The Changes in Lingerie Fashions

Through the years lingerie styles and fashions have definitely changed, especially since the first lingerie article was introduced way back during the eighteenth century until today in the twenty-first century.

Throughout the centuries, fashion styles in regard to lingerie has been switching between the feminine and boyish, the painful and the very practical. Forever gone are the days of those cone-shaped bust, wasp lined waist, and the false buttocks. In todays world, lingerie is the most beautiful, luxurious, and feminine clothing that can be worn intimately and appreciated for its practicality and its comfort as we look back in time and reflect on the most noticeable changes in lingerie styles. The very first pieces of lingerie underwear can be traced all the way back to the ancient civilization of Egypt and Greece, where the women of Crete had to wear corsets to support their breasts.

During the eighteenth century the history of underwear was considered to be some what ancient with their padded silhouettes with their flat stomachs, narrow waists, and cone-shaped bust as fashion was way back when. The corset, which was actually the most essential part of any woman's wardrobe during that time. The corset gave the bodies of every woman unnatural shapes, which mainly compressed their internal organs and often times caused them to faint. During this period, lingerie mostly consisted of excessive use of satin, silk, and damask that was decorated with embroidery, ribbons, and laces, which created the effect of its artistry.

As the nineteenth century came along this point of time was typically dictated to women's bodies that were being controlled by corsets, crinolines, and bustles. This is when the s-shaped silhouette was first introduced. The corset with a bustle in the back made a woman sit with the very tip of her derriere on the edge of their chair, which many women felt was totally uncomfortable. Women had to wear about five pounds of underwear during this period of time. They typically wore knickers, corsets, camisoles, and waist slips, with the corsets themselves being even tighter than ever. The crinoline, which was designed to support by yards of fabric, tended to completely exaggerate a women's figure.

With the twentieth century came lingerie that became much more simpler as well as practical. Corsets were finally substituted for a much more flexible girdle with a much more modern bra. Lingerie finally came out during this period with fabulous paste colors and during the year 1910 the boyish silhouettes were finally in as part of the fashion world. The boyish silhouette was a look for women to have, which caused an impression of having no waist, no hips, and no bottom. During the 1930s, femininity finally came back with the girlish silhouette as women once again began wearing corsets, which consisted of a rounded and bust-emphasizing brassiere and girdle with garters. Additionally, one-piece corsets continued to be widely used around the world and panties grew smaller and smaller and eventually took the shape of bikini briefs.

The twenty-first century world of fashion, pushed women to show off their underwear as outerwear, which became known as visual enjoyment of their partner. Lingerie began being thought of by many women as their a second skin with all tastes and wishes being catered for by the world of lingerie. Women were finally free in their lingerie choices more than ever.

Body Stockings As a Kind of Lingerie

The majority of body stockings on the market today are made of lace in a variety of designs that some women seem to find truly appealing to them. Although, most of these might just remind you of something that your grandmother would have worn long ago.

The old style floral lace just does not do it for some women, but some women really prefer them. You can find them virtually everywhere, as they are ubiquitous. Some say that they are rather itchy as the floral design in lace overlay can tend towards the scratchy. Lace body stockings can make any body look sexier as do all body stockings.

There is an on-going debate over the open crotch versus closed crotch, which raises the idea of wearing panties with your body stocking. Some women will wear panties under or over my body stockings, but some do not. While this may affect your sensibilities, some women seem to like the crotch less body stockings for two primary reasons. One of those reasons is the erotic nature of going semi commando and how it floats your boat, but it does not really do much for others, but your husband may be another matter. The problem with closed crotch body stockings is the dreaded visit to the powder room, because getting totally undressed is a pain, and that may be why it partially accounts for the relative lack of popularity of body stockings.

Many body stockings will benefit the individual, because they come in a variety of colors, although the primary color is black, but they can be found in red, nude, purple, and occasionally in pastels. Truth is that black is the color to stick with if you are buying your first body stocking, and if you are not a big fan of red or purple, then you can choose the color that is right for you. Wearing red or purple from head to toe is a fashion risk, while black does not take too much courage.

There are other considerations with wearing body stockings, but many people do not feel that they are particularly significant such as the sleeve length, which is primarily based on the use you are going to give the body stocking. Many women tend to like sleeveless body stockings as opposed to full length or three quarter sleeves, but here again this is almost totally dependent on the outfit or the lack of what you are wearing, and the availability of the style and color that you seek. For instance, if you happen to purchase the body stocking for inspiring your husband in the bedroom, then go for whatever gets his blood boiling, whether it is an open bust or peek a boo body stockings that are popular as bedroom lingerie. However, do keep in mind that a C cup or above will have zero support, but what man would refuse seeing his woman in a sexy body stocking and her breasts peeking out for him to see. Think of it this way, the next time you are in the market for body stockings, pantyhose, or hosiery you may want to look first in the body stocking section of your local boutique.

Why Wear a Sexy Bra

Why do women enjoy wearing sexy bras and are they truly that comfortable? Bras are an article of clothing that most women have an opinion about, especially since they are a part of clothing that they have to wear every single day.

Opinions from women about sexy bras can range from, "I can not find a sexy bra in my size," to "It is so uncomfortable." Women with medium to large breasts need bras to provide them with support and comfort and women will most often purchase bras to add a little dimension to their bust line. Often times, this necessary garment of women all over the world are so misunderstood. The bra industry is a multi billion dollar industry that counts among it some of the heavy hitters within the garment industry such as Bali, Playtex, Wacoal, Lilly, and Victoria's Secret to name a few.

Women between the ages of thirteen to ninety-five need and have to wear bras. Men love bras, not for the support it gives a woman or the comfort it can provide the wearer, but because they are pretty and sexy and the fact that they show off many men's favorite part of a woman's body. The sexy bra market is a portion of the bra market for a couple of reasons. One of those reasons is that many women either are or consider themselves too young or too old to wear sexy bras, and that some women perceive sexy bras as too flimsy and not always being able to offer enough support or that they are too frivolous. In many cases these women are not wrong, but looking and feeling sexy is an important part of a woman's wardrobe, and the sale of sexy bras continues to grow.

The WonderBra was introduced in the United States in 1994 after being designed in Canada and sold in the United Kingdom. The bra with the push up and plunging design with the WonderBra style sold at a rate of one every fifteen seconds, which quickly became the nation's top selling push-up bra. This bra was originally created in 1964 and this unique bra had fifty-four design elements that lifted and supported the bust to create dramatic cleavage.

What was the secret of the WonderBra? Plain and simple, precision engineering with its three part cup construction, precision-angled back and under wire cups, removable pads called cookies, gate back design for support, and its rigid straps. If you did not know, then you would think that this precision engineering was limited to rockets and fine automobiles. The sexy in this bra was mostly the under wire cups, which support the breasts and in the pads or cookies that add to the bust size, but also the design that was made to push the breasts up and out, which provided for a type of spill out cleavage.

Since the WonderBra there have been many, too many to mention improvements in bra design and manufacturing. Most sexy bras have not had the fanfare of the original WonderBra, but still incorporate many of the same features as real advancements in bras that have been mainly in the area of fabric, use of color, and design elements regarding the look and feel of the garment.

The History of Garter Belts

Garter belts are sexy lingerie that women have been wearing for many years and they have not changed much over the years. They say that necessity is the mother of invention and garter belts were certainly necessary when it came to holding up a woman's stockings.

Garter belts are actually an answer to the girdle and women's need to hold up their stockings, but preferring not to wear a confining and restrictive girdle. Then as now women preferred, due to the fashions of the day and simply a desire to look better, that they did not have what we now call muffin tops or those unpleasant rolls of body fat showing up. When did fashion start believing to have an hour glass figure? Sure women have and continue to be slaves to fashion although perhaps much less so than in the past. It is hard to believe that women would return to the day where waist cinches were the custom, because they were quite painful and even dangerous as the habit of fainting could be as a result of wearing a corset, girdle, or waist cincher so tight that the woman was unable to breathe.

So began the garter belt as women wanted an alternative to getting into a cumbersome, hot, and restrictive girdle. The garter belt served the function of holding up ones stockings without all the additional confinement. Garter belts looked much the same back then as they did and do now. They still need the garter straps, which are the fabric that hangs down from the garter belt itself, as well as a method of attaching the stockings to the straps.

Generally, this was a two piece apparatus that grabbed the stocking and was usually a metal eye with another piece that fit snugly in the eye with the stocking held between these two pieces with tension. The garter belt worked like a charm at a time where stockings were worn often and even owning stockings was something of a status symbol as they were relatively expensive for the time.

The garter belt was originally made of the fabric that was available at the time, such as satin, and to suggest that it was sexy, which meant you had to have an understanding of the fashion and moral code of the time. This iconic lingerie item was purely functional as it evolved from a very functional and utilitarian garment. The truth is that sexy at the time was the sight of any item a woman wore under her clothing as these foundation garments were meant to be worn and never seen.

Mini skirts were not in the imagination of even the most avant garter designer and no one would have even dared dream of crotchless panties or breast implants way back then. It was a much more simpler time, a more repressive era where women's clothing, particularly lingerie, was something young boys and men did not see on a routine basis as they do on television, billboards, and catalogs. All went well for the garter belt as it was an innovation and even an improvement being comfortable, lightweight, and it functioned as intended.

Lingerie is a Great Gift

Have you ever thought what could I do to bring a little spice into my love life? Men and women alike, I am sure, have thought about this from time to time, especially if they have been married for any length of time.

There are a number of things that a man or a woman could do to spice up their marriage and that could be considered a gift for either one of you. Lingerie can be considered as a gift from both of you if you really think about it, because this is a gift that continues to gift back by adding a little spice into your life. The fact is that no one can lose when ever they give their loved one the gift of lingerie. However, the only time that giving lingerie as a gift would actually back fire is if the gift is purchased in the style or worse, in the wrong size.

If the individual, whether it is a man or woman, will put some time and consideration into purchasing the gift of the lingerie, then the receiver of the gift is rewarded with a great gift. It is too often that men will find themselves tempted to purchase some thing that they may happen to find attractive and sexy. These same men are then astonished later when their girlfriend or wife is utterly repulsed by the lingerie and they refuse to wear the garment at all.

It does take a special kind of woman to tolerate a thong, but men continue to thrust their desires into their lingerie purchase decisions that utterly conflict with the desires and tastes of the partner. In fact, thong sales actually only account for less than twenty-five percent of all lingerie purchases, which is why the odds are that a woman would probably wish and appreciate not receiving a thong as a gift from a man in their life, unless they actually do wear thongs.

In order to give lingerie as a gift, then the man or woman must do their homework prior to purchasing their gift. Men need to find out what the woman in their life is most happy about their body, because what ever this part of the body happens to be then lingerie is sure to accentuate it. For instance, if a woman is particularly proud of her cleavage, then a halter may be the way to go, but a chemise would probably be better for a woman with great legs. No matter what part of their body that a woman happens to be most comfortable with, then there is by all odds a piece of lingerie out there on the market that is readily made to complement it.

The color of the lingerie is really important to consider as well, because when you take in to consideration what color is more appropriate it is always important to take into account the color of the woman's hair. For some reason or another, blonds tend to enjoy colors that are light and not very bright, such as pastels. Brunettes on the other hand need a color that will accentuate their darker hues so it is best to choose colors such as purples, dark greens, and reds, which are actively worn by brunettes. Redheads really need a dark color, but it must still be complementary with their skin and hair such as greens and blues. There are very few redheads that can wear the color orange or even red, so you may want to keep that in mind whenever you are choosing a color.