The History Of Women’s Underwear

Today, sexy underwear for women and lingerie can be found through out the high steet, however what is the historic routes of this garment?

An article on the random history www.randomhistory.com/1-50/028lingerie.html website states the following:

“From the Old French linge, meaning “linen,” the term “lingerie” was originally introduced into the English language as a euphemism for scandalous underclothing. While the actual term “lingerie” was not in widespread use until the late 1850s, lingerie as it implies general underclothing has a rich and elaborate history that consistently switches between the feminine and boyish as well as the painful and practical. From the laced corset “wasp waists” and “false buttocks” to the uplifted busts of the early 1990 supermodels, lingerie has helped define what it means to look beautiful while at the same time revealing a great deal about a society’s cultural and political values (Steele 2001). The history of lingerie, then, is a history of gendered fashion, power, and sexuality.”

The article also states that it believe that the first record of lingerie was in Egyptian times at around 3000BC. Underwear for women was regarded as a garment for the upper classes and therefore acted as a status symbol. Slaves and servants need not wear any lingerie or underwear.

The first recorded corset like women’s underwear was in around 2000BC, where a picture was found in Crete that showed a women wearing an item of clothing that seem to be providing support to her chest. It is not clear if this garment was worn for practical reasons or for vanity.

As discussed, it is not clear if these garments were design as sexy underwear for women, however what is clear is that women’s underwear has a long history that many of us are not aware of.