Lingerie

Yem

2010-06-27T07:51:00.001-07:00

Yem refers to an ancient Vietnamese bodice used primarily as an undergarment that was once worn by Vietnamese women across all classes. There exists a modern variant called "áo yem", but the historical garment was simply called "yếm". It is a simple garment with many variations from its basic form, which is a simple, usually diamond or square-cut piece of cloth draped over a woman's chest with strings to tie at the neck and back.

Ribbon Corset

2010-06-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

The ribbon corset is made of pieces of ribbon, as opposed to fabric. In 1901, a simple pattern of silk ribbon, two bones, and a busk was available, allowing women to construct their own ribbon corsets.

A pseudo-ribbon corset looks like a ribbon corset but is made from cut cloth instead of ribbons. The outside seam of the cut cloth is sewn fine, while the tight inside seam is sewn plain and curved.

Waist Cincher

2010-06-27T07:49:00.002-07:00

A waist cincher (sometimes referred to as a Waspie) is a belt worn around the waist to make the wearer's waist physically smaller, or to create the illusion of being smaller. Today Waist cinchers and Waspies from the 1980s are a type of wide, laced belts with elastic fabric and soft plastic stiffeners.

Pettipants

2010-06-27T07:49:00.001-07:00

Pettipants are a type of lingerie worn by women. The name is probably derived from a portmanteau of the French word petit ("small"), the spelling "petti" coming more cirectly from "petticoat," and the English word pants. Pettipants are similar to long shorts, though they may be made from material such as cotton and lace, and usually have ruffles down each leg. They are available in different lengths up to knee length.

When pettipants were fashionable, they were usually worn under skirts, dresses, culottes, or walking shorts for modesty or comfort. However, they are not considered a modern or popular style; currently they are most likely to be worn by square dancers or persons involved in historical reenactment. Unlike other types of underwear, pettipants will not ride up and eliminate hot-weather chafing.

Petticoat

2010-06-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing for women; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress. The petticoat is a separate garment hanging from the waist (unlike the chemise).

In historical contexts (sixteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries), petticoat refers to any separate skirt worn with a gown, bedgown, bodice or jacket. These petticoats are not strictly speaking underwear as they were made to be seen.in both historical and modern contexts, petticoat refers to skirt-like undergarments worn for warmth or to give the skirt or dress the desired fashionable shape. In this context a petticoat may be called a waist slip or underskirt (UK) or half slip (US), with petticoat restricted to extremely full garments. Petticoat can also refer to a full-length slip in the UK, although this usage is somewhat old-fashioned.Petticoat is the standard name in English for any underskirt worn as part of non-Western clothing, as with the sari.

Pantalettes

2010-06-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Pantalettes are undergarments covering the legs worn by women, girls, and very young boys (before they were breeched) in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. A form of leggings or long drawers, pantalettes originated in France in the early 19th century, and quickly spread to Britain and America.

Pantalettes could be one-piece or two separate garments, one for each leg, attached at the waist with buttons or laces. They were most often of white linen fabric and could be decorated with tucks, lace, cutwork or broderie anglaise.

Ankle-length pantalettes for women were worn under the crinoline and hoop skirt to ensure that the legs were modestly covered. Pantalettes for children and young girls were mid-calf to ankle-length and were intended to show under their shorter skirts.

Pannier

2010-06-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

Panniers or side hoops are women's undergarments worn in the eighteenth century to extend the width of the skirts at the side while leaving the front and back flat. This provided a flat panel where boldly scaled woven patterns or rich embroidery could be fully appreciated. The style originated in Spanish court dress of the seventeenth century, familiar in portraits by Velázquez.

By mid-eighteenth century it had been developed into the robe à la française, which ensured that a woman took up three times as much space as a man and always presented an imposing spectacle. At their most extreme, in the French court of Marie Antoinette, panniers could extend the skirt several feet at each side.

Farthingale

2010-06-27T07:45:00.002-07:00

Farthingale is a term applied to any of several structures used under Western European women's clothing in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to support the skirts into the desired shape.

Crinoline

2010-06-27T07:45:00.001-07:00

Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman's dress into the required shape. In form and function it is very similar to the earlier farthingale.

Bustle

2010-06-27T07:44:00.001-07:00

A bustle is a type of framework used to expand the fullness or support the drapery of the back of a woman's dress, occurring predominantly between the mid- to late 1800s. Bustles were worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. Thus, a woman's petticoated or crinolined skirt would lose its shape during everyday wear (from merely sitting down or moving about). The word "bustle" has become synonymous with the fashion to which the bustle was integral.

Hoop Skirt

2010-06-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. Hoop skirts typically consist of a fabric petticoat with casings to hold a stiffening material, variously rope, osiers, whalebone, steel or nylon.

Lightweight hoop skirts, usually with nylon hoops, are worn today under very full-skirted wedding gowns. They can sometimes be seen in the gothic fashion scene. They are also an essential part of American Civil War reenactment.

Liberty Bodice

2010-06-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

The liberty bodice (Australian and British English), like the emancipation bodice or North American emancipation waist, was an undergarment for women and girls invented towards the end of the 19th century, as an innovative alternative to a corset. In the United Kingdom they were well-known for decades, with some older women still using them in the 1970s.

A liberty bodice was a simply-shaped sleeveless bodice, often made of warm, fleecy fabric, usually with suspenders (US garters) attached. It might be straight or slightly curvy, and sometimes had buttons to fasten on other underwear: drawers (knickers or US panties) or petticoat/slip. A vest (US undershirt) might be worn underneath. The bodices had no boning, unlike corsets, although some had firm cloth strapping which might encourage good posture. While some writers discuss liberty bodices as a restrictive garment imposed on children, these bodices were originally intended to "liberate" women from the virtually universally-worn, heavily-boned and firmly-laced corsets that were the norm of contemporary fashion. These new undergarments derived from the Victorian dress reform Movement, which aimed to "free" women from body-compressing corsetry and excessive layers of tedious, "unhealthy" underclothing. The concept was related to the Women's Emancipation Movement, but in practice some of the early liberty bodices in the UK were advertised for maids who would be freer to get on with their work without a constricting corset. Later the liberty bodice came to be thought of as something practical for a child who could be buttoned up warmly.

Basque (Clothing)

2010-06-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

A Basque (also known as a torsolette) is an item of women's historical apparel. The term, of French origin, can mean either a long corset or jacket characterised by a close, contoured fit and extending past the waistline over the hips.

In Victorian outerwear, basque refers to a closely fitted jacket extending at the back past the waistline over the hips, to be worn over a bustle. In 20th century and contemporary attire, the term is used to refer to an article of lingerie, particularly a torso-hugging camisole that resembles a basque or corset (typically featuring decorative front or back lace-up detail), but of more delicate construction and offering little or no figure-molding compression. Basque may also refer to details reminiscent of lingerie such as frilly lace and cutout, "peekaboo" designs

Chemise

2010-06-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

The term chemise or shift can refer to the classic smock, or else can refer to certain modern types of women's undergarments and dresses. In the classical usage it is a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts commonly worn in Western nations.

Fishnet

2010-06-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

In the field of textiles, fishnet is a material with an open, diamond shaped knit. Fishnet is most often used as a material for stockings, tights or bodystockings. Fishnet is available in a multitude of colors, though most often sported in traditional matte black. Fishnet is commonly worn on the legs and arms by practitioners of goth and punk fashion, but is also commonly worn in mainstream as a fashion statement. It is generally considered to be a sexy garment, and may be a component of sexual fetishism. Fishnets are used mostly as a sort of undergarment, it defines curves by sticking close to the body, generally making the wearer look more muscularly defined.

Stocking

2010-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

A stocking, sometimes referred to as hose, is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color and transparency. By analogy, the term is also used to describe a type of horse marking in which the white coloring extends from the horse's hoof to just above the knee.

Functionality of Stockings

In modern usage, stocking specifically refers to the form of women's hosiery configured as two pieces, one for each leg. The term hold-ups and thigh highs refers to stockings that stay up on their own, while the word stockings is the general term or refers to the kind of stockings that need a suspender belt (garter belt, in American English), and are quite distinct from tights or pantyhose (American English). Thigh highs are often perceived as preferable to pantyhose for various reasons, such as:

Aesthetics-garters, lace, top fashion, applique, exposure of the thigh, complexity (though it is possible to make tights with fake stocking tops near the top of the legs)

Easier and quicker access to the genital area-enhances sexual spontaneityMessage-as more detail is involved, a perception of erotic intent is raised

Health and cleanliness-less sweat, more ventilation; reduction of fungal and bacterial challenge

Personal convenience-it is considerably easier and quicker to go to the toilet while wearing stockings

Styles of Pantyhose

2010-06-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Pantyhose are available in a wide range of popular styles. The sheerness of the garment, expressed as a numerical 'denier'/'dtex', ranges from 3 (extremely rare, very thin, barely visible) to 15 (standard sheer) up to 30 (semi opaque) until 100 (opaque). Examples of opaque tights showing mostly 40 denier opaque tights upwards.

Control-top Pantyhose

It is intended to create a slimmer form, has a reinforced panty. There may be visible panty lines when wearing high-cut skirts or shorts.

Sheer-to-waist Pantyhose

It is sheer throughout, with the panty portion being the same thickness and color as the leg portion, and are designed for use with high-slit gowns, miniskirts, hot pants, or lingerie. Often sheer-to-waist pantyhose will be reinforced along and on either side of the seam in the middle of the panty.

Open-crotch Pantyhose

It sometimes known as crotchless pantyhose, does not have a gusset. Instead, an opening is in place for hygiene or pantyhose fetishism activities.

Some pantyhose have single- or double-panel gussets incorporated into them. In single there are two seams instead of the usual one, with a single one on the opposite side; with double panel gussets, there are two seams on either side.

Pantyhose

2010-06-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

Pantyhose (also called tights) are sheer, close fitting coverings of the body from the waist to the feet. Traditionally considered a woman's garment, pantyhose appeared in the 1960s and provided a convenient alternative to stockings. Like stockings, pantyhose are usually made of nylon. Pantyhose are designed to:

Be fashionable

Ease chafing between the foot and footwear

Keep the legs and feet warm

Hide physical imperfections such as blemishes, bruises, scars, hair, or varicose veins

Besides being worn as fashion, in Western society pantyhose is sometimes worn by women when formal dress is required. For example, the dress code of some companies and schools require pantyhose or fashion tights to be worn when skirts or shorts are worn or as part of a uniform.

Composition of Pantyhose

Pantyhose generally has a standard construction:

The top of the waist is a strong elastic

The part covering the hips (panty area) is composed of a thicker material than the legs

The gusset or crotch is also a stronger material, sometimes made of cotton

while the legs of the pantyhose are made of the thinnest material which has a consistent construction down to the toes, which may be reinforced to guard against wear.

Most pantyhose are composed of nylon and a mixture of spandex, which provides the elasticity and form fitting that is characteristic of modern pantyhose. The nylon fabric is somewhat prone to tearing and it is common for very sheer hose to 'run' soon after snagging on something rough or sharp.

Variations in pantyhose construction exist, such as with fishnet pantyhose. They may also be composed of other materials such as cotton or wool.

Knee highs

2010-06-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Knee-highs are hosiery that covers the leg up to the knee. Typically worn by women in western society, these garments have become a global staple of modern semi-formal dress. They are generally made of nylon or other pantyhose material. Demand for such articles exploded during the 1960s and 1970s with the increase in popularity of the miniskirt. Knee-highs are also worn by many Catholic grammar schools and high schools. They come in many different colors and patterns, and are becoming more popular. They also keep legs warm in the winter months and are very comfortable to wear.

Garter (Stockings)

2010-06-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

Garters are articles of clothing. They are narrow bands of fabric fastened about the leg, used to keep stockings up. Normally just a few inches in width, they are usually made of leather or heavy cloth, and adorned with small bells and/or ribbons. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg was slenderest, to keep the stocking from slipping. The advent of elastic has made them unnecessary from this functional standpoint, although they are still often worn for fashion.

Garters in Fashion

A garter is often worn by newlywed brides. It is the groom's privilege to remove the garter and toss it to the male guests. The symbolism to deflowering is unambiguous. Historically, this tradition also relates to the belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring good luck. As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress, the tradition arose for the bride to toss articles of clothing to the guests, including the garter. Another superstition that has circulated is the male equivalent of the bride throwing her bouquet to the unmarried ladies, i.e., the unmarried male wedding guest who successfully caught the garter was believed to be the next man to be headed to the altar from the group of single men at that wedding. Traditionally, the man who caught the garter and the lady who caught the bouquet will share the next dance.

Teddy

2010-06-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

Posted by Textilesindepth.com
A teddy, also called body and camiknicker, is a form of bodysuit-like lingerie, often worn in the boudoir. By definition, a teddy is an undergarment which combines a camisole and panty in one piece. Unlike a bodysuit, it is typically looser and more sheer, and may be designed to slip off from the shoulders, rather than to open at the crotch.

Modern Teddy Styles

There are two main types of teddies available today: teddies designed for visual appeal and teddies designed as practical clothing. Most modern teddies fall into one of these two categories. Common teddy styles are listed and explained below.

Bareback Teddy

A teddy with an open back. Bareback teddies typically include one or more straps to provide bust support, so they can be worn without a bra, giving the wearer the appearance of a bare back.

Body Briefer Teddy

A fitted teddy designed for smoothing and shaping of the wearer's figure. Body briefers typically come in a variety of control levels, achieved by using different materials or thicknesses of materials in the body areas they are designed to control. Like sleep teddies, body briefers tend to use simpler materials and styles than teddies designed for visual appeal. Body briefers are also commonly referred to as "body shapers" or "women's shapers".

Fashion Top Teddy

A teddy which combines a thong panty, bra and fashion top. Fashion top teddies come in a wide variety of styles, from simple styles with plain materials to very fancy styles with beads, crystals or sequins. Fashion top teddies can be worn as fancy undergarments or as an outer garment without a top over them.

Sleep Teddy

A loose-fitting teddy designed as sleepwear. Sleep teddies tend to use simpler materials and styles than teddies designed for visual appeal.

Teddiette

A teddy with detachable garters.

Traditional Teddy

A loose-fitting teddy designed for visual appeal and to show off the wearer's figure. Traditional teddies often use sheer or partially sheer material.

Posted by Textilesindepth.com

Slip

2010-06-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

Posted by Textilesindepth.com
A slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the skin from coarse fabrics such as wool. Slips are also worn for warmth, and to protect fine fabrics from perspiration.

A full slip hangs from the shoulders, usually by means of narrow straps, and extends from the breast to the fashionable skirt length.

A half slip hangs from the waist. May also be called a waist slip or rarely a petticoat.

Slips are usually made of a smooth and slippery fabric such as silk, satin, polyester, tricot or nylon, although cotton slips are also used particularly in hot countries. They are often decorated with lace at the edges and hem, and are typically worn over more intimate undergarments. Slips are also worn for modesty under translucent outer garments. A half slip may be worn with a matching camisole as an alternative to a full slip.

A slip dress is a dress for street wear styled like a slip, fitting close to the body and having narrow shoulder straps. The term should not be confused with the British English "gymslip," an outer garment worn by girls during physical education classes in high school. In various other languages, such as Dutch, French, German and Greek, "slip" refers to different types of undergarment: tightly fitting, both male and female undershorts, such as briefs and thongs.

Posted by Textilesindepth.com

Playsuit

2010-06-26T00:23:00.000-07:00

Posted by Textilesindepth.com
A playsuit is an item of lingerie consisting of an all in one design where the top half, similar to a negligee, is joined to the bottom half, similar to a panty or shorts. The playsuit also exists in mainstream fashion as a type of garment for day or evening wear.

The playsuit, which is typically a shorter version of the jumpsuit, was popular in the 1970's, and was usually made from silky fabrics for evening wear, or jersey and terry-toweling for casual summer occasions. Since 2006, the playsuit, jumpsuit and catsuit has made a resurgence in mainstream fashion.

Posted by Textilesindepth.com

Nightshirt

2010-06-26T00:22:00.001-07:00

Posted by Textilesindepth.com
A nightshirt is a garment intended for sleeping in. It is somewhat longer than most regular shirts, reaching at least down to the thighs, but usually shorter than a dress or robe, leaving some of the legs uncovered. It is generally loose-fitting to avoid restricting the wearer's movement while sleeping.

As a bedtime garment, the nightshirt is the successor of a type of long undergarment used by many Europeans through the 19th Century. This undergarment was worn all day under outer clothing. At night the outer clothing was removed, and men and women slept in the long shirt-like garment. This smock was longer for women than for men, more resembling a dress. Upon arising in the morning, the outer garments were again put on over it.

In modern usage the nightshirt usually functions as an alternative to other specialized sleepwear, such as pajamas, in that it is removed after arising and put away for use during the next sleeping period. It may also be used in private and intimate settings as comfortable attire for relaxation. As a sleep or lounge garment, it has the convenience of being a single piece, and provides a degree of warmth and a moderate degree of modesty for the wearer.

Posted by Textilesindepth.com

Corselet

2010-06-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

Posted by Textilesindepth.com
A corselet or corselette is type of foundation garment which is a brassiere and girdle in one. It will sometimes have lace in front or in the back. The name is a taken from the word corset with the diminutive "-ette".

It is also the name of a piece of body armor for the torso, and it usually consists of a breastplate and back piece.

Posted by Textilesindepth.com