How Lingerie Came To Be (Ancient Times & Middle Ages)

By Lisa Page

Ancient Times Undergarments were for women to emphasize the figure by giving breasts shape, and making the waist and hips appear smaller in size. The main purpose for these undergarmets was to make the female figure appear more attractive. Dating back to about 2000 BC, the first recorded corset, was made Crete. Not only was it a piece of clothing but a decoration, being sometimes adorned with a pin or a brooch. It wasn't until later that in Greece, that fabrics made of leather and wool hit the mainstream.

Roman women sometimes wrapped breastcloths or brassieres made of soft leather around their breasts. It is also believed that they also may have worn loincloths and possibly something similar to panties. Paintings showing semi-nude women frolicking in these breastwraps and loincloths. Cloth used may have been wool, linen, or a blend of these two fabrics. Only the rich could have afforded silk imported from other countries.

Middle Ages Medieval women usually wore a close-fitting garment resembling what we now call a chemise, also called a shift or smock, It was sometimes paired with leg wrappings. Petticoats may have been worn over the chemise and under the dress. Elaborately-quilted petticoats, usually worn during the winter, could be displayed by a cutting away the dress, creating a skirt instead than an undergarment.

During the 16th century, a petticoat stiffened with reed or willow rods making it stand out from a woman's body, like a cone extending from the waist, became popular. This was called a farthingale. This is also about the time that Corsets may have began to be worn. They were called pair of bodies, at first. Possibly referring to both to a stiffened bodice made to be seen, and a bodice stiffened with buckram, reeds, canes, whalebone, etc., which was worn underneath another, decorative, bodice. These corsets were not the small-waisted, curvy ones, from the Victorian period, but were straight-lined that flattened the bust.

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