Let's begin with the word Lingerie itself. What does
it mean? Where did it come from?
The word itself is of French derivation and originally meant
"linen goods". The actual word can be traced back in history as
coming from "linum", the word used for flax.
Now "linen goods" does not bring to mind any images of the scantily clad women we see today so it seems as if it went through some kind
of transition. In 18th and 19th century England, it was considered improper for a woman to openly refer to her underwear in normal
conversation and polite euphemisms were
used instead.
The French of the time simply
referred to "women's underwear" with the French word lingerie as a substitute for that which you did not openly discuss. Lingerie
of the time had the sole purpose of absorbing sweat and other body fluids in an
attempt to preserve the much more expensive outer wear. The clothes of the day
were not mass produced in China; they were mostly handmade to order by a family
member or a professional seamstress etc. The point being, outer wear was
considered expensive, hard to come by, and therefore had to be looked after and
kept clean. Underwear was therefore made of cheap linen which could be
washed often and replaced much more easily and affordably.
So how did the French word lingerie find its way into the
English language? Corsets were already in use by Victorian women during
this time but they used the word 'corset' as is. The corset is therefore not
responsible for popularizing the word lingerie. It comes from another
French invention called the brassiere which became known to the English and
Americans during the roaring twenties, spurred on by early Hollywood films
which threw a spot light on beautiful women with desirable bodies in sexy
dresses. Soon everybody was talking about the gorgeous movie stars and
women wanted to shape their bodies and style their hair to resemble the screen
icons of the day. The brassiere became the hot item and the French became seen
as the "knowledgeable source" of desirable women's underwear.
The brassiere was originally designed only to support the
breasts but its versatility was quickly recognized and over a relatively short
time its use branched out to cover the many needs of the day. The question for
women was; what did you want to do with your breasts? Just provide
support, support and lift etc. The versatile brassiere could be designed to fit
any need. Styles changed from flat to pointy to naturally rounded. Men
took notice. Women noticed that men were interested which just fueled the fire.
Stockings, suspenders and brassiere became collectively
referred to using the French word "lingerie" because it sounded more
exotic and mysterious than any wording the English speaking marketing people
could come up with. Thus the word lingerie became popular and ingrained as
the term used to describe "special women underwear" as being
something different to functional women underwear.
Shaping peoples' bodies to emphasize certain features is
hardly a new idea. Paintings from Crete (ancient Greece) depict Minoan women wearing a type of corset to slim the waist and push out the
breasts to make a feature of them.
This is typical of the changing and different viewpoints
among various cultures and times. Most of today's men would love to
bring back the Minoan dress code for women. Their culture did also have its
advantages. Women were treated as equals and garnered as much respect from men
as they did admiration.
