Vintage Lingerie Reference Books

For all your vintage lingerie reference books, pictures, or history, please visit my vintage lingerie library where you can buy any of these books here, or click on any of these books below:
-->

For all your vintage lingerie needs, reference and awesome pictures, I highly recommend these books. I have each one in my library and refer to them all the time.

See Ya Tomorrow! xo

Vintage Inspired Lingerie Piece of the Week

Dollhouse Bettie's Naima collection brings vintage glamour and modern comfort together in a perfect symphony of elements that makes these style incredibly unique. They wanted to capture the elegance of 1930s bias cut slips and gowns in a way that made them completely wearable, so they turned their eye to the slinkiest rayon jersey, replicating the flowing drape and ultra body skimming fit. They added a stunning crochet insert and created a low back twist halter so you'll be just as gorgeous from the back as you are from the front view. The crochet bodice is just as soft as the rayon knit and you'll adore sleeping in these sumptuously vintage inspired modern muse pieces.

The Naima long gown is for the sophisticated muse who's unapologetically devoted to glamour. Drape yourself in this incredibly flattering and equally comfortable style and you'll never want to take it off. Available in sizes Small to Large. Rayon and spandex body, 100% cotton crochet insert. Hand made in their San Francisco studio.. See Ya Tomorrow! xo

A Brief History on Corsets

The corset during the 1800 and early 1900’s. This was a time of popularity and change for the garment known as the corset. The silhouette below shows the changes in the shape of the corset from 1896 – 1917, the main time period this blog entry will look at.

The 1800’s was a boom time for corsets. For the first time there are recorded adverts, cartoons and writings for male corsets. The Dandy appears on the scene, placing great importance on physical appearance, and leisure. The Dandy often worn a corset to help his figure and to create the smooth lines that were seen as most fashionable during that time. The probable truth is that many a man wore a corset or body belt to keep the smooth lines of men’s clothing in the late 1700 and early 1800’s.

King George IV was known to wear a body belt. A replica is shown is his collection of clothing in the London Museum. The piece dates circa 1824 . The replica was made from the original tailors pattern. King George IV was also known to have worn a similar corset in 1821 where he nearly fainted due to severe constriction and heat. You can read more about the making the replica body belt here: Regency Reproductions  

Corsets for men were typically made from a lightweight coutil (cotton). The corsets laced up the back and often had buckled straps at the side to prevent the abdomen bulging.

The shape of the women’s corset changed dramatically during this era. The Regency fashion of this time, with flowing gowns and empire waists, changed the body silhouette. At the beginning of the 1800’s until 1810 the fashionable style of corset tended to be short. During this time the demi-corset is thought to become widespread with the middle classes, it was lighter and shorter, allowing women to have shaping support while doing housework. Think of it as the Regency equivalent to a good bra!  The corset took on the role of supporting the breasts, and no longer slimming the waist. 1850’s ushered in another change in corset construction. Corsets were shaped with bust cups, made with materials still used today;  jean and buckram and closed with elastic laces. Elastic thread was often used in the material to give the fabric more stretch.

Transitioning to the Victorian era the waistline returned to its natural position during the 1830s. The corset once again was used to support and narrow. However, it had changed its shape to the hourglass silhouette that is even now considered typical both for corsets and for Victorian fashion. It is during this period we see the addition of garter clips to the bottoms of corsets. Corsets were now being made in beautiful colors and materials, silks, satins and brocades, not just plain cotton or linen.

Until now corsets tended to be handmade and often custom pieces. In 1839, a Frenchman by the name of Jean Werly patented women’s corsets made on the loom. This type of corset was popular until 1890, when machine-made corsets gained popularity.

In the 1900’s the corset shape differed from the earlier stays in two major ways; first, the corset no longer ended at the hips, but flared out and ended several inches below the waist, and secondly, the corset was exaggeratedly curvaceous rather than funnel-shaped. Spiral steel stays were used that curved with the figure. Between 1910-1919 rust-proof boning and rubber coated spring were introduced, changing corset construction for the modern era.

The 1900’s called for an elongated torso, upright shoulders, long sloping bust and graceful hips. We would recognise this look as “The Gibson Girl”. When the exaggerated shoulders of the late 1800’s went out of fashion, the waist itself had to be cinched tighter in order to achieve the same effect. The focus of the fashionable silhouette of the mid and late 19th century was an hourglass figure.

It is during this time when tight lacing may have been used to achieve the hourglass figure the concern over the health of corsets became a rather large issue. Doctors proclaimed that wearing corsets caused a number of ailments; damage to the heart and lungs, tuberculosis, circulatory damage, indigestion, enlargement or displacement of liver, constipation, undeveloped uterus, prolapsed uterus, gallstones, and muscle atrophy. Sadly, many people still believe that many of the items on that list were actual side effects of corset wearing, and not a lack of medical understanding and product propaganda, but that is a discussion for another blog!

At the time new products popped up to fight the horrors of corset wearing, Health Corsets. In 1884, Dr. Jaeger came up with wool sanitary corsets, described as flexible and elastic. Dr. Jaeger claimed that the wool had curing capabilities and that it had cured him of his chronic health problems: excess of weight and indigestion. Another was created in 1887, a dermathistic corset with leather facing. It was marketed towards women who wanted better health and enjoyed a vigorous lifestyle. Brothers and Doctors, Lucien and Ira De Ver Warner who lectured about the evils of corset, sold the Coraline Health Corset. Made with flexible fibers from the Coraline plant. Their factory of weavers were making 6000 corsets a day, by 1894 they were millionaires.

Some women decided to throw out their corsets and be part of the Rational Dress movement. Where women dressed in free-flowing clothing. A similar movement will find a resurgence in the 1920’s.

The Edwardian corset came along by 1902. It’s new straight front, made the shoulders upright, formed a long sloping bust and ended with a graceful curve over the hips. This silhouette popularised by the American artist, Dana Gibson, and portrayed by Miss Camille Clifford, gave rise to the Gibson Girl by 1905. However, by 1907 the corset shape had changed again, trying to disguise the hips instead of accentuate them. By 1918 the corset rested well under the bust and extended to mid-thigh. By this time the corset is beginning to transform into the girdle.

Between 1902-1905 several “Bust Improvers” came on the market. The Neena bust improver was made of cup-shaped perforated metal disks, which promised to give all women the bust of Venus de Milo. The other was referred to as a bust bodice and was worn over the corset and resembled the modern bra. In 1916  a new undergarment was advertised to take the place of the old-fashioned camisole, called the brassiere.

By 1920 the corset as it had been known in years past had mostly fallen out of fashion, it was replaced by looser clothing and the bra. Though many women still wore long line girdles and restrictive compression bras, they were rarely laced and supported by stays. The bras of the 1920s were very tight, compressing the breasts to produce the straight, shapeless form that was fashionable.

The corsets that were still on the market were made of elastic or even rubber. They were used to hide the hips, thighs and tummy. The belt was a common substitute for the corset, were made of elastic and often zipped closed. They allowed the wearer freedom of movement.

In the timeline below you can see how much the lines of fashion changed in the years we looked at in this blog entry. The lines of fashion dictated the quickly changing and sometimes harsh lines of the corset.

From this point in fashion history the story of the corset, becomes the story of the girdle. In our next blog we will look at the comeback of the corset in the 20th century.

This is reblogged from: https://festoonedbutterfly.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/corsets-a-history-lesson-1800s-to-1920s/. 

See Ya Tomorrow! xo

Evolution of French Lingerie

Courtesy of http://blog.parisattitude.com/french-culture/the-history-of-french-lingerie.html:

Fashion designers, haute couture, birthplace of clothing trends and artisans with unrivaled expertise, Paris is considered around the world to be the capital of fashion. But did you know that French lingerie is also known throughout the world? Paris Attitude offers you a brief overview of an industry that has been a part of women’s daily lives for centuries, and that has continuously evolved in accordance with eras and customs.

Present in the lives of women since antiquity, lingerie has continuously evolved over the centuries, especially with regard to its shape.In Ancient Rome,“body linen” (as lingerie was previously called) was a simple strip of fabric meant to flatten out the breasts. The Middle Ages gave way to the corset, a true straightjacket that imprisoned women’s bodies and was not without health consequences: deformity of the rib cage, difficulties breathing… The centuries passed and underwear evolved. At the beginning of the 19th century, the corset took the shape of an S, highlighting the female body, but aesthetics and practicality did not yet go hand in hand.

Lingerie experienced a genuine evolution during the Second World War. While men were off at the front, women had to replace them in factories or in the fields, and needed comfortable underwear that wouldn’t impede their actions. The girdle, used to cover shapes, appeared in the 30s. Then in the 50s, lingerie became sexier: bustiers, garter belts, even bras finally experienced some success, emphasizing the female bosom. Designer Christian Dior noticed women’s needs to reconnect with their femininity; with his New Look style, he offered plunging and slightly cone-shaped bras, a true clothing revolution for the era.

New materials emerged, such as lycra in the 60s, (then chiffon, lace, stretch fabric, silk, and fishnet) that combined aesthetics with comfort, while new technologies allowed for more appealing undergarments. Lingerie became a true asset of seduction!

In recent years, trends have intermingled, even bringing shapes from the past back into contemporary designs. Many French designers have taken hold of lingerie and made it an object of genuine couture, namely designer Chantal Thomass (whose collections are inspired by a “boudoir” ambiance) and the Cadolle fashion house, in existence since 1889, a genuine institution in the domain of French lingerie. The fashion house offers a few ready-to-wear models, but mainly custom pieces (€600-€1,500 for a bra, up to €5,000 for an haute couture bustier).

The EiFfel Tower, a genuine iron lady!
Did you know? When the Eiffel Tower made its appearance in 1900, Parisians thought the building looked like a woman’s leg in fishnet stockings, and the Eiffel Tower’s 4 “feet” resembled garter belt clips. Legend has it that Gustave Eiffel, inventor of the famous tower, had been in the habit of joking around about his wife’s stockings, saying they “corkscrewed” down her legs in an inelegant way. So she challenged him to develop a strategy that would prevent them from falling down…and that is how the garter belt was born!While it is amusing, the story is completely false.

See Ya Tomorrow! xo

Vintage Hanes Stockings

Hanes was founded in 1901 by John Wesley Hanes at Winston, North Carolina under the name Shamrock Knitting Mills. He died in 1903. In 1911, Shamrock Knitting Mills built a new plant at 3rd and Marshall Streets; it was sold in 1926 and occupied by a Cadillac dealership after a larger plant was built on West 14th Street. Known as Shamrock Mills, the original building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Shamrock Knitting Mills was named Hanes Hosiery Mills Company in 1914.