The history of women’s intimate fashion is curious because it is not only linked to the trends of each era, but also to the rebellions of women and the strength of some female icons such as the dancers Isadora Ducan and Irene Castle, the writer Simone de Beauvoir or the pop diva, Madonna, who broke ground in her time, breaking some conventions and marked taboos. It is also remarkable, as in recent decades, the conception of what is intimate and what is not, is conspicuous by its absence because fashion evolves and transforms, merging concepts and adapting pieces that were once created to remain hidden behind the outer layers of the visible clothing.
From Egyptian to French. A brief historial view
Intimate clothing was born to cover a basic need: hygiene and shelter for the female parts. Then, over the centuries, they became garments to mold and correct the female figure. It is estimated that they were the Egyptians of high society, who began to use some type of lingerie. Back then it was linen and cotton tunics glued to the body with a sort of petticoat that began below the chest and ended below the ankles as part of their daily dress. In ancient times, to lift the breasts, – the anatomical part that symbolized femininity, motherhood and pleasure, women accepted many sacrifices. For this reason, in Crete the bra was invented almost four thousand years ago. Also in Ancient Greece, the zoster was born, a girdle that single women used to enhance the bust. Married used another piece to hold the breast, called apodesmo, and used to be fabric with bright colors and decorated with care. In Rome, a band wrapped around the chest was used to give the female figure the harmony and shape that was considered beautiful at the time. During the Middle Ages, the brial and the camisole imprisoned the chest at a time when only maidens were allowed to show off the bust. As for panties, the garment was not conceived as part of the undergarment until the Renaissance. Finally, corsets emerged in the Middle Ages and had ups and downs in their use until the end of the 19th century. The famous corset was not only an intimate garment to maintain hygiene, but was also used to style and seduce.
France is considered the inventor country of underwear, similar to what we know today, and the popularization of its use. Towards the year 1830 there was a shift towards the use of underwear that coincided with the growing trend towards a public morality that during the Victorian era would reach its peak. The appearance of new materials and thinner and lighter fabrics, which were appropriate for use in certain areas of the body, also influenced. From 1860, the design of women’s underwear began, and in 1880, silk became the preferred fabric for such uses. Later, wool (in colder areas) and cotton were also used, fabrics that allowed the skin to breathe. Its use also extended to petticoats, nightgowns and panties. It took until the end of the 19th century for women’s lingerie to acquire a definitely sexy air with the appearance of the first silk stockings and garters. Although its use was reserved exclusively for the privacy of the bedrooms and for the so-called “women of bad life”.
The 20th century was the century of the bra that ended up burying the corset as a garment to shape the chest and the introduction of cups in bras, showing that there were women with different sizes and bust sizes. In the 1950s, conical pointed cup bras were introduced, which immortalized the pin-up aesthetic models and later, Madonna in the transgressive 80s. Corsets were introduced as streetwear thanks to the influence of the cinema and the Golden Years of Hollywood. Finally, in 1990 was the boom of the wonderbra, a bra that enhanced the breast without the need for cosmetic surgery.
From indoors to outdoors. The lingerie is displayed without shame
As we have just mentioned, lingerie was born in France at the end of the 19th century to liberate women from the corsets of the time. The actresses of the film industry of the last century were in charge of giving it that glamorous touch by displaying their most intimate clothes in lavish film shoots. Garments such as nightgowns, tunics and kimonos made in beautiful light satin and silk fabrics, jumped from the bed to the stage, along with voluptuous lingerie sets that evoked sensual games of transparencies through tulle and lace, which went beyond the bedroom. Intimate fashion was under the spotlight ready to be consumed for a new generation of female consumers.
From the end of the last century to the present, we have experienced an authentic explosion of lingerie fashion that conquers en masse a new terrain until now forbidden: the street. They are not pieces of lingerie as such, but an adaptation that large firms create of these models to be exhibited in public. Thus, in the 90s, the boom in silk slip dresses or nightgowns with thin straps and lace motifs were immortatilized by the it girls of the time such as Kate Moss, Winona Ryder or Jennifer Anniston . Then came the outer bras or crop tops popularized by American rap and hip hop singers who shamelessly showed a foot above (or below) the navel. They were also the first to bet on showing off panties or thong straps underneath their low-rise sweatpants. Garments that create sensual games of transparencies are also experiencing their best moment, through plumeti tulle and lace in romantic Victorian-inspired outfits. Other parts such as two piece satin pyjamas and oriental kimonos have settled in our closet over the last decade as being completely normal, providing that elegant touch, but suggestive in the daily styles.
Regardless of style and trends, what is clear is that lingerie has been claiming its space for a long time and the catwalks attest to this exhibitionist trend that, at the moment, does not know its end.
