Lingerie From Then Till Now
Let’s begin with the word Lingerie itself. What does it mean? Where did it come from?
The word itself is of French derivation and originally meant “linen goods”. The actual word can be traced back in history as coming from “linum”, the word used for flax.
Now “linen goods” does not bring to mind any images of the scantily clad women we see today so it seems as if it went through some kind of transition. In 18th and 19th century England, it was considered improper for a women to openly refer to her underwear in normal conversation and polite euphemisms were used instead.
The French of the time simply referred to “womens underwear” with the French word lingerie as a substitute for that which you did not openly iscuss. Lingerie of the time had the sole purpose of absorbing sweat and other body fluids in an attempt to preserve the much more expensive outer wear. The lothes of the day were not mass produced in China, they were mostly handmade to order by a family member or a professional seamstress etc. The point being, outer wear was considered expensive, hard to come by, and therefore had to be looked after and kept clean.
Underwear was therefore made of cheap linen which could be washed often and replaced much more easily and affordably.
So how did the French word lingerie find it’s way into the English language? Corsets were already in use by Victorian women during this time but they used the word ‘corset’ as is. The corset is therefore not responsible for popularizing the word lingerie. It comes from another French invention called the brassiere which became known to the English and Americans during the roaring twenties,
spurred on by early Hollywood films which threw a spot light on beautiful women with desirable bodies in sexy dresses. Soon everybody was talking about the gorgeous movie stars and women wanted to shape their bodies and style their hair to resemble the screen icons of the day. The brassiere became the hot item and the French became seen as the “knowledgeable source” of desirable women’s underwear.
The brassiere was originally designed only to support the breasts but it versatility was quickly recognized and over a relatively short time it’s use branched out to cover the many needs of the day. The question for women was, what did you want to do with your breasts? Just provide support, support and lift etc. The versatile brassiere could be designed to fit any need. Styles changed from flat to pointy to naturally rounded. Men took notice. Women noticed that men were interested which just fueled the fire.
Stockings, suspenders and brassiere became collectively referred to using the French word “lingerie” because it sounded more exotic and mysterious than any wording the English speaking marketing people could come up with. Thus the word lingerie became popular and ingrained as the term used to describe “special womens underwear” as being something different to functional womens underwear.
Shaping peoples bodies to emphasize certain features is hardly a new idea. Paintings from Crete (ancient Greece) depict Minoan women wearing a type of corset to slim the waist and push out the breasts to make a feature of them.
This is typical of the changing and different viewpoints among various cultures and times. Most of today’s men would love to bring back the Minoan dress code for women. Their culture did also have its advantages. Women were treated as equals and garnered as much respect from men as they did admiration.
Modern day Lingerie
Today there is still a high demand for products which emphasize the desirable qualities of a womens body.Stockings are designed to make a womens legs more appealing and sexy.
The Chemis is similar to the Babydoll but is slightly longer.
It leans away from being cute and emphasizes beauty and femininity.
The Teddie is a figure hugging one piece garment that keeps tension on the
fabric by means of the adjoining piece between the legs. This fabric tension helps the garment look smooth at all times. Garments like corsets require boning to keep the fabric taught but teddies can achieve almost the same look without the discomfort of the
boning.
Bra and pantie matched sets are also attractive and by far the most practical of all
lingerie. They can be discreetly worn under everyday clothes and many women go to work wearing sexy matched set lingerie as a way of feeling sexy in the work place or secretly rebelling against the dress code.
Lingerie for big beautiful women
You would be mistaken in thinking that lingerie is only for women with beautiful bodies like those above.Plus size lingerie is fast becoming popular with full figure women. Perhaps the world is beginning to realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lingerie companies realized their mistake and discovered a huge untapped market in the average women who lacked the
goddess like figure.
Lingerie for fun
There are people who take their pleasure seriously and stick with traditional lingerie because, you know, they worry about their reputations. Even buying lingerie may have been a big step for them. Yet there are other people who see the fun side of things. They buy lots of different types of lingerie and dress according to the mood they are in. Sex becomes a game to them, something to enjoy with your partner. Many such people have also taken to wearing fancy costumes like nurse uniforms, police, school girl outfits and so on to facilitate playing a role in an interesting fantasy. Most lingerie shops will also carry a range of costumes to cater for these less inhibited people.
Lingerie for men
So what about lingerie for men? You do get the usual thong and tight shiny shorts, boxer shorts and so on but the market is small compared to female lingerie and not a lot of creativity has been directed that way. Many men are also insecure with regards to dressing up to get attention because society is quick to assign derogatory labels to such men. The average guy needs to feel confident around his lady and might not be able to ‘rise’ to the occasion if he were wearing anything that did not make him look manly enough in his or his partners opinion.
Conclusion
It’s important to realize that the whole subject of what’s hot and what’s not is based purely on the opinion of the day and the people involved. On the subject of lingerie, there is no right or wrong way to dress other than what you or your partner consider to be right or wrong.
I have only touched on the more mainstream lingerie topics. There are many more niche markets products which are not suitable to be covered in a general article such as this.
About the Author
Software engineer and online retailer of lingerie and womens fashion clothing at http://www.peachypassion.com.au
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