WO M E N ’ S
U N DERW E A R
IN THE
2 0 th C E N T U R Y
1900
1900
pre-1900
Item
Corset
Date
1890 –1900
Material Cotton and lace
Item:
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Undershirt
Item
1984
Date
Material Cotton and nylon
Designer:
Silk, Cotton
Underwear
Item
1976
Date
Material Cotton and synthetics
Bloomers
Date:
MOMA
Underpants
Item
1960s
Date
Material Cotton and Lycra
Christophe
Material:
Stockings
Item
c.1959
Date
Material Synthetic
Item:
1920s
Source:
Stockings
Item
1942– 45
Date
Material Rayon and cotton
Designer:
Silk, Cotton
Brassiere
Item
c. 1930s
Date
Material Silk and cotton
Date:
MOMA
Item
Socks
Date
1920s
Material Cotton and wool
Material:
Item
Drawers
Date
1910s
Material Cotton
Source:
Item:
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Wedding Corset
Item
1966
Date
Material Cotton
Designer:
Silk, Cotton
Item
Underwear
Date
1980
Material Cotton, silk, nylon
Bloomers
Date:
MOMA
Underwear
Item
1976
Date
Material Cotton and synthetics
Christophe
Material:
Item
Tights
Date
1960–9
Material Nylon
Item:
1920s
Source:
Step-in Girdle
Item
1950
Date
Material Elasticized nylon satin.
Designer:
Silk, Cotton
Item
Corset
Date
1950
Material Nylon, rayon, velvet
Date:
MOMA
Item
Underwear
Date
1940–49
Material Cotton and synthetic
Material:
Item
Chemise
Date
1920–28
Material Linen, cotton, silk
Source:
Designer:
Item:
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Source:
Material:
Date:
Designer:
Item:
MOMA
Silk, Cotton
1920s
Christophe
Bloomers
Wedding Corset
Item
1905
Date
Material Satin and Lace
Panties
Item
1960s
Date
Material Cotton
Bloomers
Date:
MOMA
Brassiere
Item
1979
Date
Material Cotton, Lycra, polyester,
nylon and rubber
Christophe
Material:
Corss-panel Girdle
Item
1960s
Date
Material Nylon and lycra
Item:
1920s
Source:
Basque
Item
1950s
Date
Material Elasticized nylon
Designer:
Silk, Cotton
Item
Corset Colette
Date
1950
Material Nylon and velvet
Bloomers
Date:
MOMA
Item
Brassiere
Date
1930s
Material Silk
Christophe
Material:
Panties
Item
1930
Date
Material Silk
Item:
1920s
Source:
Item
Underwear
Date
Early 1900s
Material Wool
Designer:
Silk, Cotton
Maternity Corset
Item
1875–1899
Date
Material Cotton and boning
Item
Pantalets
Date
19th-century
Material Cotton
Date:
MOMA
1939
2
Nylon stockings are first made.
WW
During World War II, elastic waistbands and metal snaps
gave way once again to button fasteners due to rubber and
metal shortages.
Women of the 1930s brought the corset back, now called
the “girdle”.
1940s
1959
1960s
1965
1968
The wonderbra is introduced to Britain.
At a protest against the Miss World pageant demonstrators
consigned “instruments of torture” to the “freedom trash can,”
such as brassieres, girdles, high-heeled shoes, false eyelashes,
copies of Playboy and Cosmopolitan magazines. The protest’s
principal organizer, Robin Morgan, has asserted: “There were no
bras burned. That’s a media myth.”
Seamless pantyhose introduced in, spurred by the popularity of
the miniskirt. By the end of the decade, the girdle had fallen
out of favour.
Tights which combined panties and hose (pantyhose) into one
garment, made their first appearance in 1959 invented by Glen
Raven Mills of North Carolina.
1940s Fashionable women wear briefs. However in Britain
clothes are rationed from 1941-1949. During World War II
women sometimes make their knickers from parachute silk.
1950s
Increased numbers of women wearing tousers meant sales for
pantyhose dropped off during the later half of the 1960s having
soared initially.
1974
The thong is invented.
1970s–1980s
Pants called the hip-hugger and the bikini named after the
Pacific Ocean island appeared.
1990s
Item
Brassiere
Date
1990–97
Material Synthetics
Panties
Item
1960s
Date
Material Cotton and boning
Performers such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were also often
seen wearing their undergarments on top of other clothes.
Undergarments such as the tank top, named after the type of
swimwear dating from the 1920s known as a tank suit or maillot,
became popular warm-weather casual outerwear
in the 1980s.
Underwear as fashion reached its peak in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sex appeal became the main selling point, in swimwear as well,
bringing to fruition a trend that had been building since at least
the flapper era.
2000
Material:
1980s
Source:
1920s
1930s
In the 1920s, as hemlines of women’s dresses rose, women
began to wear stockings to cover the exposed legs. Women’s
bloomers also became much shorter. The shorter bloomers
became looser known as “step-ins”, very much like modern
panties but with wider legs. The garter belt was invented to
keep stockings from falling.
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
The invention of new, flexible but supportive materials allowed
whalebone and steel bones to be removed.
Quite simply, underwear (when it was worn at all) was
crotchless until the early Twentieth Century
From around 1800 Women begin to wear knickers. At first they
are called drawers because they are drawn on.
1910
Knickers and stockings are first made of rayon. widely available.
1913
The modern bra is invented by Mary Mary Phelps Jacob who
uses two handkerchiefs joined by a ribbon
In the 1950s, underwear came to be promoted as a fashion item
in its own right. Manufacturers also experimented with rayon
and newer fabrics like Dacron, nylon and Spandex.
Item
G-string
Date
1990 –7
Material Synthetics
Images from the archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Text extracted from: A Brief History of Underwear by Tim Lambert http://www.localhistories.org and Wikipedia