A Brief History of Lingerie

As fashion and the ideal body shape has changed over the decades so has lingerie to reflect these changes. The main purpose of lingerie has always been to offer support and coverage to women while helping them feel feminine.

Stays were an everyday staple for women during the 1700s. While some were tightly laced for the working woman, these stays offered bust, waist and back support to enable them to work without worrying about their bust getting in the way.

Corsets were in. Evolved from the stays, these corsets were made to accentuate a hourglass figure as well as push the breasts up and forwards creating a beautiful curve and cleavage. With everyday corsets were designed to give shape, they were also designed to support women the same way stays once did. It was mainly the women of wealthier backgrounds that cinched their waists tighter.

The sheer nightgowns were in. These nightgowns were made of lace and silks and designed to hint at the bare body beneath to entice new husbands on the wedding night. While made as bridal wear, these often were used more than once and were not confined to the wedding nights.

Corselettes and girdles were coming in. While in the first half of the 1900s tight underwear was out of fashion, in the 1950s the hourglass figure was coming back into fashion. The corselettes were often worn under evening gowns and occasion wear, while the girdles were made for everyday support.

In the 1960s, the first completely sheer non-wired bra appeared. Fabric and lingerie technology had yet to advance to enable full support, so sheer bras were only available in small cup sizes up to a B cup and were not supportive or strong enough to hold bigger breasts.

We all remember the power suits that career women worn to be seen as one of the men in the office, while in the 1980s Teddies and lacy underwear was also in fashion. This was mainly due to women still wanting feel feminine while they worked.

Lingerie bands started to reintroduce waist clinchers such as boned corsets and waspies alongside selling fetish items such as whips, as women were embracing their sexualities.

Plus-size lingerie fashion started to change from plain underwear built solely for support to offering more choice in sizes and styles, that enabled bigger women feel sexy, support and body confident.

The Luxe Nude started to empower fuller-figure and fuller-busted women with lingerie designed and curated with their needs in mind. Every woman deserves a little luxury in their lives.