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Pre Twentieth Century
The first pieces of underwear can be traced back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece, when it seems their use was widely functional. Women of Crete were and are known to have worn a simple corset that supported their breasts at the base and a very early prototype of the bra, known as a strophium, was in use in Roman times.
In the Middle Ages, members of the European nobility began to wear straightforward linen clothes under richly decorated and expensive outer dresses. This both protected these luxurious costumes from dirty bodies, and provided a layer of warmth for the wearer. Small, firm breasts were back in vogue, and women wore a multitude of corset-like variations. These early forms of the corset generally emerged in the fifteenth century. The rigid centrepiece, known as the basque, was often decoratively carved and enjoyed a trend as a lover's token.
The Elizabethan wide-hipped fashion of the sixteenth century popularised the farthingale, which focused attention on a woman's childbearing attributes, perhaps suggesting fertility. Toward the end of the Renaissance, the padded silhouette came into being, with a flat stomach and narrow waist. The style became greatly overstated during the seventeenth century when the frame achieved astonishing proportions, the corset became a near straitjacket, moulding women's bodies into abnormal shapes and used as an pretentious display of the rich, highly decorated dress fabrics of the day.
In the eighteenth century, although women ruled the elegant society of the salons, the corset still ruled their bodies, which attained an artistry never seen before in undergarments. Copious use of damask, satin or brocaded silk, embellished with embroidery, masked the rigid structure of whalebone within.
During the nineteenth century, the extent and style of underwear worn by women reached extremes, and women's figures were completely exaggerated: vast full sleeves, a miniscule corseted waist, followed by whalebone hoops and crinolines covered with yards of fabric, flounces and trims. The bustle highlighted women's bottoms, and frilled pantaloons and multiple layers of petticoats created full skirts. So unobtainable did the female body become beneath the layers of underwear that taking it off created its own form of sexual anticipation and spawned the first striptease shows.
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