The story of lingerie
Image Credit: The Style Historian
If there’s one thing that sells, it’s sex.
And if there’s one thing we seem to love today – is the fashion of underwear.
Not just the practical ‘here-is-what-I’m-wearing-under-there’, underwear (and lingerie namely) has become an estimated USD $82 billion industry as of late 2023.
From slinky sheer slip dresses, bralettes to the Jeremy Allen White Calvin Klein campaign – what influenced the rise of lingerie and what does it mean to us as consumers today?
Get in losers – we’re exploring the story behind lingerie.
The origins
While some claim invention dates back to the 1700s in England, paintings suggest undergarments can be sourced as early as Egypt in 3000BC, where women wore leather or linen tied around their bust.
As most humble beginnings, it was one of practicality – worn underneath our clothing to protect the skin from the elements and the cold. Within the 1700s, men often wore underwear worn from linen and cotton, with women in silk and lace.
But by the 1800s it was really the corset that defined lingerie for women – emphasizing an hour-glass shape, with a cinched in waist using steel or whalebone to support the popular heavy hoop skirts worn at the time.
As expected, these were incredibly uncomfortable, with women struggling to breathe.
Image Credit: 1898, corset ad, Wikipedia.
So uncomfortable they inspired the invention of what would become the bra.
Frustrated with her whalebone corset while getting ready for a debutante ball (love this for her), Mary Phelps requested a sewing kit and with two handkerchiefs and a ribbon, creating the first bra in 1910 – later patenting the design and founding Fashion Form Brassiere Co.
A liberation
During this period of the early 1900s, slips and stockings were invented alongside the bra, allowing a wider range of options for women to match the emerging lifestyle of having more choice as styles changed amid the societal shifts of women gaining more rights and opportunities.
It was an era of evolution.
While the flapper styles of the 1920s introduced more loose, shapeless garments – the thirties brought about more feminine styles, including lingerie. Following the shortages WWII brought about during the 1940s, glamour became to go-to aesthetic in the 1950s, with sexy lingerie taking on mass appeal with pin up girls like Marilyn Monroe reigning supreme.
Image Credit: Marilyn Monroe posing for a photograph in 1953, Pinterest
While this glamourous aesthetic continued into the 1960s and 1970s, lingerie was still designed for practical use, with elegant lingerie only worn on special occasions like honeymoons or wedding anniversaries.
American entrepreneur Roy Raymond saw an opportunity in the market – he often felt embarrassed purchasing lingerie for his wife at the department store, and wanted to create a place where men could feel comfortable (the audacity).
He and his wife Gaye established the first-ever lingerie only retailer, Victoria’s Secret, in 1977.
I mistakenly once believed the VS name implied buying lingerie for a mistress – but in actuality, the name is a bit surprising. It’s a nod to Queen Victoria and the ‘refinement’ of the Victorian Era, with the ‘secret’ being what lies beneath the outerwear.
Image Credit: Victoria’s Secret 1979 Catalogue Image, Racked.com
The 80’s to present
With the 80’s brought newfound liberation for women – the ability to work and be independent without having to ‘give up’ femininity and sensuality.
In the era of power dressing, this new age was reflected back into the lingerie industry – with latex, leather, metallics and experimental looks existing within the traditional styles of feathers, lace and silk. Coinciding with the rise of brightly coloured athleisure, the thong and fishnets entered the scene – bringing underwear as outerwear to the mainstream.
Not to mention, Calvin Klein was up and coming – disrupting menswear and gender-neutral underwear with its cotton briefs.
By the time the 90’s came around, Madonna cemented the underwear as a fashion trend during her Blonde Ambition Tour, wearing the iconic cone bra, designed by French designer Jean Paul Gautier.
Image Credit: Madonna in 1990, Getty Images, Elle Magazine
Throughout images of the 90s, we can see the sex-in-your-face attitude continued, with the infamous sheer slip dress catapulting a 19-year-old Kate Moss to stardom.
Image Credit: 1993, Kate Moss at the Elite Model Agency Look of the Year Party at the London Hilton, Pinterest
And thanks to marketing – lingerie was becoming sexier than ever, with a clever team at WonderBra creating a sex-obsessed resurgence with a bra and brand that was founded in 1964.
Image Credit: 1994 WonderBra Ad, via Elle Magazine
In 1995 Victoria Secret held its inaugural fashion show – underscoring the lingerie industry’s ascent into high fashion, impacting designers and retailers globally.
Image Credit: Supermodel Helena Christensen at the inaugural VSFS in 1995, Elle Magazine.
Our obsession with lingerie didn’t slow in the 2000s – with low rise jeans featuring g strings, and corsets worn on top of white collared tops (Britney’s Slave4U video comes to mind).
In 2014, Kim K ushered in the era of bodycon – a look at the time she credited with wearing two sets of Spanx’s to get the ideal look – while we also started to see the sporty lingerie trend (think brands Calvins, PINK, Aerie).
After decades of beauty standards being forced upon consumers, it was around this time inclusivity and body positivity started to emerge in the market – now offering a wider range of lingerie nude shades to include women of colour and featuring additional sizes.
But as always, Rhianna was doing everything first – launching her lingerie line that prioritized inclusion in 2018, with the real bodies the fashion and lingerie industries often ignored.
Image Credit: Savage x Fenty Fashion Show, 2020, Harper’s Bazaar
The impact
Today, lingerie is synonymous with outerwear, not a special category onto its own.
No longer barred by gender or size, people express themselves however they choose – be it a bra and a sheer top on a night out, a corset overtop a button up shirt with thigh high boots, the list goes on.
For the fashion of lingerie – the limit does not exist.
It’s a pretty incredible feat when we think about why Victoria’s Secret was founded – to make men feel more comfortable buying the hidden (shameful, even?) clothing associated with sex.
And if we look into what’s driving the modern-day lingerie industry, three trends emerge –
· women with higher spending power than ever before;
· increasing availability of products (globalization); and
· the rise of sustainable-conscious consumers (those who are more likely to invest in lingerie if its sourced adequately).
While the momentum doesn’t seem to be easing any time soon, another theme comes to mind (think #TradWife on TikTok) – will the emblem swing the other way? And will we eventually see our obsession with selling sex return to the shadows of the hidden?
Until next time,
- TSH
Thanks again for joining me - as always I appreciate you taking the time to be here with me.
Sources:
Global News Wire, Elle.com, HiddenIntimates.com, Camille.co, DesignYouTrust, Wikipedia: Victoria’s Secret, MySanAntonio.com, ScarlettGasque.com, Wikipedia: Corset