~A ‘SHORTER’ START OF THE 20th CENTURY~
…In the 20th century, in that first Edwardian decade, more revealing provocative lingerie was conjured up.
These undergarments that were favored by courtesans around 1910 had a more plunging neckline, and the bloomers worn together with the corsets at the end of the 19th century became shorter, Ooh Lalaah!
But…it was also already clear that curvy hips were becoming out of fashion.
We find hip-subduing corsets were becoming the thing to wear, still pinching the mids of your body in, but the bust area was certainly still fairly full…
~THE TWENTIES, WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW YEARS MAKE~
Moving swiftly on, we notice a difference in what was all the fashion in the 20’s, also influenced by momentous events like the First World War…
We went for the more practical, easy-to-wear and loose-fitting clothes.
But what happened underneath on the ‘luxury lingerie’-front?
~KINDA LUXURY LINGERIE PERHAPS?~
No accentuating the hips or bosom, but straight lines became the norm amongst the likes of flapper-girls and -women in the roaring 20’s.
Ladies would wear a brassiere, bandeau, a bust confiner or it was called a bust bodice.
It was a rectangle-shaped piece of fabric, worn taut across the chest with two 1 inch straps over the shoulders.
These could be made out of lace, silk or rayon.
A corset-type construction or girdle would go around the hips to make these appear smaller…
Hmmm, so still corsets, but then with a flattening-all-the-curves purpose?
If you happen to be more curvaceous, you would probably make your boobs less existent with the help of a Symington Side Lacer.
A bra that could be laced at both sides and pulled in to flatten the chest or a type of bandeau made from more sturdy materials like twill cotton or brocade and had longer lengths.
To smooth out the hips it helped if these brassieres had garter hooks on the front to attach to a waist corset or girdle.
When your favorite brassiere from that era was in the luxury lingerie -realm, it would be decorated with bows or they were embellished with lace trims.
Embroidery decorated the most high-end lingerie in this decade.
~THE GLORY OF KNICKERS AND BLOOMERS~
Then we had knickers or bloomers in lighter materials like the popular crepe de chine, silk, or cotton and done away with the bulkiness of earlier 20th century undergarments.
Towards the end of the twenties, the wide-leg shorts with separate bra were fashionable amongst younger women.
These developed into also having the option to wear a type of onesie for women who preferred to wear an all-in-one garment; It was a camisole and knicker in one, called chemise step-in, envelope chemise, or teddy.
So underneath your fairly straight, glamorous drop-waist dress, you would for example be wearing a Step-in which was a loose-fitting bit of garb with wide legs and a slip all in one.
~ROUGE YOUR KNEES~
And Oh! We can’t forget about the nylon stockings!
In the twenties, it was also fab and highly naughty to ‘rouge your knees’ and ‘roll your stockings down’…
Until then, most flapper dresses would be over the knee, but while they danced the Lindy Hop at their favorite dance hall, the dresses would rise up revealing the knees.
To draw even more attention to the knees, they would roll their stockings down and indeed rouge their knees to show off a teasingly bit more flesh and delicious rebelliously so!
~REVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION ON LUXURY LINGERIE-FRONT~
Yes, a ‘boyish’ and short-haired look was the hype amongst the highly energetic, quite dance-crazy, twenties-ladies and flappers!
They had every excuse to celebrate this kinda freedom, also freedom from restrictive outerwear and underwear (Well, at least they were less restrictive).
And in this way, they would also bask in the glory of having escaped the horrors of the Great War.
20’s -ladies, the flappers, women exploring independence, Ragtimed, Lindy Hopped, or Charlestoned their way into a true revolution…
And with this, with the above, with finding more freedom in what underwear to wear, we are entering an even more vital part of the luxury lingerie evolution!
~*~
Images: Pinterest
Sources: A variety of sources
i.a.:
https://textilefocus.com/historical-development-lingerie-industry-ataullah-al-farhan/
https://vintagedancer.com/1920s/lingerie-history/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/1920s-dances-styles-moves-music.html
Follow us on :
