Excerpts from A Century of Lingerie by Karen W. Bressler, Karoline Newman, and Gillian Procto

Throughout the century, the brassiere, a most essential piece of lingerie, has been known variously as the bandeau, the bust extender, the bust shaper, and the bust bodice. In France it is known as the soutien-gorge, a harness, but even the ancient Greeks and Romans had their own names for the brassiere: the mastatedon, mamillare or strophium. The term brassiere, or its informal shortening, the bra, was first introduced in the 1920s.

During the nineteenth century, the emphasis had always been on accentuating the shape of the bottom, as seen, for example, in the S-Bend Corset, but there was a shift towards emphasizing the bust instead during the course of the twentieth century. Just as its name changed through the decades, so too did the purposes of the garment. Brassieres lifted, enlarged, supported, confined, flattened, revealed, and modestly covered women’s breasts throughout the decades, making them the most important element in a Western woman’s wardrobe. As the years passed, the bra became on of the most complex pieces of lingerie ever created, and by the late 1990s, it was composed of up to 43 components, designed with a structure and function comparable to those of a cantilever staircase or a suspension bridge.

Support for the Tango

Bust improvers were first introduced into fashion in the early 1900s, although there are earlier references to impractical pre-bra garments that would make any modern woman glad to have missed them. One of the most unusual was the Lemon Cup Bust Improver, a bralike device that featured a light, coiled spring in each cup and padding made of bleached horsehair.

Although early d3esigners had the right idea, it still took a while before a practical solution to breast support was found. In 1904, they dreamt up the cotton bust-improver, lightly boned and stitched, with adjacent shoulder straps, satin ribbon and trimming. Next, they attempted to turn the corset into a bra by creating the corset waist, a garment closer to a corset cover or camisole made of cotton, linen, lace, and ribbon. Although it was based on the camisole until 1914, it boasted more structure, tightness, and opacity and was typically worn for decency and comfort.

As the popularity of the corset waned, especially among those who were taken with the new tango dance craze, a new type of woven elastic material was used to create the American slip-on in 1913, a garment which offered support for those who did not opt to wear the dance corset. One young woman who disdained the corset was the American debutante Mary Phelps Jacobs (who later changed her name to Caresse Crosby). In 1914, Crosby used to hankies, a piece of baby ribbon, and help from her maid to creat the first boneless, midriff-free bra.

For everyday wear, lingerie dresses – lightweight, easy-to-care-for, day dress still in style after the turn of the century – became increasingly decorative, and lingerie followed appearing on the new brassieres, resulting in more and more ornate models. In France, the soutien gorge, created by Paul Poiret graduated from its simple shape with front lacing or buttons to a lacy ruffled style made from cambrie with net insertions, cotton tricotrine, silk, and satin. Shape molds were added to increase the size of the bust, but offered no support to the breasts. The lightest of brassieres was that created by Earrieros in 1920 in tulle and ruched pink ribbon.

These frivolous details made women more aware of their femininity and urged them to pay more attention to their own individual beauty. By the 1920s, most women would not have left home without wearing a bra. The soft brassiere first appeared as a bosom flattener (constructed from a broad band of satin ribbon), but had grown less restrictive by 1925, allowing for natural curves to show through. Narrow ribbon straps, which looked dainty and insubstantial, were replaced with heavier fabrics.

The first sign of shape

Wigh brassieres becoming such a popular clothing item, more and mdore women fournd it difficult to find the bust cup that suited their size and shape. To remedy the situation, Mrfes. Rosalind Klin, the Polish-born director of the Kestos Company, created the Kestos bra by folding two handkerchiefs crosswise. She joined them into one piece with an overlap in front, and added shoulder straps sewn to the points at each side of the breast and on the end of the fabric triangles. Elastic was crossed at the back and buttoned to the brassiere under each cup, which had darts under the bust for more shape. The Kestos bra become so well known that women on the shopping spree set out to buy not a bra, but a Kestos.

As the decade progressed, shape became a definite priority. Disk construction on the two sides, introduced in 1928 but no popularized until 1950, led to deeper bust cups and provided a rounded shape. The bandeau bra, made of silk elastic or tricot with two rounded cups, was designed for a figure requiring an elastic hip belt and some bust control above the waist. Suddenly, the bust-designing garment took control of the undergarment world, giving new shape and style to women every where.

By the 1930s, the primary goal of the bra was to separate the breasts. Shaped cups, introduced with the popular triangular Kestos style, allowed the bra to support and enhance breasts of all shapes and sizes. Manufacturers added bone and produced bras with different cup sizes; padding was a priority in many of the newer versions.

As fashion of all kinds became synonymous with an expression of freedom, innovations in the design of the bra allowed women to choose how they, and others, saw themselves. Cup busts, defined busts, uplifted busts, and even accentuated busts began to fill a new fashion niche, and in 1935, Warner, introduced cup fittings for the first time. At last, someone had realized that the measurement of the bust and the size of the breasts (A

In the 1930s, fashions became ever more tubular as hemlines fell to the lower calf for day and the floor for evening, and the bust, waist, and hips re-appeared. Evening gowns turned up either draped and body-slimming as inspired by Paris couturier Madeleine Vionnet, or in intricately draped silk jersey as produced by another Paris couturier Alix (Madame Gres). In part, this increased acceptance of body-molding silhouettes and due to a series of advertisements for sanitary napkins, which were developed after World War I, and which emphasized wearing them under clinging fashions.

Many of these slim gowns and dresses boasted halter or bare-backed bodice cuts, as did a number of summer dresses, leading to the creation of the first strapless bra in 1934. By the late 1930s, when suits were all the rage, constructed with tailored jackets shaped to the body, bras were in demand to mold the bustline into a complementary shape. The bust, first emphasized by the clothes of World War I, was now dressed in a increasingly well-cut bra, carefully seamed for different figure types. Boned or underwired bras were worn to give breasts a more substantial silhouette.

Femininity was at an all-time high, and designers turned out hundreds of variations of the bra. There were satin, lace, net, and batiste versions, some with stitched satin undercups, others with suspenders. Feminine shades such as pink, peach, tea rose, and apricot turned up on all types of lingerie, although most women also invested in a few bras in white. Black, however, was reserved for the luxury class only.

In 1937, the DuPont company invented nylon, a revolutionary material that was strong, light, supple, and could be woven or knitted by machine. Nylon was the ideal fabric for the construction of the bra because it was easily washable, would drip dry , and no ironing was necessary. However, nylon did not become available to the general public until the year 1938, and its full effects on bra production were not to be seen until the late 1940s.

Look for out next release in a few weeks – “Sprit Lifters”

Excerpts from A Century of Lingerie by Karen W. Bressler, Karoline Newman, and Gillian Procto

Peacetime prosperity

Once the war was over, the fashion for crinolines that had started with the 1939 film Gone With the Wind was refueled, at least in the U>S>. Pierre Balmain designed a dress in white chiffon with black polka dots and hip swathing knotted in a soft bustle, which was shown over a pale pink tulle crinoline .

Crinolines were not worn on their own, however, and combinations of all types came into their own. There were camiknickers (combines camisole and knickers), the Corslo pantaloon (a chemise, knickers, corset, And camisole), pettivests (a petticoat and vest), and camishorts (step-in panties with a brassiere for evening or chemise for evening or chemise for day). To secur3e the new fashion’s naturally slender figure, these pieces were often made from fine fabrics such as cotton tricot, crepe de chine, and silk tricot.

By the 1940s, the new generation of man-made fabrics were regularly used in lingerie, and the result was a choice of stylish summer and sportswear underwear made from rayon that was affordable by far more of the population. The wealthy stuck to pure silk. But in the winter, retaining warmth was still a priority in these days before efficient heating, and winter garments were cut from wool, camel[s hair, cashmere, alpaca, and llama. Flannel crinolines were worn under petticoats which were knitted crocheted, or quilted, and stuffed with down.

Dressier versions of the crinoline turned up with pleated ruffles, alpaca, satin, or silk trims and they were often lined with wool. But most women invested in the utility version, which was straight and pleatless, and fell just below the knee. As these were made of less material,they cost less for manufacturers to make and so were cheaper to buy, an important consideration while such petticoats were an essential part of Christian Dior’s New Look, lalunched in Paris in 1947.

Layers of stiffened net and frills with a nipped-in waist were required for evening or partywear, the desired New Look achieved with removable hoops. Sheath skirts, another popular fashion of the decade, called for quite different styles of petticoat or slip. These were narrow with limited trimmings to avoid creating any bulk. Petticoat frills were strategically placed to prevent stimulating thoughts of desire should they accidentally be glimpsed by an onlooker.

From New Look to new era

In the 1950s, as the world settled into a longer peace, American affuence filtered down to its younger generation. As rock’n’roll started to grow in popularity, the first teenagers set their own styles in clothes as well as music. The Froufrou petticoat was a teenage sensation, slipped on over layers of crinolines for dancing to the latest sounds. Every girl wanted to look like Brigitte Bardot, the buxom movie star, and dressed like the musical all-girl group The Cherelles in their wide hoop skirts.

Couture designer Pierre Balmain was a leader in the petticoat revolution, although few women could afford his esquisite designs. Determined nonetheless to show off their shapes in as full a skirt as possible, women padded out their hips with foam rubber and embellished them with ruffles, and “paper nylon” petticoats pushed out skirts for parties and dances. The Schiaparelli petticoat, designed in 1950 by Helen Hunt Bencker Hoie, was another big seller’ it had a sheer circular half-slip banded with lace and was meant to be worn under big skirts.

But at the same time that froufrou skirt was hugely popular with the younger set, designers such as Norman Norell were presenting their straight, seamless chemise dresses in 1950 for more sophisticated women. This slender line continued with narrow dresses nipped ad the waist with flared Spencer jackets in 1951, skinny sequined or mermaid dresses in 1952, and Empire-waist evening dresses in 1955. Most of these styles were worn with straight slips, although full-skirted petticoats did survive until 1957. Thereafter, slim skirts and sheath dresses became all the rage for the fashion-conscious, and straight slips were practically a requirement.

Straight petticoats with slits at the center front, back or side were also worn, like the espresso slip, which was straight with ruffles at the hem. Such simple lines were a preview of what was to come, as London set the tone in the 1960s with its street style.

The Erosion of Underwear.

The unending stream of new fabrics and man-made fibers that had appeared over the previous three decades had a radical effect on the lingerie market. Elastic in all its forms had revolutionized underwear, including the slip. Soon after elasticized waists were added to the waist slip, it was shortened to shape for the knee-length skirtrsw of the 1970s.

The 1970s, a confusing decade as regards fashion, brought about a revival of romanticism as women dressed us in soft, lace-trimmed camisoles and frilly petticoats that owned more to the start of the 1900s than the 1970s. As denim became truly timeless and extremely functional, lingerie started to follow suit, abandoning delicate, lacy teddies in favor of skintight Lycra bodies.

The fashion message of the 1980s was even more unclear. On the one hand actress and pop star Modonna broke the taboo on showing lingerie in public when she dressed herself in bras, corsets, and slips to perform. This wearing of underwear as outerwear was typical of the decade, in which just about every style of lingerie since the crinoline resurfaced. Women opted for a wardrobe of luxury and abundance, embracing bustles, petticoats, turn-of-the-century camisoles, and 1950s bustiers in just a handful of these famed revivals.

Madonn’s daringly sexual style made its way into mainstream fashions as silk camisoles were worn under power suits, and were paired with slinky skirts as evening tops. Vests came back in the form of embroidered long camisoles, now in tailored, woven fabrics rather than knitted, and short slips in elegantly wrapped styles were in abundance.

Audacious designers such as Katherine Hammett and a bevy of talented Japanese designers created severely graphic clothes for broad-shouldered businesswomen. Rei Kawakubo, Japanese founder of Comme des Garcons, introduced a fetishistic edge to clothing by concentrating on abstract texture and color. Designers like Martin Margiela and Anne Demeulemeister designed clothes as art for different types of lifestyles, while Christian Lacroix cashed in on the retro age, telling Vogue in 1988 that “every one of my dresses possesses a detail that can be connected with something historic, something from the past culture. We don’t invent anything.”

With such wide range of clothes on show, and such a nostalgic yearning for bygone times, lingerie was bound to come back into style. It played a major role in John Galliano’s romantic collection, which represented the empire of dandyism, while Vivienne Westwood thrived on the pop culture of the day. Her mini-crini, created in 1985, was a perfect example of underwear turned outerwear, and before long, lace-trimmed petticoats in ivory or shell pink turned up as skirts from her designer cohorts.

The lingerie resurgence continued into the 1990s as women lived through a return to fashions of the past. Designers sent models down the catwalk in slip dresses, and actresses such as Cortney Love paraded about town in torn camisoles and slips. The singer Toiri Amos wore a slip dress on a album cover, while the “Girl Power” pop phenomenon of the late 1990s, the Spice Girls, performed their songs in clothes that owed more the lingerie than outerwear.

The diversity of underwear in the 1990s was enormous. While the staid British retailer of sensible undies, Marks & Spencer, was producing waist petticoats in several lengths from ylon and polyester, the American mail order company Victoria’s Secret filled pages of their catalog with lacy, silky, and sheer versions of teddies, vests, and countless other items of exotic, erotic underwear in innovative colors and prints. The century had started with a clear understanding of what underwear was, and bow it was to be worn, but it finished with far more freedom for women to choose their lingerie according to their tastes.

Next installation will be The Brassiere