The history of lingerie is also a history of cultural development and social change, sometimes marked by sexual freedom, sometimes by a return to morality and the hope for increasing decency.
>> Stone Age
>> The Renaissance
>> 15th century
>> The Twenties
>> The Forties >> The Fifties >> The Seventies
>> The Eighties
>> The Nineties
>> Asia culture
>> Different tastes
>> Nowadays
Stone Age
It began back in the Stone Age with the wearing of loincloths and laced bodies made of animal hides. In Ancient Greece swathes of leather were worn to support the breast and in Ancient Rome the strips of cloth were used to achieve a flat bosom, which was the ideal of beauty at that time.
The Renaissance
The aesthetic ideals of the ancient world were above all associated with a rather asexual design. The Renaissance, however, showed off feminine curves again - a narrow waist, pronounced bosom, curvy hips and full skirts dictated the fashion of the time. The hoop skirt was invented and the corset was developed to create a narrow waist and a seductive cleavage.
15th century
In the 15th century the very soft corset was, as a rule, a piece decorated with jewels and ribbons, which supported the breast from underneath without constricting the body. From about 1500 on however, corsets were strengthened with wood, iron or whale-bones. Setting the tone in Europe was the Spanish fashion, which propagated a rigid silhouette which could not have been achieved without a corset. With the exception of a few years at the time of the French Revolution, the line of the rigid torso with a full skirt was to dominate until the beginning of the 20th century.
The turn of the century gave women greater freedom of movement - the corset was divided into two parts. The brassiere was "invented" and ladies also wanted more support for problem areas around the bottom, which led to the creation of the girdle and the suspender.
The Twenties
The fashion of the golden twenties with close-fitting dresses and the development of an elastic thread opened up a new era in the development of underwear. Underwear was not allowed to wear out, the bosom had to be kept as flat as possible. For the corsetry industry the 20th century was a disaster, because the corsetry-free time began. Nonetheless, the 20th century was the time when the advancement of the bra took place.
Although it had already been "invented", up to then the bra had been quite insignificant and paradoxically it enjoyed its heyday in a time when the breast tended to be laced away rather than emphasized - the bra was also suitable for that.
The abrupt and painful end of the twenties also brought with it a fast return to shape and tradition: severe, respectable and ladylike conservative elegance defined the time, the image of the vamp or the cheeky girl disappeared. For the corsetry industry, the return to feminine shapes was a blessing, albeit a short one.
The Forties
In the difficult and lean years of the forties, fashion played, if any, a very insignificant role. New, fashionable impulses did not come until the end of the forties. One young French designer in particular greatly influenced the style of the time. The "New Look", feminine and extravagant, also meant an upsurge for the corsetry industry.
The Fifties
Then, in the swinging fifties, the influence of Hollywood also contributed to the USA and Europe celebrating feminine curves, as could be seen in the legendary sharp waist and bosom culture. The great emancipation movement from the USA in the middle of the 20th century and the development of LycraŽ dispensed of the pointed bra cups of the fifties and new underwear made of nylon and tulle was born. The development of LycraŽ revolutionized a whole branch and enabled us to create a more natural silhouette and a new generation of lingerie.
The Seventies
Nonetheless, bras became less and less one of the indispensable parts of every woman's wardrobe - on the contrary, for many women of the time the bra was a symbol for the restriction of her freedom. Naturalness also meant letting nature do its own thing.
The Eighties
This years compensated the branch for the difficult seventies. The "zeitgeist" was difficult to capture and every trend experienced a countertrend - the most diverse creations were successful, from androgynous to fancifully, femininely romantic.
The Nineties
A return to natural materials, shapes and colours. There was also more focus on ecological fabrics and production methods. Unlike the trends of understatement and simplicity, the push-up bra had its heyday - it was sold in the millions and to this day it is a popular device for pushing, increasing and rounding one's cleavage.
Asia culture
The history of lingerie has various roots in different cultures. For example in Asia, or to be more specific in China, the history of the bra is inextricably intertwined with the social history of the status of women from dynasty to dynasty. There were dozens of different styles of underwear worn by the women of those times - "xieyi", "xinyi", "baomo", "moxiong" and "dudou" to name but a few - but all ancient Asian underwear was closer to suspender shirts or slips dresses for a long time.
In the Tang Dynasty, in the seventh century, women tied a broad thread under their breasts to raise them and create a firm look, and strapless "bras" were a favourite cut at that time. Everything changed during the Qing Dynasty. For over three centuries Chinese women and children wore the traditional underwear called the "Du Dou", which literally means "belly cover". In English they are known as "stomach protectors" or "tummy covers". These dudous are cut very simply - just a square or rhomboidal piece of silk with ribbons that tie around the neck and the back. Traditional dudous were mostly made of silk yarn or crepe edged with brocade, and young women would use bright-coloured brocade of red, pink or green with flowers, butterflies or mandarin ducks to symbolize love. The dudou was worn to flatten rather than to highlight the breasts. In ancient China, a curvy figure was considered a temptation and a sin, while a flat chest embodied a graceful woman. Chinese people loved to add symbols to a dudou, such as a flower like the Lotus, which contains numerous seeds, expressing the wearer's desire to have many children and traditionally considered the most important purpose and source of satisfaction for any woman. Not until the 1920s did the designs start to be influenced by Western styles.
Different tastes
There are few garments that better display the differences in tastes and shapes than lingerie. This can be clearly seen in the differences in taste and body shapes between Western countries and Asian countries. Most Asian women are more petite than their Western counterparts and so, in general, cup sizes in Asia are smaller. Therefore, regardless of the differences in tastes, from a purely technical point of view, the aspect of needing to support a bigger chest as is usually necessary in Europe doesnt apply in the same way in Asia. Consequently, Asian collections have many fewer restrictions, as they do not need to have all the large sizes Westerns collections require. On the other hand, maximizing effects are far more popular in Asia than in Western countries and most bras come with considerable thick padding, while the fanciful, light seductive lingerie finds less audience in Asia. And cleavage, though maximized, is not displayed as much as it is in Europe. But these are just a few of many examples.
Nowadays
Today, women have a much greater variety of forms, designs and categories of lingerie to choose from. The needs and wants of women from lingerie are by far the central element in creating lingerie. We can today witness that is the lingerie that needs to fit the woman - whoever she may be, wherever she may be - and not the woman that needs to fit the lingerie.
