Page 53 - All About History - Issue 33-15

Through History

CORSET 1300 Mary
Perhaps the most recognisable of all Phelps Jac
underwear, the corset’s history is one AMERICAN 1891-19
that stretches back millennia, though The first ever brass
patented in 1914 by
it only really became the height of
American, Mary Phelps
fashion in the 1600s. Bodices lined formed the foundation o
with whalebone and metal strained bras. As the story goes,
women’s figures into fashionable stitched together two ha
and a ribbon to form
shapes, with heaving breasts and
support, much to t
waspish waists all the rage. The narrower of her corset-we
thewaist,thebetter–somedressmakers friends.
considereda16-inchwaistideal;toachieve
thiswouldtakeabouttwoyearsoftraining. Before elastic was
in underwear, stoc
Corsets posed plenty of health problems for
were held up with g
theirwearers,includingbonefractures,bruised usually below the
organs and a proneness to fainting. Corsets may have
been horrifically GART
uncomfortable, but it
took centuries for them Synonymous now with traditional weddings,
to fall out of fashion
garters historically served a very practical purpose
for women of the 1930s. Before the use of elastic
in women’s undergarments, garters were used to
hold up stockings. They were usually affixed at
the narrowest part of the leg to ensure that the
stockings didn’t slip, but they also provided
Sara
Blakely women with a handy way to carry small
AMERICAN 1971 - PRESENT necessities, such as purses, valuables and
Going on to become the biggest hip flasks. The suspender, or garter belt,
name in control underwear, Spanx was later caught on, particularly as skirts
founded by Sara Blakely in 2000. In its
first year, the company made more than became shorter and more revealing.
$8 million in retail sales. Popular though
they were, Blakely’s control underwear
Knickers and didn’t properly take off until Oprah
a vest in one, CHEMISE 1300 Winfrey named them as her
the camiknicker “favourite product.”
was ideal for Both men and women
wearing under
the fashionable embracedthechemise,athin
shorter dresses shirt that was worn underneath
of the 1920s otherclothing.Purelypracticalinpurpose–and
with its own modern-day deviations still commonly
worn–thechemiseabsorbedtheskin’ssweatand
body oils, protecting the finer clothes that covered
it. Men tended to wear theirs underneath their
robes and women often wore corsets and petticoats While female chastity belts prevented
infidelity and rape, male chastity belts
over theirs.
intended to discourage masturbation, which
many physicians claimed caused insanity
Both men and women CHASTITY BELT 1896
wore a chemise,
though women’s Not underwear in the strictest sense, but who
were usually worn can resist the charms of a chastity belt? While
underneath the corset
it was first referred to in the early 15th century,
thechastitybeltmay have been around for
considerably longer than history lets on. Cast
CAMIKNICKER 1910S in metal, chastity belts protected the virtues of
Now known as a teddy, the history of this sultry its wearer – usually female – from the perils of
one-piece dates back to the 1920s, when fashion temptation and adultery. It’s said that during
got friskier and hems got higher. Not only did the the Crusades, wives would wear the belts to
camiknicker accommodate for the shorter dresses safeguard them until their husbands’ return.
of the flapper era, it also provided a seamless fit, Chastity belts really took off in the Victorian
which meant unsightly underwear creases couldn’t era, when physicians deemed masturbation to
be seen through dresses. The camiknicker was so be the cause of insanity, and it was – and still
versatile, in fact, that women wore it during World is – possible to get hold of belts for both men
War II as they took on working roles while the men and women. © Alamy, Corbis, Getty Images
were at war.
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