lingerie becoming jewellery?

Colours

For a long time women’s underwear was white, a symbol of chastity, purity and morality. Bright colours were associated with prostitutes, apart from stockings in soft colours like pink, and blue, and patriotic colours which were worn during the French Revolution. In the 19th century elegant women wore grey or black stockings. In Autre étude de femme (“Another Study of a Woman”), this is how Honoré de Balzac describes a “respectable woman”: “She does not wear bright colours, nor apparent stockings, nor a too-ornate belt-buckle, nor bloomers with embroidered hems which flap around her ankle. You should notice her feet or her shoes [...] and extremely fine cotton stockings or one-colour silk stockings in grey, or laced boots of exquisite simplicity.25” Bright colours and decoration were the reserve of shows and courtesans. Also, the black stockings worn by the French Cancan dancers in Henri de Toulouse Lautrec’s paintings carried a certain eroticism and were only sported by cabaret dancers, prostitutes and certain elegant ladies. The falsely prudish society of the 19th century preferred white for lingerie, particularly in England during the Victorian era. Apart from chemises, petticoats and bloomers, it was considered good form to have black or white corsetry but never colours which were considered excessively luxurious by the Baroness of Staff in Cabinet de toilette26.

Nevertheless, in the second half of the 19th century, women sometimes dared to wear petticoats and bloomers in yellow or red as worn by Scarlett in Gone with the Wind27. Colour was not used in women’s underwear until the beginning of the 20th century. Fabrics, decoration and their colours now changed from one season to another. Between 1910 and 1920, pink or sky-blue underwear began to be worn. In 1917, Vogue showed corsets in blue satin. The first Petit Bateau briefs were in silky white, pink and occasionally blue cotton. Colours were still pale and soft, evoking ideas of virginity and purity. Blue was the colour associated with the Virgin Mary.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the palette diversified with more pink, yellow, purple and jade green, sometimes decorated with cream-coloured ribbons. For evening, women dared to wear transparent black. Elegant women particularly liked black Milan silk decorated with cream or beige ribbons. In the 1930s pastel colours became popular: flesh, ivory, pale blue or green for underwear and also for nightwear. Dark colours such as red, burgundy or black became popular later in the decade.

In the 1950s black and white were once more the colours of choice, in particular for girdles made of black or white lace and lined in pastel netting. But whiter than white was back, trimmed abundantly with lace, embroidery and ribbons. Nevertheless, new colours were being introduced, such as coffee, turquoise, tea-rose, coral, peach and also delicate prints of flowers and stripes.

In the 1960s colour took over undergarments. “Young” fashion also meant colourful underwear. Unified pastels were displaced by bright, even garish, psychedelic colours and overall prints. Panties were flowered, polka-dotted or striped in fuchsia, orange, turquoise and apple green. On the other hand, in the 1970s, prints were no longer fashionable for underwear but were used in daywear or nightwear. There were numerous striped pajamas or floral nightdresses. Bras, briefs and tights were popular in single, daring colours such as apricot, olive green, coffee, fuchsia and turquoise. Gradually, flesh colour and its derivatives became more widespread in underwear. This development was linked to the new concept of underwear being a second skin and the desire for it to be as discreet as possible.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the palette diversified with more pink, yellow, purple and jade green, sometimes decorated with cream-coloured ribbons. For evening, women dared to wear transparent black. Elegant women particularly liked black Milan silk decorated with cream or beige ribbons. In the 1930s pastel colours became popular: flesh, ivory, pale blue or green for underwear and also for nightwear. Dark colours such as red, burgundy or black became popular later in the decade. In the 1950s black and white were once more the colours of choice, in particular for girdles made of black or white lace and lined in pastel netting. But whiter than white was back, trimmed abundantly with lace, embroidery and ribbons. Nevertheless, new colours were being introduced, such as coffee, turquoise, tea-rose, coral, peach and also delicate prints of flowers and stripes. In the 1960s colour took over undergarments. “Young” fashion also meant colourful underwear. Unified pastels were displaced by bright, even garish, psychedelic colours and overall prints. Panties were flowered, polka-dotted or striped in fuchsia, orange, turquoise and apple green. On the other hand, in the 1970s, prints were no longer fashionable for underwear but were used in daywear or nightwear. There were numerous striped pajamas or floral nightdresses. Bras, briefs and tights were popular in single, daring colours such as apricot, olive green, coffee, fuchsia and turquoise. Gradually, flesh colour and its derivatives became more widespread in underwear. This development was linked to the new concept of underwear being a second skin and the desire for it to be as discreet as possible.

The first stockings and bathing costumes in flesh tones appeared at the dawn of the 19th century, during the Directoire period, because of its extremely transparent dresses. But this change was brief, and white came back in force. Flesh, pink and peach colours became common for stockings around 1925: again, these colours suggested that bare legs were being revealed. Flesh was extremely popular in the 1960s and 1970s, a period when the body was admired and simplicity was the order of the day. Lou’s model “filet” (“net”) was available in white, but also in chestnut or caramel.

Later, some brands such as Princesse Tam-Tam (1985) introduced decorative patterns like tartan, fruit prints and flowers embroidered with little bows. Some pieces fitted in with the “cocooning” movement, where day and night underwear is so comfortable that it is nice to wear it to stay at home. These patterns were fresh and had a child-woman image. Eventually, in the 1980s, lingerie became more sophisticated and adopted the bright colours normally reserved for prostitutes: red, black and purple lace. Underwear took the upper hand and was eccentric and arrogant. Many women’s undergarments became real clothes designed in fashionable colours. Nightdresses were worn as summer dresses, vests took the place of t-shirts and corsets were worn for evening. Celebrities in show business often wore visible, brightly-coloured underwear. They include Annie Lennox (the singer from The Eurythmics), Gwen Stefani and Mylène Farmer. Madonna sang in a green corset edged with black lace and Britney Spears wore a bubble-gum pink G-string over her pants. To sum up, colour is vital in underwear and wants to make a statement. The colourful underwear of today’s woman is the underwear of the prostitute of previous generations. It is true that underwear illustrates liberal society, but it is a society which often verges on the vulgar.

Notes

1 See chapter 2.1.
2 Georges Feydeau, Mais n’te promène donc pas toute nue !, (“You are surely not going out completely naked!”) a one-act comedy, scene II, 1911.
3 Armand Silvestre, Les Dessous à travers les âges, (“Underwear through the ages”) a work from 1914 which was one of thz first studies of women’s underwear of the beginning of the 20th century. This, and all these other works, were written by men.
4 Women’s abdominal muscles are notoriously weak and even intense exercise does not stop them slackening if they are not supported. 5 Honoré de Balzac, Petites misères de la vie conjugale, (“The small miseries of married life”), 1846. All these terms are explained in the glossary.
6 Cécil de Saint Laurent, Histoire imprévue des dessous féminins, (“An improvised history of women’s underwear”), 1986.
7 1st century Greek doctor and botanist.
8 Pline the old (23-79), Roman, naturalist.
9 Latin poet (43-17).
10 Il vit tout de suite sa silhouette / Son corps rond, sa taille fine : (“He immediately saw her figure/her round body and small waist”).
11 “The corset controversy” chapter 9 of Valérie Steele’s, Fashion and Eroticism, New York, 1985.
12 In the U.S.A., Miss Annie Miller increased the number of organisations which wanted more reasonable dress. In 1904, Arabella Kennedy corseted monkies to show the harmful effect of corsets. In 1898 the Russian Public Education Minister, Mr Bogoljewov, forbade young girls to come to school in corsets. In 1902 the Roumanian Public Education Minister, Haret, And in 1904, Bulgaria forbade corsets in state schools in the Chimanov leaflet. 
13 The origins of the bra are much discussed, see glossary and Corsets et soutiens-gorge, (“Corsets and bras”) by Béatrice Fontanel, Paris, 1992.
14 The quest for a slim body is one of modern woman’s main preoccupations.
15 Rabelais, Gargantua (book I chapter VI.)
16 Molière, Les Précieuses ridicules, (“Precious Ridicule”) a one-act play, scene 5.
17 In 1823, the firm Rogers London made the first metal hooks and eyes in London, but the modern version of this innovation was produced in Paris by Daudé and was put into common use in 1828.
18 Emile Zola, L’Assommoir, chapter I, 1877.
19 Today pyjamas are far from being elegant at home wear.
20 In 1712, the French Oriental Indiana Company lost its privileges and they were teken over in 1719 by the India Company founded by Law.
21 Madapolam is a rough, heavy cotton cloth.
22 Viyella does not shrink. The company overcame a serious crisis in 1911 when laundries became commonplace, proving that the slogan was vulnerable.
23 Hilaire Bernigaud, the Count of Chardonnet (1839-1924), chemist and industrialist.
24 Jump, leap, run, stretch, reach for Spring with underwear that is so short and easy that you can put it on and forget about it... straight away... it is made for you, moves like you and is like you.
25 Honoré de Balzac, Autre Etude de femme in La Comédie humaine, (“Another study of woman from The Human Comedy”) 1842.
26 Baronne de Staff, Le cabinet de toilette, 1891.
27 Margaret Mitchell, Autant en emporte le vent, (“Gone with the Wind”) 1936.

By Muriel Barbier and Shazia Boucher in "The Story of Lingerie", Parkstone International, USA, excerpts pp.7-87. Adapted and illustrated do be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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