BLOOMERS AND BRAS

With Mary Phelps Jacobs’ invention of the bra in 1910, women were finally getting the choice and freedom that lingerie was meant to offer. Society’s corset requirement began to fade with WWI shortages and lingerie companies were in need of new solutions for their customers, one of these being the bra. Because of the 20s’ sleek and skimpy silhouette, women were going to need underwear of the same cloth, thus also introducing the slip. Much contrasting from the suppressive nature of earlier centuries, the slip granted a newfound liberation and simplicity. Granted, this image was quite androgynous and promoted a sort of boyish figure not usually associated with an image of sex, but by using lingerie to celebrate the female body, “sexy” was exactly the term for it. As styles changed in the 30s and 40s, underwear followed suit and women bought their lingerie in separates: bras and bloomers. These options again were a step in a positive direction, but still had a certain veneer of secrecy. Something would need to break this wall in order for a more available version of “sexy” to be found.