Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear

Open until 12 March 2017

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London tells the story of underwear design from the 18th century to the present day, considering the practical and personal, sensory and fashionable and exploring underwear’s roles of protecting and enhancing the body. Undressed: A Brief History of

Underwear displays more than 200 examples of underwear for men and women, highlighting the enduring themes of innovation and luxury, from the homemade, such as a rare pair of whalebone ‘stays’ worn by a working woman in England in the 18th century to pieces by designers including Rigby and Peller, La Perla, Stella McCartney and Paul Smith.

The exhibition explores the relationship between underwear and fashion, notions of the ideal body, and the ways that cut, fit, fabric and decoration can reveal issues of gender, sex and morality. It considers health and hygiene and addresses the design and technological advances central to the development of underwear. On display are corsets, crinolines, boxer shorts, bras, hosiery, lingerie and nightwear alongside contextual fashion plates, photographs, x-rays, advertisements, display figures and packaging. Highlights include long cotton drawers worn by Queen Victoria’s mother; an 1842 man’s waist belt used on the wearer’s wedding day; a 1960s Mary Quant body; gender neutral briefs by Acne Studios; a sheer dress by Liza Bruce famously worn by Kate Moss in 1993; and fleshcoloured leggings decorated with a mirrored glass fig leaf designed in 1989 by Vivienne Westwood. Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear highlights 19th century debates about how to design a corset that created the fashionable shape without damaging the body. A restrictive 1890s whalebone and cotton corset with a waist under 19 inches in circumference is displayed alongside xrays and illustrations revealing the dramatic impact on the body of wearing such a garment. Conversely, corsets were also recommended to improve medical conditions and posture. The exhibition includes a lightly boned 1895 corset made from aertex, an innovative cellular woven cotton introduced in 1888, showing an alternative to tight lacing. An austerity corset woven from paper twine during World War One and a waist training corset, a slimming tool endorsed by celebrity figures such as Kim Kardashian, is also on display.

The development of the bra, which radically improved women’s mobility, is traced throughout the 20th century; early examples include a lace and satin bust bodice from 1910. Bras, girdles and shapewear illustrate a great variety of support; from striking advertisements for latex corsetry commissioned by 1930s brand Chamaux and a 1950s Warner’s ‘Merry Widow’ cinch bra to Spanx designs from 2010.

Examples of lingerie, women’s underwear and nightwear made from sensual or luxurious fabrics are on display. Garters and hosiery including floral embroidered stockings worn by Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII, Schiaparelli nylon stockings from 1953 and embroidered stockings exhibited at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris are shown.

The exhibition explores practical and functional underwear. It shows the types of fabrics used, from an 1851 cotton chemise and examples of artificial silk from

the 1920s to a contemporary set of modal pants for women by cheekfrills, playfully embroidered with the days of the week. The importance of high performing functionality is presented in displays of maternity wear, of underclothes designed to keep the wearer warm or cool, and of underwear worn for sport. Highlights include a homemade bust bodice for a nursing mother in the 1820s, a contemporary set of maternity briefs and bra by hotmilk, a 1970s pair of men’s red string briefs by Brynje of Norway, a cycling corset and its box from 1900, and a 1990s sports bra from Marks and Spencer.

Garments devised to lift, separate or exaggerate parts of the anatomy and to provide a structure for the fashionable shape of the day are shown. Rare 18thcentury hooped petticoats are displayed alongside crinolines and bustles. Some were designed in response to consumer demands for more practical undergarments which did not compromise movement. The use of underwear to add volume to the body in other contexts is shown through displays of men’s briefs by aussieBum from 2015, designed to enhance the genitals, and a woman’s push-up bra from the 1990s.

The exhibition also demonstrates how underclothes and nightclothes morphed into loungewear, with dressing gowns transformed into informal garments for home entertaining such as tea and hostess gowns. The exhibition includes an 1840s man’s dressing gown, a silk evening dress by Paul Poiret from 1911 which anticipated the chemise dress of the 1920s, a 1970s kaftan for home entertaining, a chic 1930s one-piece pyjama suit by the London fashion house Baroque and Chinese embroidered lounge pyjamas from the 1920s. A woman’s pink Juicy Couture tracksuit

from 2004 and a man’s t-shirt and pant set by Sibling (s/s 2013) illustrate the continuing desire for comfort at home and a blurring of the line between underwear and outerwear, public and private.

Many designers are fascinated by the relationship between underwear and outerwear, and underwear and the body. Garments on display show how designers have challenged conventional ideas about private and public, gender, sex and nudity. Underwear is by definition worn beneath other clothes. While shirts, chemises and petticoats were sometimes partially revealed before the 20th century to indicate quality and the wealth of the owner, today social and cultural changes mean exposed underwear is a common sight. The exhibition includes a 1994 Calvin Klein Underwear crop top and thong worn with low-slung denim shorts, and a beautiful, transparent embroidered muslin dress worn with lace knickers, designed by John Galliano for Givenchy haute couture (a/w 1996).

Corsetry and lingerie are often designed to be alluring, seductive or playful, to enable wearers to express their desires and fantasies. Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear explores the erotic role of underwear through objects ranging from a vivid pink silk 1890s corset, to 1930s bias cut nightwear, contemporary pieces by Agent Provocateur, Cadolle and Fifi Chachnil, and a negligée by Carine Gilson, like that worn by actress Bérénice Marlohe in the film Skyfall. All illustrate that the choice of underwear for the bedroom remains intrinsically personal, and has been throughout the centuries.

Much as underwear can be revealed, it can also be designed with the intention to transform or provoke. Alongside Vivienne Westwood’s ironic flesh-coloured leggings is a skin-tight laced cocktail dress by Jean Paul Gaultier from 1989, a delicate lingerie dress by Ellie Saab (s/s 2011), a Dolce & Gabbana dress featuring a wicker ‘crinoline’ (s/s 2013) from their Sicilian Collection, a mask and gown with extended hips designed by Alexander McQueen (s/s 2012) and Antonio Beradi’s monochrome dress (s/s 2009), worn by Gwyneth Paltrow, featuring a trompe l’oeil corset which reveals the underwear worn beneath.

This exhibition is sponsored by