in the period between the wars, it is to be found in skirt lengths and the way that legs were consequently revealed.
Elegant women of the 1950s wore waspies to pull in their waists under their Jacques Fath suits or their Christian Dior designer cocktail dresses. Attached to the former was a boned half-cup bra: this was the most popular combination for evening wear. A woman could also choose a bra, a garment which was becoming more widely available. A model with or without straps could be chosen, depending on the occasion.
The chemise had disappeared. In its place, a slip with straps was worn over the pieces of corsetry, and the corsetry was worn right next to the skin.
The waspie was worn with a long, full petticoat in nylon fibre which fluffed out the New Look skirts. Under this petticoat the bloomers gave way to form-fitting briefs.
In this way woman’s underwear finally arrived at a point where it was completely closed, and in sets composed of girdle, bra, briefs and petticoat, which were sometimes matching. Under the petticoat, nylon stockings were worn, held up by garters.
Once she divested herself of her daytime underwear, the New Look fashion plate preferred nightdresses. They could be very long or knee-length. As for pajamas, they were less in vogue.
After the Second World War and during the 1950s, the number of undergarments was reduced and the dichotomy between lingerie and corsetry began to ease off.
“Miss Swinging Sixties” was lightly clad: she wore a great deal less underwear than her mother did, but her body was completely enveloped. Under her A-line dress, young women (this new fashion was aimed at the young: the older generation kept their girdles) wore matching bras and panties, the latter flattening the belly. On certain models, garters were fixed inside the panties.
Other women chose briefs and bras worn with panty-hose.
Underwear was becoming a second skin. This was the idea behind panty-hose or the all-in-one Dim body, for example. In 1958, Mitoufle was the first brand of panty-hose in France, and it was only in 1962 that Dimanche (it became Dim in 1965) invented seamless stockings and, due to the prices they charged, panty-hose became accessible to all.
The 1960s saw the start of the bra and brief combinations that are still worn today and which, despite the limited number of garments, enclose the female body… until the G-string made its appearance in the 1980s.
Combination, 1955–1960. Musée Galliera, Paris.
Blue silk pyjamas, silver back, black outline. Silver lamé trousers. Taken from Le Goût du Jour catalogue, 1920.
Excerpt from the Yva Richard catalogue, c. 1920. Stenciled watercolour, 22 × 16 cm. Private collection, Paris.
“Tamara”, bandeau bra and stocking belt. Wolford, Spring/Summer 2004.
Chantal Thomass, Catwalk 2004.
Materials
The materials used in the manufacture of women’s underwear have greatly evolved over the centuries, becoming more comfortable, lighter and more decorative.
Natural fabrics such as linen, hemp and cotton were the textiles most used. Ever since ancient times people have worn underwear made out of wool and linen, and hemp when they could afford it.
Linen was used by the Romans and Greeks, and then the Northern Europeans, only becoming usual in France in the 11th century. For a long time linen production was a monopoly of Flandres, and of the Bruges region in particular. Linen culture intensified at the end of the 17th century: it was mainly used for manufacturing chemises, but also certain corsetry garments. The lining of 18th century stays was made out of unbleached linen. Linen does not insulate or protect the body from heat or cold; it does not allow air to circulate easily which means the skin cannot breathe, but it is very soft which explains its use for underwear. Linen is tightly woven in cloth weave with threads of various sizes. Derivatives of cloth weave are very often used: cambric was perfected in the 13th century by Jean-Baptiste de Cambrai in France, and cretonne or lawn was developed in Saint Gall, Switzerland.
Hemp was used a little less as it is slightly heavier and less resistant than linen. It was more often chosen for household linen and was tightly woven in cloth weave with fine threads. It was also used in the manufacture of shirts. Hemp shirts are hard-wearing and can last a lifetime, and their hygienic qualities are close to those of linen. Today, the use of hemp is very limited in production and it is no longer used in underwear manufacture.
Cotton, on the other hand, is a material which is much more suitable for underwear. It was developed very early on in Ancient Egypt and in India, where it was woven from 1200 BC. It was imported into Europe after the last crusade (1291). The cotton trade began to develope: European merchants bought cotton which passed through Venice, the hotbed of European trade. In the Middle Ages cotton was still little used in France and England: these countries were embroiled in the Hundred Years’ War.
Cotton is much more permeable to air than hemp or linen; it has better thermal qualities than linen, and it is very soft. All of these qualities make it the ideal material for lingerie. All sorts of cloth weaving are suitable for weaving cotton: cretonne, lawn, muslin, net, cheesecloth, organdie, cotton fabric, percale, poplin and felt. The types of weaving are differentiated by the thread tension, but cotton underwear can be made in serge (flannel) or in more complex weave (satin or towelling).
Cotton became popular in France in 1686, when the Siamese ambassador visited Louis XIV wearing Indian-made outfits, in printed fabrics and cottons. The French company Indes Orientales was set up by Colbert in 1664 and began to import these new materials[20]; there were already cotton weaving centres in France, however, in Lyon, Rouen and Troyes. These towns are still attached to the industry.
In the 19th century, corsets, petticoats and chemises were made out of poplin, percale, twill and calico. These types of weave were an indicator of social status, as mentioned by Clarisse in the Georges Feydeau play Mais n’te promène donc pas toute nue: (“You are surely not going out completely naked!”) “I am sorry, my dear. The fact is, all women in my position have lawn chemises and I do not see why I should have mine made of madapolam.[21]“ Cotton became part of numerous undergarments and, at the end of the 19th century; research began into an open-weave cotton. In 1887, Docteur Lewis Haslam announced that skin should breathe, and he invented Aertex, a perforated cotton fabric. He set up the Aertex Company in Aldermanburry in 1888. Aertex clothes are cool in summer and keep one warm in winter. In 1891 the Aertex Company began to design women’s underwear. In the same year the Viyella brand appeared, produced by William Hollin & Co, with the slogan “Viyella does not shrink”[22]. These innovations made healthier underwear which was more pleasant to wear. Cotton went hand in hand with the growing trend for natural living. It became a symbol of fresh, pure lingerie and was the favourite underwear material in the 1970s. It is still widely used today combined with Lycra.
Corset. White ribbed silk embroidered with coloured silk and silver thread in a floral pattern (detail of lower half), English, 1750. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Poster
In 1712, the French Oriental Indiana Company lost its privileges and they were teken over in 1719 by the India Company founded by Law.
Madapolam is a rough, heavy cotton cloth.
Viyella does not shrink. The company overcame a serious crisis in 1911 when laundries became commonplace, proving that the slogan was vulnerable.
