Dress and Undress: a History of Women’s Underwear

From 3000 BC to the present day is the span covered by this history of women’s underwear.

In it Elizabeth Ewing describes the underclothes of each period and the manner in which they evolved. But, just as important, she explains the reasons for the changes and names the individuals who were themselves the agents of change. The Empress Eugénie, Worth, Lady Duff Gordon, Paul Poiret and Caresse Crosby all had their influence, and so in different ways had Dr. Jaeger, Mrs. Bloomer and, more recently, Marks and Spencer and Janet Reger. No less important have been such technical innovations as the introduction of rayon, rubber, nylon, Lastex, Lycra and the zip fastener.

Elizabeth Ewing is equally conscious that underwear, however functional it may or may not be, is the basis on which the silhouette of fashion is formed and is, moreover, increasingly an erotic element in its own right. In any work on the history of fashion good illustrations are vital. Those chosen here are pertinent, plentiful, and often unfamiliar. Some are from original drawings by Jean Webber, others from old and new paintings, photographs and prints, while many of the most diverting are from the catalogues and advertisements of stores and manufacturers covering the last 120 years.