A Historical Look at Hosiery – Part 1

Hosiery, or “hose”, refers to legwear, or apparel worn specifically on the legs or feet. 

Traditionally made by a “hosier”, the fabrics used for hosiery are knitted and of varying thickness and weight. This thickness is termed “denier”.

Denier is a term which defines how much light will pass through the fabric. Lower deniers, between five and fifteen, describe hosiery which is sheer. Above forty denier, the fabric is dense; at one hundred denier, no light will pass through at all.

Most women and men will wear some form of hosiery; these days  the  term broadly covers stockings, pantyhose, knee highs, socks, leggings, tights, bodystockings, and even legwarmers. But where did it all begin?

Traditionally, hosiery was worn for warmth.

·        The term “hosiery” comes from the Anglo-Saxon “hosa”, meaning “tight legged trouser”. “Stocking” originates also from Anglo-Saxon; “stoka” meaning “stump”. “Sock” comes from the Latin, “soccus”, which was a soft indoor slipper.

·        Even Neolithic man knew how to spin yarn and fibres; in time cloth was woven and hand knitted. The first examples of knitting as we know it today date from ~1000AD; thought to have originated in Arabic nations, it was introduced to Britain by the 1200s.

·        A pair of hand knitted red wool socks was found in an ancient Egyptian tomb sometime between 400 and 500 AD. They tied by a cord at the top to hold them in place at the ankle.

·        Romans were documented by author Hesiod as having covered their legs with strips of leather or cloth tied on.

·        Charlemagne wore leg bindings in the period between 770 and 810 AD.

·        Young Venetian men in the 1300s wore silk leggings underneath short jackets. These leggings were usually brightly embroidered, and scandalised the older Venetians of the time.

·        Queen Elizabeth I received her first pair of silk stockings in 1560.

·        After the invention in 1598 of the first knitting machine by Englishman William Lee, hosiery was knitted from wool, silk, and cotton. Queen Elizabeth I was presented with a pair of black silk stockings, by which she was extremely impressed and requested more.  She deemed that the knitting machine was an English national treasure!

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Men’s Underwear in the 1970s – a Time Best Forgotten?

The 1970s is, quite justifiably, referred to by many as “the decade style forgot”. Psychadelic colours, bell bottoms, safari suits, brown in every shade, lime green, velour, crochet, and all in one looks are all fashions of the time many of us hope to never see again.

Questionable style in the 1970s was not, however, limited to men’s outerwear. Men’s underwear during this decade was also, put simply, at times frightful – by today’s standards, in any case. And what was deemed sexy at the time might never be suitably explained to those of us who didn’t live through it...

After what was known as the “Peacock Revolution” of the 1960s, men’s underwear styles displayed a concern for fashion and colour like never before – and in a way that had previously been reserved for outer garments. Polyester and cotton blend fabrics were popular, and not only were undies produced in ever so stylish (for the time) colours and patterns, but undershirts were co-ordinated with said undies. Nice.

There was even an all-in-one undies/vest suit available...

And even more extreme – an all in one undies and shirt ensemble...

Undergarment fashions were bold, colourful, and “anything goes” seems to have been the motto of the time.

Fancy some floral print under fashion? How about mesh nylon underwear? Or denim low rise briefs?

100% nylon fabric was commonly used for men’s undies to achieve a sleek and natural fit, which complemented the figure hugging clothing styles of the 1970s. Due to the fashion for tight trousers, tiny shorts, and synthetic fabrics, boxers were decidedly out of style and briefs were in.

Advertising of men’s undies took on a whole new character in the 1970s as well; models were often nearly naked, and perceived sex appeal in advertising was not limited to women’s lingerie. Maximising a man’s “assets” became popular like never before. The hairier the chest, the more flesh on show, and the more “loud” the undergarment – the better. If he also sported a moustache – advertising gold!

Here we are forty years on. While men’s undies are still advertised cleverly and being fashionable is important to many, one must wonder what we will think when we look back on today’s styles in decades to come. In the meantime, a nostalgic pondering on the 1970s can be funny, baffling, and everything in between...

The Humble Bra – Part 3

In the 1950s, in a post-war society, women wanted glamour – and lots of it. After years of deprivation due to World War II, fashionable women emulated Hollywood stars who wore uplifting bras that seemed to achieve the impossible. Berlei, Triumph and Maidenform were big players in the manufacture and sale of quality bras that were not only functional but beautiful as well. The style of the time was for a pointed, circular, conical shape.  “Sweater Girls” like Lana Turner, and clever advertising inspired everyday women to pay close attention to the appearance of their breasts under clothing.

In the 1960s, bras were well designed to look good under knitted dresses. Rubber parts were eliminated and Lycra fittings became the norm.  Then when Yves Saint Laurent showcased a sheer blouse worn with no bra, feminists responded with ire and demanded women burn their bras. In reality, bras were not actually burned (except as publicity stunts) and most women did not abandon their bras, though attitudes to their wear did relax somewhat. Bras became less structured and from 1965, transparent sheer fabrics were sometimes used for their construction. Women who had worn bras to bed now slept braless for the first time in many years.

The pointed shape of the 1950s made way for a more natural look. Then in 1968 the first Wonderbra was produced by Gossard, to lift and enhance cleavage like never before.

Bra slips were also popular in the 1960s: an all-in-one underwired cleavage bra and short mini slip, worn with panties and tights under a mini dress. This was the least women had ever worn!

The 1970s saw bras made seamlessly and in fabrics with colour, prints, and nude tones. The braless, natural look was in vogue. The eighth season of TV show Bewitched, for example, saw Elizabeth Montgomery create a stir as Samantha when she was obviously braless in certain scenes and outfits.  

Women in the 1980s became very body conscious and erotic lingerie a la Dynasty and Dallas inspired camisoles, bodysuits and teddies.

Cleavage and shape were again popular in the 1990s and the Wonderbra made a comeback. Bras were at times worn as outerwear by celebrities such as Madonna and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Today there are bras for every circumstance, look, and occasion: sports, maternity, training, strapless, T-shirt, sexy, convertible, plunge, push-up, everyday, novelty, bridal... who knows what the future will bring in bra styling?

The Humble Bra – Part Two

In 1889, Herminie Cadolle, a French corsetiere, invented what we think of as the first modern bra. Called the “corset-gorge”, it was a two piece garment which consisted of a corset for the bust, and a lower corset for the waist. She described it as “designed to sustain the bosom and supported by the shoulders". Cadolle patented her invention and showed it at the Great Exhibition of 1889.

In 1893 Marie Tucek patented a breast supporter which was very similar to what we today recognise as a bra: shoulder straps, separate “cups” to support the breasts, and hook and eye closures. Initially, the design was not particularly comfortable to wear.

1907 saw Vogue magazine use the word “brassiere” for the first time. In 1915, a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob patented the “backless brassiere”, made of two handkerchiefs and a pink ribbon. It was sold under the name “Caresse”. By the end of World War I, bra sales had taken off.

During the 1920s, the fashion was to flatten the bust as much as possible, effecting an androgynous look.

But things were soon to change after Russian immigrant Ida Rosenthal formed a company in 1922 with her husband: Maidenform. Bras had bust cups, which were attached to elastic, uplifting the breasts rather than flattening them. Thus by the 1930s, a curvier silhouette was more fashionable, and A B C D sizing charts came to be early in that decade.

World War II saw the necessity for bras to be more durable for women working in factories and on farms. In 1941, inventor and billionaire Howard Hughes used his vast engineering skills to design a bra for Hollywood actress Jane Russell: it was underwired and cantilevered, with the intention of emphasising her considerable assets. Curved steel rods under each cup were connected to the shoulder straps; it pulled the breasts upwards and allowed the straps to sit away from the neck, resulting in any amount of breast to be exposed as desired.

For the rest of this decade and into the 1950s, the busty sweater girl look was the height of style. Bras were inspired by the military, with conical and torpedo shapes very common. “Lift and separate” was the catchcry of breast fashions.

In the 1950s, bras and girdles were designed to be as glamorous as possible...

Stay tuned next time for Part 3 and the conclusion of the story of the humble bra.

The Humble Bra – Part One

The bra, like other garments, has a long, long history, dating back as far as at least 2700BC when the Greeks had the concept to restrain a woman’s breasts. Wall art from the time depicts women wearing outer garments which laced and seemed to partially restrain, and partially push up and expose the breasts. In Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom, around 1570BC, women’s fashion was that they were generally bare breasted.

In Classical Greece, about 750BC, women wore a belt-like garment under the bust,  loosely draped and often with one breast exposed. A band of cloth known as an apodesmos, or mastodeton was also worn to bind down the breasts for exercise in places like Sparta, where women were allowed to participate in sports.  When the apodesmos was worn under the breasts, it highlighted them. Another word for a breast-band or belt was strophion.

Mosaics from Rome circa 300BC depict women wearing bikini-style tops while undertaking exercise.

In China during the Ming dynasty, about 1368,  a form of primitive “bra” was worn,  complete with cups and straps drawn over shoulders and tied to the seam at the lower back. Popular amongst the rich, this was called a Dudou. According to Chinese legend,  the beautiful concubine of the Emperor of Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907), Yang Yuhuan,  invented Dudou. Art from the time is the first depiction we have of sexy lingerie.

In the Middle Ages women did not generally restrict or support their breasts in any way; if they did, a cloth binder was used. An edict of Strasbourg in the Holy Roman Empire, dated 1370 states, "No woman will support the bust by the disposition of a blouse or by tightened dress." In the France of Charles VII (1403-1461), a gauze drape was used over the bust. Breasts were minimised with straight bodices and full skirts; corsetry was designed for function rather than aesthetics. Contrary to this, the ideal female form of this time was large breasted and full figured.

By the mid 1500s, corsetry was used for fashion and the hourglass shape was desired. Breasts were compressed by corsets so they overflowed from the top of dresses, giving a voluptuous (and one must suspect, uncomfortable) result.

The bra’s history runs in tandem with that of the corset: the Regency fashion for empire-waisted dresses liberated women, for a time, from corsets as well as any restraint of the breasts. This was in part thanks to French Empress Josephine, who during pregnancy dressed for comfort and the trend took hold.

The Victorian era of the 1800s saw women's clothing designed to emphasize both the breast and hips by severely tight-lacing the waist. Victorian women wore many layers of clothing: a chemise with a drawstring neckline, drawers, corset and corset cover, the under petticoat, the hoop skirt, the over petticoat, and finally the dress. They must have felt warm!

By 1889, the bra made its first tentative appearance...

Stay Tuned!

The Starring Role of Underwear in the Cinema

There are almost countless cinematic scenes in which underwear takes a starring role – and not just recent films, either. In the very early days of Hollywood, before the censors went berserk, things were surprisingly risqué ... but even after the conservative viewpoint won out, lingerie and underwear has made regular appearances on the big screen – some very memorable for all the right reasons, some memorable as the image we wish we could un-see, and some not memorable at all.

So let’s take a look at a snippet of those classic movie scenes we won’t be forgetting anytime soon – the good, that is.

Janet Leigh in Psycho.

This Hitchcock thriller from 1960 brought an unprecedented level of violence and open sexuality to the big screen – Leigh’s character is even seen in bed with a man she’s not married to! Her lacy bras, high waisted panties and half slips are ever so sexy...

Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8

Playing a prostitute, Taylor wears what is possibly cinema’s most famous full-slip in a “morning after” scene. She later leaves the apartment with nothing over it but a fur coat...

Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch

Filming for this scene in 1954 created a furore on the streets of Manhattan – and spelled the end of Monroe’s marriage to Joe DiMaggio – who thought a “lady” would never allow herself to be seen thus! She wore two pairs of knickers for this scene, to protect her modesty from the gust of wind from the subway below ... fans were delighted, filmmakers were delighted, and manufacturers of white briefs with lace trim were delighted as well. And all it took was a glimpse.

Anne Bancroft in The Graduate

A variety of lingerie scenes were part of this film, but by far the most famous image is that of “Mrs Robinson” peeling off her black silk stockings for Hoffman’s character as he nervously looked on. Hosiery was used as a sexy plot device to illustrate the nature of Mrs Robinson’s predatory urges...

Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies

The film may not be considered a classic, but the striptease scene of Jamie Lee Curtis certainly is. The high cut black lace g-string and balconette bra the actress wore for this scene were actually her own. Lucky husband!

Sigourney Weaver in Alien

Never has a pair of bikini briefs and a mannish singlet been so appealing to the eye. Weaver’s character spent much of the movie scantily clad as she worked on the ship and  battled slimy extra-terrestrials.

Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones

Shapewear came into its own and was no longer something we were embarrassed about when Bridget Jones pulled out her “enormous mummy panties”. We could all laugh along as she struggled into them, expending as much energy to do so as a good gym session would take. And the lecherous cad, Daniel Cleaver, wasn’t even turned off by them. Collective sigh of relief from women the world over.

The Weird World of Petticoat Discipline

Now for something different: Petticoat Discipline.

No, we’re not joking!

Petticoating, otherwise referred to as pinaforing, is a kind of rare, humiliating, and socially unacceptable punishment, which involves dressing a boy in girls’ clothing as a form of discipline.

Not just limited to certain subgenres of erotic fantasy and role-play, there is credible evidence in social history that this was a form of punishment actually employed and dating back at least to the Victorian era. It was even discussed openly in family magazines during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Until World War One, it was fashionable to dress small boys in the same attire as their sisters, up until age five or six: ribboned vests, lace dresses and petticoats, and even bonnets. 

Older boys would be dressed by their mothers or nannies in pretty, girlish clothing as retribution for minor offenses.

Boys were feminised by being forced to wear female clothing, and made to feel like “sissies” in the presence of strong females, such as mother, aunt, grandmother, and often in the presence of his siblings, cousins, and other girls of their own age. By humiliating and embarrassing the boy, and dressing him conspicuously in feminine clothing and fabrics, moderate behaviour which did not draw attention was encouraged.

The said boy may even have been forced to appear in public dressed thus, sometimes even in matching garments as those worn by his mother or sister. He may have been made to perform tasks which, at the time, were considered to be “girls’ work”. This was unendingly humiliating, and as such, was deemed to be a deterrent from behaving in such a way as provoked the punishment again in future. At the lighter end of the spectrum, boys were dressed in bow ties, velvet and short pants; the extreme end had boys being forced into lace, bows, and even shaved legs and female underwear. Sometimes petticoat discipline did not involve girls’ clothes; a sailor suit or Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit was enough to keep a boy in line. This was used up to age twenty in some extremes.

There are claims that petticoating had an additional, sexual context for some mothers; some women had long wished for daughters and hence gained some satisfaction from feminising their sons.

What was the impact of this childhood punishment? Some adult male transvestites in the past have reported experiencing petticoating as children. At the very least, identity crises and self esteem issues must have ensued.

This scenario is actually re-enacted as a fetish. Whatever rocks one’s boat!

Where Have All The Petticoats Gone?

Like other undergarments, petticoats have a long and illustrious history, the story of which we will embark on another time. But the question for today remains: where have all the petticoats gone?

A petticoat goes by many other names: chemise, slip, camisole if covering only waist up, half-slip if just covering the waist down. True petticoats are often puffy and layered; slips or chemises are sleek and more fitted.

Once a staple of everyday wear, with many of them in every woman’s wardrobe, a petticoat is traditionally an underskirt. The petticoat or slip was, even thirty years ago, considered by many to be an essential wardrobe item for any well-dressed “lady” while wearing a dress or skirt. Whether a dress or skirt was sheer or not, a lady was not considered to be fully dressed unless, like stockings or pantyhose, she was wearing a petticoat. Many older ladies continue to view a petticoat as a daily essential item of clothing.

Oftentimes a petticoat was required to give outer clothing its shape; layers of tulle petticoats were common under full skirted designs in the 1950s. Today, these garments usually have the required petticoat sewn in permanently as part of the whole.

Slips were also very handy in disguising the lines of bras, underwear and stocking suspenders. Coloured underwear worn under paler clothing was not an issue either, when a slip was worn.

Today, the fashion of wearing petticoats or slips for daily wear, which was common in the 1950s and 1960s, has passed.  But while the fashion has changed, and many women (particularly younger women) have the philosophy that “less is more” when it comes to wearing a slip or petticoat, there are still times when almost every woman will be glad to have at least one of these garments in her wardrobe:

·        A slip allows a dress or skirt to hang smoothly

·        Warmth: want to wear that summery dress but it’s just a tad chilly? That extra layer underneath, while thin, can make the world of difference

·        Wearing a slip makes one feel just that little bit more put-together

·        If you want to wear a full-skirted dress and minimise your waist, wearing a layers petticoat is the perfect way to achieve the look.

·        Sheer dresses or skirts often just need a slip – for modesty and, let’s face it, to look ideal. Wearing a slip is simply classy.

·        Many fabrics can be uncomfortable or chafe against the skin; solution: wear a slip!

·        A slip will protect your clothing from perspiration in hot weather – the downside is that it’s another layer to wear. A cotton slip under synthetic clothing is, however, cooler and more comfortable in the heat than synthetic against skin.

While most of us might not regularly wear a petticoat or slip, they are readily available – and are an investment every classy woman should have in her wardrobe!