After seeing the “Undressed” Exhibition at Queensland Museum, I can understand the furore when women started wearing pants and trousers a century ago.
Up until then, they were underwear only!
And the white linen shirt so beloved of fashionistas today?
These also were worn as “underwear” rather than “outerwear” – so if a gentleman unbuttoned his cravat or waistcoast to reveal the shirt beneath – there was much swooning and heaving of maidenly bosoms!
Needless to say, I found the Exhibition a fascinating glimpse into the world of unmentionables from the last 350 years.
In years gone by, underwear was worn for warmth (obviously not much call for that in Australia) as much as for modesty, and to protect the skin from the the corsets, stays etc made of coarser materials.
Of course today underwear is also designed to provide support for delicate breast tissue.
Bra Titbits
- Breasts are getting bigger – the average bra size has gone from a 34C to a 36D in the past 15 years;
- Experts say a bra worn every day is only good for 3 months (oops!);
- Underwire was invented in the 1940’s; and
- When it comes to sports bras, stiff material with very little stretch provides the best support – rather than the popular compression/crop top style bras currently in vogue.
And so much for the prudishness of the Victorian era – did you know Queen Victoria wore crotchless knickers?!
Well okay, they were knee-length baggy drawers (rather than knickers), but there WAS an opening from front to back to allow for answering calls of nature when wearing a crinoline, numerous petticoats and the like.
Oh – and once you know what underwear is (or has been) made from, you’ll never want to wear it again 😉 – whale bone; steel; grub saliva (silk) and petro chemicals (spandex)!
The “Undressed” Exhibition features highlights from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (I hope to see it for myself when I am overseas later this year!); and is at the Queensland Museum until 1st February 2015.
Be honest now – how long do you keep wearing your bras for? I bet it’s longer than the recommended 3 months! 😉
*Apologies – I was unable to share photos of the actual displays in the exhibit as photography is not allowed.