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 delightful 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 accentuated, covered, shrunk, amplified by the style of the current fashionable decorations.
We've witnessed some almost unthinkable extremes, from contrivances that required a small army to coerce the unlucky fashion victim into, to the flimsiest, most effervescent 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.
Firstly, let's get some terminology straightened out. Thanks to the world's most romantic language, we now generally allude to female 'underwear' as 'lingerie' - unless we're being derogatory in which case, depending on where you reside, you can fill in the spaces!
When we (at least us of the male persuasion) consider lingerie, we think of a flimsy material covering the female shape 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 much different. These bewitching 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. Perhaps not what we would call lingerie today but with much the same desired effect.
As time passed, the female form took on new 'perfect' shapes dependant on the in thing. As each 'perfect' form emerged, decorations were introduced and introduced to embellish and accentuate that desired shape. The culture of the society dictated whether the bosoms, the bottom or both would be highlighted and glorified. You could argue that nothing much has changed!
During the Middle Ages it was thought that the natural form and shape of a woman should be constrained and that the bosoms should be firm and small. This situation was probably fine for those built normally that way but perhaps a horror for those of a more voluptuous construction. Many different sorts of corset were worn with the single purpose of flattening the bosoms and/or the bottom. It has been said that, in order to draw attention to that part of the anatomy that shouldn't draw attention, some females wore small jingly bells around their neck to remind the men folk of the delights that still lay tantalizingly underneath.
The 'modern' corset is attributed to Catherine de Médicis, wife of King Henri II of France. She enforced a ban on broad waists at court attendance during the 1550s and had a questionable effect on females for the next 350 years.
The Renaissance saw another change in the preferred female shape. Women now required cone shaped bosoms, flat stomachs and slim waists. In order to bring about this look, they also needed to employ assistants or family members to dress them due to the fact that the cinching up of their corsets was done from behind and needed much effort.
Due to this unnatural method of realizing 'perfection', Doctors and other notaries argued 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 females 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 almost impossible to breathe! There are many reports of females dying because of fatal punctures to vital organs due to this practice.
In the early 18th century the whalebone corset still kept females severely restricted but the artistry that reflected the times was incorporated into clothing and the corsets were decorated with delightful lace, ribbons and embroidery. A part of this lightening up was the fact that it became fashionable for the bosoms to be pushed upwards to the point of almost popping out.
Towards the end of the 18th century the corset was being worn by gentry, 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 garment at that time. In itself it was an object of beauty and ornamentation and its display was part of social civility.
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 illegalized in many areas.
By the early 19th century, a much softer approach to the female shape became popular. The in thing still required 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 bosoms 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 females were able to dress and undress themselves due to more elaborate lacing methods.
During the 1840s the extremely exaggerated shape for females caused whalebone to make a comeback with huge hoops and crinolines that were covered with all kinds of fabric and fineries. Unfortunately for females, 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 females 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 due to the fact that it gave them more opportunities to stare at the sexy females 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 a trip to the beach and a jersey corset for riding her bike. The corsetry industry was in its heyday!
Towards the end of the 19th century the corset supported not only the bosoms but also the newly developed stocking. Stockings were held up by garters and suspenders which were then attached to the corset. These contrivances, although a triumph of design, probably added yet another frustrating dimension 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 dimension. With the advent of the industrial revolution, and the invention of the sewing machine, Germany and France opened the first corset factories.
In 1910 New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob introduced a new type of brassiere. Unhappy with the corset stiffened with whalebone which she was supposed to wear under a new sheer 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 bosoms 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 brassiere patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for $1,500 (over $25,600 presently).
In 1917 the War Industries Board of the US asked females to stop purchasing corsets to free up metal for war production. This step released some 28,000 tons of metal, enough to build a couple of battleships.
It has been claimed that the success of the brassiere is due chiefly to The Great War. The Great War changed gender roles for all time, putting many females to work in factories and wearing uniforms for the first time. Women needed practical, comfortable underwear. Warner went on to rake in over 15 dollars from the brassiere patent over the next 30 years.
The other aspect 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 females needed to look their sexiest!
With the Roaring Twenties and its refined parties, in thing was turned upside down, the boyish look was in. The pursual of flat chests and stomachs along with straight hips and buttocks led to the inception 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 enhance the boyish look the first bras were introduced to flatten the bosoms. What happened to the corset? The butt part that held up the stockings was shortened and became the suspender belt.
The full-figured look came back in the 1930s. The feminine look once again became the in thing. Women were encouraged to look well-proportioned with a full-figure while staying moderately slim in the hips. Now females 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 developed 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 several sizes to properly fit a woman's body.
The arrival of the Second 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 anything to hand. Not the sexiest of underwear but at least they kept themselves warm.
When the war was over underwear consisted of basic bras and suspender belts. This was acceptable to the majority of females but the teenage girl, just emerging from the oppression of the war years, became a target market. These teenagers could barely wait to grow up and wearing lingerie was a fantastic step towards reaching that objective. The German underwear industry introduced lingerie sets that appealed to these young girls and the industry rocketed.
In the U.S., the underwear industry was trying to create something new and leading edge.
Women were bombarded with all kinds of underwear and top clothing to help them look sexy. The film producer Howard Hughes introduced a new brassiere, a special wire-reinforced design for Jane Russell. This caused the censors throw a tantrum about Jane's bosoms being bared in that fashion all because of Hughes' fabulously inventive brassiere improvements.
The Swinging Sixties was an awful decade for the underwear industry thanks to the rise of women's emancipation movements. Feminists burned their bras and many underwear companies were forced to cease trading. However Lycra had just been developed and females began to wear tight-fitting leggings. The iconic in thing item of that decade 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 in thing 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 in demand presently, the biggest seller now is the push-up bra. Statistically the average American female 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 previous times. However, the delightful sex will always looks amazing in sexy, slinky lingerie!
So, there we have it. From the push-up corsets of ancient Greece to the push-up brassiere of today. Sexy lingerie? Nothing ever really changes!
Article Source: http://www.articlecube.com
Clive Johnson works in the fashion industry and runs a Lingerie & Underwear website