This book follows the development of underwear fashion for men, women and children, from 1500 to the present day. The book includes illustrations that include advertisements, cartoons, photographs, engravings and paintings of various articles of underwear. Topics covered include the art of dressing and undressing, the garments themselves, underwear for specific lifestyles, and technical innovations in materials and manufacture such as elastic, art silk and lycra.

Fascinating, well-documented survey covering 6 centuries of English undergarments, enhanced with over 100 illustrations: 12th-century laced-up bodice, footed long drawers (1795), 19th-century bustles, 19th-century corsets for men, Victorian "bust improvers," much more.

" 'Without foundations there can be no fashion', said Christian Dior. He might equally well have said: 'Without fashion there can be no foundations', for fashion is a shape, a changing shape, and that shape is mainly, and sometimes even wholly, formed and controlled by what is worn underneath it - by the corset and other underwear. To the student of the history of fashion it is hardly less essential to understand the contribution of the unseen than of the visible elements in the constantly changing feminine outline (and it is as well to stress that this book is concerned only with women's underwear). Elizabeth Ewing (an M.A. of Glasgow University, where she read English and Greek) has been closely connected with the fashion and foundationwear industries for many years. She is a fashion writer and historian. Her approach is given depth by an appreciation of the practical aspects of design, manufacture and application : what materials were used, how and by whom they were made up, how they were worn - these more mundane considerations are here for the first time given their proper weight. Although the book starts as far back as 3000 BC the prehistory of underwear remains shadowy at least until the reign of Elizabeth I. Thereafter Elizabeth Ewing traces in detail the part played by the hoop, stays, bum roll, panniers, petticoat, bodice, drawers, corset, brassiere, knickers, chemise, camisole and all the other contributors to what was outwardly seen. The influence of social pressures - women's emancipation, sport, the movement 'back to nature'; of the introduction of new materials and more sophisticated processes of manufacture; and always, overtly or covertly, of the sexual motivation underlying all fashion. Jean Webber's delicate line illustrations, and a full bibliography and index, complete this not unimportant contribution to the history of fashion." --

"Exposed: a history of lingerie" traces developments in intimate apparel from the eighteenth century to the present. There are two types of lingerie, hard and soft. Hard lingerie includes corsets, bustles, and structured bras, whiile soft lingerie consists of unstructured garments, such as slips, nightgowns, and panties. "Exposed" begins with a sky blue corset and ends with a sapphire blue bra and panty set from luxury label La Perla..."--from exhibition flyer.

A humorous look at the science, fashion, and social ramifications of underwear throughout history.