Underwear, originally created for practical purposes, like preserving women’s modesty and for hygiene reasons, evolved lately in structures desinged to change the woman’s silhouette depending on fashion trends across fashion history.

The historical evolution of lingerie reveals a lot about women’s changing role in society: how they perceived themselves and how they were viewed by others. Women have worn rib-crushing corsets, bondaged their chests to get an androgynous silhouette and burned their bras as a statement of liberation.

White linen drawers, England, ca. 1850. Linen. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum. CC BY SA

During the Roman Empire the undergarments were the same for both women and men: a sort of pants, called subligaculum, which women matched with a band of leather around their chest, called the strophium.
Later, in the 13th century, men started to wear linen shorts called braies, while women did not wear knickers until the 19th century. The only kind of underwear used , was a long linen garment called shift, worn under their dress, later tightly wrapped around their chest by corsets made with whalebone, introduced since the 16th century.

Chemise, short sleeves in cotton with crochet trimming, crinoline and corset. England, 1850-1860. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum. CC BY SA

Since then, corsets and petticoats haves shaped differently the women’s silhouette until the beginning of 20th century. From the pannier in the 18th century, to the crinolines in the 19th century, the feminine underwear became a real structure under the dress. To shape their body according to the fashion trends, women forced themselves in the most tighter corsets and carried the weight of the ever bigger gowns.
In the 19th century, women begun to wear drawers, while men used to wear a combination of vest and pants in one garment.

Man's linen undergarments. Great Britain, 1775-1800. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum. CC BY SA

At the beginning of the 20th century the corset trend arrived to the extreme point: women used to shape their body with such tight corsets that their waist could measure 10 centimeters in circumference, causing deformations and diseases.
In 1910 knickers e stockings were produced in rayon for the first time and in 1913 Mary Phelps Jacob invented the first bra, made with two handkerchiefs joined by a ribbon. These were probably the first steps toward a modern concept of underwear.

Pink corset made by Le Grandukor. Belgium, 1920/1930. Courtesy of ModeMuseum Provincie Antwerpen. All rights reserved

Even if underwear has become a comfortable suit after the fifties, almost invisible under the garments, it has always kept on inspiring fashion trends, as we can see in Jean Paul Gaultier’s creations of 80s. His famous guepiere wore by Madonna has left a mark in contemporary history of costume.

Girdle dress designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. 1987. Courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris. All rights reserved

Discover other underwear pieces on Europeana Fashion Portal.