Brief-History-of-Lingerie

Lingerie can really vary, and it has over time. What's been acceptable to has changed from one extreme to the other - and back again. Lingerie over time has been used in many different ways, with different areas accentuated along the way. Women have worn everything from a heavy contraptions with laces and pulleys, all the way to the light silky sexy lingerie of today.
When we think of sexy Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers), we think of light, thin material, usually see-through, adoringly over the female body, covering just enough to titillate the impressionable male. But well before Christ, on the island of Crete, in the Mediterranean Sea, women were very bold. Their idea of lingerie was a boned bodice corset, designed not for support, but to tease men, by pushing their breasts up and out.


Throughout time, as each vision emerged, clothing was created to fit and accentuate this shape. There were, of course, two main elements, the bust and the bottom area. Some societies wanted the bust to be prominent, while some felt that the butt should be the point of interest.



Spanish fashion experts saw that in all the right places. They wanted to see women with cone-shaped breasts, flat stomachs and narrow waists. And women went to great lengths to achieve this look.


By the 18th century, life was becoming lighter, and clothing trends followed. Although the whalebone structure of the corset still kept women tight. Later in the 18th century, people started rebelling against many things and corsets were no exception. Again, doctors spoke out about the dangers of these body presses. And this time they were heard - enough to actually have boned corsets outlawed.
As fashion design became more innovative, more varieties of corsets were created. Now you could get a lightly-boned corset for the morning, a boneless corset for the beach, an elastic corset for horseback riding, and a jersey corset for bicycle riding. With all the activities women participated in, think of how many corsets they would need.


The corset is extended - then expended By the end of the 19th century, the corset had become a supporter not only of breasts, but of the newly-created stockings. Stockings were held up by garters and suspenders attached to the corset - a very complex system of rigging.
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 fashion designers were leaning towards an uncorseted, more free-flowing style. Sexy Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers) was about to take a whole new turn. With the advent of the industrial revolution, and the invention of the sewing machine, Germany and France opened the first corset factories.



After World War I, women began to enter the workforce and corsets were definitely not appropriate for wear in factories. They needed shorter skirts made of cooler and lighter fabric that was easy to care for. The other factor was that the war had taken its toll on their supply of men, which meant more competition in landing a man - they needed to look their sexiest!
Then came the Roaring Twenties, with it's elaborate parties. Fashion changed dramatically - the boyish silhouette was in. The quest for flat chests and stomachs, and straight hips and buttocks, led the fashion industry to create the liberty bodice, the chemise, and bloomers - loose-fitting and light. And a long-overdue substitute for plain old white appeared - pastel colored lingerie. The first brassieres were designed to flatten the breasts, adding to the total boyish look. The corset was no longer needed - except the bottom part that held up the stockings. So the corset was shortened right down to a belt - the suspender belt.



One of the biggest advancements in the lingerie industry came in the 1930s, when Dunlop Rubber invented Lastex. Lastex was an elastic fiber that could be interwoven with the fabric used to make Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers) fashions. Now the industry could make Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers) in various sizes, to properly fit a woman's shape.



But then came World War II, and with it, its shortages. Germany couldn't import the fabrics they'd been using and their industry dried up. People started making home-knitted underwear out of anything they could find. Not very sexy, to say the least. But they were warm.
After the war, lingerie consisted of the basic bras and suspender belts. This was the norm for most women. But the teenage girl, emerging from the oppression of the war, and looking for excitement, became a target market. These teenagers were anxious to grow up, and wearing lingerie was a big step towards getting there. So the lingerie industry started to create Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers) sets that would attract the attention of these young girls. And the German lingerie industry exploded.



Over in America, the lingerie industry was making its own mark. Everyone was trying to create something new and different. The market was flooded with all kinds of innovations to help women look sexy. For example, Howard Hughes created a new bra - a special wire-reinforced design for Jane Russell.


The silhouette suffers as bras are burned As the 60s brought a wave of women's emancipation movements, feminists burned their bras. It's ironic that they had lots of support for this movement, because now that they'd burned their bras, their support was gone. And, later in life, they'd find that their support sagged. This movement gave the lingerie industry a heavy hit. Many manufacturers were forced out of business. But on the positive side, Lycra had just been invented, and women's legs began to be adorned in tights or, even better for the men, the sexy little mini-skirt. And with the mini-skirt came a demand for bikini briefs.



By the 1980s, wire-reinforced bras had become the number-one seller. For those who need that added support, these are still very popular today. Probably the biggest seller now is the push-up bra.



Today's silhouette varies in shape - but always looks good in sexy Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers) Think of how far lingerie has come - from the push-up corsets of ancient Greece, to the push-up bra of today. The history of sexy lingerie proves one fact - some things never change. Obviously, the purpose hasn't changed - women still want to look sexy. The only thing that has changed is the method.
We now have a society that allows much more freedom than in the past. We have lighter, lacier, sexier fabric. We have more liberal ideas of how much can be bared. And of course, the men are all for it. So the goal of the lingerie industry remains the same - to create an image of a woman who's desirable and sexy. And if you look at all the sexy Lingerie (refer to Ann Summers) websites, you'll see that the industry is achieving its goal.