The Story of Lingerie. Muriel Barbier

women, the development of its place in society and its status regarding men.

      Even the term underwear itself brings to mind its function: being underneath, and therefore hidden. There can be numerous types: shaping underwear, revealing underwear, enticing, provocative, prudish or erotic underwear. Women’s underwear is erotic without a doubt. From Grecian times to the most modern micro fibre bras, women’s underwear has been sensually charged, as much for the woman wearing it as for the man (or woman) who removes it. What is the reason for this amazing power of seduction? The fact that underwear is hidden? And rarely revealed? Perhaps because it is in intimate touch with a woman’s body? However, eroticism is not the only matter of interest in women’s underwear.

      During the development of western clothing, lingerie and corsetry have had a fundamental role. It allows one to structure one’s shape, modify the figure and change following the flights of fashion. Underwear itself follows constantly changes with the latest fashion. It is designed using shapes, materials and colours which correspond to the tastes of the time: even if we can say that women’s underwear is created in the image of fashion, it is not actually that simple, and shapes, types of undergarments, and the choice of materials and colours very often have a social context.

      A woman wears underwear that varies according to her circumstances. From the beginning to the end of her life a woman experiences physical change and changes in her social status, and her underwear reflects this.

      It becomes emblematic of the times and of each woman’s role in her society and class. In addition to this, throughout life, daily activities require different underwear, such as for sport, a day’s work or the evening. The most tantalising underwear is, of course, for love.

      Sophisticated underwear with the purpose of seduction had, and continues to have, a symbolic role in western Judeo-Christian society. Whether idolised or demonised, women’s underwear symbolises taboos and sexual prohibitions lead to numerous fantasies, erotic ideas and even to fetishism.

      Underlying the existence of these fashion objects and erotic dreams is the world of business and industry, whose origins go back in history to linen maids, corset makers and hosiers. The sale and distribution of women’s underwear is a well-organised and rapidly expanding machine, dealing with such diverse retailers as chic lingerie outlets, mail-order catalogues and sex shops, where every woman can find what she desires. Advertising is aimed at attracting both men and women with lace, satin and embroidery modelled on voluptuous models.

      The world of women’s underwear, whether hidden or on display, is a rich one. Underwear was originally designed for hygienic reasons and to enhance intimate parts of a woman’s body, but it is now aimed at much more than provoking desire. In particular, during its development over the years, it has shown the progressive liberation of the female body as well as her position in patriarchal western society.

      So let us enter this lace-trimmed history whose aim is to inform and titillate the reader. Our studies were based on bibliographical research, but the work does not refer to scientists or experts. The aim of the book is to please and charm the reader.

      Underwear and fashion

      Yaël Landman, ensemble. Autumn/Winter 2003.

      Iron pair of stays, first half of the 17th century. Leloir Fund, Musée Galliera, Paris. Inv. 2002.2.X.

      Lingerie, corsetry and hosiery

      Nicolas-André Monsiau, The Lace, 1796. Engraving, vignette for the works of Rousseau. 21 × 14 cm. Maciet Collection, Bibliothèque des Arts décoratifs, Paris.

      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.

      Body with whalebone, 18th century. Fabric decorated with flowers. Leloir Fund, Musée Galliera, Paris. Inv. 1920.1.1856.

      Corset. Pink silk, backed with linen, stiffened with whalebone and trimmed with pink silk ribbons. England, c. 1660–70, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

      Box “The Mexican Corset”, 1869. Musée de la Bonneterie, Troyes.

      Box “The Mexican Corset”, 1869. Musée de la Bonneterie, Troyes.

      Corset in red satin, yellow leather and whalebone, with a steel hour-glass form, 1883. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

      Black and white silk slip, muslin stockings with silk and lace. Commercial catalogue, Grands Magasins du Louvre, Paris, Summer 1907.

      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

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.