Lingerie is a term for fashionable and alluring women's undergarments Undergarments or underwear are clothes worn under other clothes, often next to the skin. They keep outer garments from being soiled by perspiration, urine, semen, feces, shape the body and provide support for parts of it. When the weather is cold, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Some undergarments are intended for. It derives from the French word linge, "washables" — as in faire le linge, "do the laundry" — and ultimately from lin for washable linen Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather, the fabric from which European undergarments were made before the general introduction of cotton Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural- from Egypt and then from India.

While the term in the French language French is a Romance language spoken, around the world, by more than 100 million people as a first language (mother tongue), by 190 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 54 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France, where the language applies to all undergarments for either gender, in English it is applied specifically to those women's undergarments designed to be visually appealing or erotic, typically incorporating materials such as Lycra Spandex—or elastane—is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is stronger and more durable than rubber, its major non-synthetic competitor. It was invented in 1959 by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers. When first introduced, it revolutionized many areas of the clothing industry, nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. Nylon is one of the most commonly used polymers (nylon tricot), polyester Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate . Polyesters include naturally-occurring chemicals, such as in the cutin of plant cuticles, as well as, satin Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is termed a "satin". If the yarns used are short-, lace Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was not made until the late 15th and early 16th and/or silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity . The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fiber which allows silk cloth to refract and not applied to functional cotton undergarments. It is commonly pronounced in English with a faux French pronunciation (such as LONJ-er-ee in British pronunciation or lonj-er-AY in American pronunciation).

The concept of lingerie being visually appealing was a development of the later nineteenth century. Up through the first half of the 20th century women selected underwear for three major purposes: to alter their shape (first with corsets A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes . Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers and later with girdles The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity or bras As well as an undergarment, the bra is considered a foundation garment because of its role in shaping the wearer's figure. It was originally developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to replace the corset, and has now become, in many parts of the world, the standard method for supporting a woman's breasts), for reasons of hygiene Hygiene, refers to the set of practices associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. Hygiene is a concept related to medicine as well as to personal and professional care practices related to most aspects of living although it is most often associated with cleanliness and preventative measures. In medicine, hygiene practices are, or for modesty Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged. Though the term can be applied to both men and women, and boys and girls, it is most commonly applied to women, and girls. Women's underwear before the invention of the crinoline 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 was often very large and bulky. As the 20th century progressed underwear became smaller and more form fitting. In the 1960s 'controversial' lingerie manufacturers such as Frederick's of Hollywood Frederick's of Hollywood is a well known retailer of lingerie in the United States, with stores in many modern shopping malls across the USA begin to glamorize lingerie and the idea of lingerie having a sexual appeal slowly developed.

The lingerie industry has expanded in the 21st century with designs that double as outerwear. The French refer to this as 'dessous-dessus' which basically means innerwear as outerwear. The boutique Faire Frou Frou, which is an antiquated phrase meaning "show it off", heralds this philosophy by categorizing lingerie as an accessory with details such as straps and lace trim that should be layered and shown as part of one's outerwear.

Typology

• Babydoll A babydoll is a short, sometimes sleeveless, loose fitting nightgown or negligee intended as nightwear for women. It sometimes has formed cups called a Bralette for cleavage with an attached loose fitting skirt falling in length between the hips and the belly button. The garment is often trimmed with lace, ruffles, appliques, marabou fur, bows and, a short nightgown A nightgown is a loosely hanging item of nightwear. Nowadays the term is almost exclusively applied to women's nightwear. A nightgown is typically made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon. It may be decorated with lace appliques or embroidery at the bust and hem or negligee The negligee is a form of womenswear intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. It is a form of nightgown; first introduced in France in the 18th-century, where it mimicked the heavy head-to-toe style of woman's day dresses of the time intended as nightwear for women.
• Basque A basque 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. Probably so called because this fashion of dress came from the Basques, and adopted by the French and then the English, a tight, form-fitting bodice or coat
• Bedjacket, worn over a nightgown or negligee for warmth and modesty.
• Blanket sleeper The blanket sleeper is a type of especially warm sleeping garment worn primarily during the winter in the United States and Canada. The garment is worn especially by infants and young children
• Bloomers The original bloomers were an article of women's clothing invented by Elizabeth Smith Miller of Peterboro, NY but popularized by Amelia Bloomer in the early 1850s . They were long baggy pants narrowing to a cuff at the ankles (worn below a skirt), intended to preserve Victorian decency while being less of a hindrance to women's activities than the, underpants with short legs.
• Bodystocking A bodystocking is an article of lingerie, similar to a leotard or a catsuit. It is much the same thing as a unitard, but the term bodystocking is likely to be preferred when the garment is worn as an underlayer in cold weather, a unitard.
• Bodysuit In clothing, a bodysuit or body is a form-fitting garment that covers the torso; it often has sleeves and snaps at the crotch. Bodysuits may be worn as a top for the smooth line it gives or because it cannot become untucked from one's trousers or skirt. They may also be worn by girls and women as lingerie, underwear, or foundation garments. Unlike, a leotard-like undergarment, usually skintight or formfitting.
• Bodice In common usage, bodice refers to an upper garment that has removable sleeves or no sleeves, often low-cut, worn in Europe from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century, either over a corset or in lieu of one. To achieve a fashionable shape and support the bust, the bodice was frequently stiffened with bents , or whalebone. The bodice was, covers the body from the neck to the waist.
• Boy shorts, a style of panties, so named for their resemblance to male shorts.
• Brassiere As well as an undergarment, the bra is considered a foundation garment because of its role in shaping the wearer's figure. It was originally developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to replace the corset, and has now become, in many parts of the world, the standard method for supporting a woman's breasts
• Bustier A bustier is an article of clothing for women, which is form-fitting and is traditionally worn as lingerie. It looks somewhat like a Basque, but a bustier is shorter. It reaches down only to the ribs or the waist and has a different function: its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts
• Camisole Nowadays, a camisole or cami is a loose-fitting sleeveless woman's undergarment which covers the top part of the body but is shorter than a chemise. A camisole normally extends to the waist but is sometimes cropped to expose the midriff, or extended to cover the entire pelvic region. Camisoles are manufactured from light materials, commonly cotton-, sleeveless and tight fitting, covering the top part of the body
• Camiknickers, camisole Nowadays, a camisole or cami is a loose-fitting sleeveless woman's undergarment which covers the top part of the body but is shorter than a chemise. A camisole normally extends to the waist but is sometimes cropped to expose the midriff, or extended to cover the entire pelvic region. Camisoles are manufactured from light materials, commonly cotton- and knickers In the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth nations, knickers is a word for women's undergarments joined as one garment
• Cami Shorts
• Cheeky, exposes the bottom part of the buttocks
• Chemise 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
• Corset A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes . Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers by bone, a bodice worn to mold and shape the torso.
• Corselet 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" = Brassiere As well as an undergarment, the bra is considered a foundation garment because of its role in shaping the wearer's figure. It was originally developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to replace the corset, and has now become, in many parts of the world, the standard method for supporting a woman's breasts + Girdle The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity
• Corsage Originally, a bouquet of flowers, flower bud, or a bow was worn on the corsage between the breasts, hence the name corsage for a cluster of flowers worn on the breast, waist or wrist by elastic, covering the body from the neck to the waist, similar to a corset.
• Drawers Undergarments or underwear are clothes worn under other clothes, often next to the skin. They keep outer garments from being soiled by perspiration, urine, semen, feces, shape the body and provide support for parts of it. When the weather is cold, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Some undergarments are intended for a pant-like garment worn during the 19th century for modesty and warmth. Some drawers were split-leg, in that the crotch seam was left open.
• French maid French maid refers to a strongly modified style of servant’s dress that evolved from typical maids’ black and white afternoon uniforms of the nineteenth century . The designs of the French maid dress can range widely from a conservative look to very revealing. It is now often but by no means always associated with cosplay, sexual roleplaying,, a form of ladies' fantasywear
• G-String/Thong, a narrow piece of cloth passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as a bikini bottom or as underwear by both men and women.
• Garter Garters are articles of clothing: 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
• Garter belt, used to keep stockings up
• Girdle The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity, resembles a tight pair of athletic shorts
• Granny panties
• Hosiery Hosiery is knitted coverings for the legs and feet. Also referred to as legwear, hosiery describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as hose. The term is also used for all types of knitted
• Jersey nightshirt - A long, loose T-shirt made of cotton Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-, polyester Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate . Polyesters include naturally-occurring chemicals, such as in the cutin of plant cuticles, as well as, nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. Nylon is one of the most commonly used polymers or diaphanous chiffon Chiffon, from the French word for a cloth or rag, is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric woven of alternate S- and Z-twist crepe yarns. The twist in the crepe yarns puckers the fabric slightly in both directions after weaving, giving it some stretch and a slightly rough feel that can be worn like a Babydoll.
• Knickers In the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth nations, knickers is a word for women's undergarments
• Leotard A leotard is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard , about whom the song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" was written
• Merry widow 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"
• Naughty & Nice
• Negligee The negligee is a form of womenswear intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. It is a form of nightgown; first introduced in France in the 18th-century, where it mimicked the heavy head-to-toe style of woman's day dresses of the time
• Nightgown or Nightie, a loosely hanging item of nightwear, may vary from hip-length (babydoll) to floor-length (peignoir).
• Nightshirt
• Panties
• Peignoir
• Petticoat
• Pettipants
• Robe
• Slip (Full slip and Half slip / Underskirt)
• Spanky-Pants, "Spankies" (color-coordinated underpants worn by cheerleaders)
• Stockings
• Stringbody
• Suspender belt (British), aka Garter belt (US)
• Tanga
• Tap Pants
• Teddy
• Undergarment
• Unitard One piece, skin tight garment

Since the mid-1990s women have had more choice in bra sizes; the focus has changed from choosing bras in an average size to wearing bras that actually fit perfectly. In the UK, for instance, the media is fueling an awareness campaign about the need for each woman to have a proper bra fitting before every purchase.

Other companies have provided made to measure alternatives. The world famous French House of Cadolle, now owned by the fifth generation Cadolle, Poupie Cadolle, makes bras, corsets and other lingerie on a made to measure basis (also known as Demi-mesure for clothes adapted to fit the customers' measurements). The made to measure method is also used by British firm Kate Gibson Lingerie, founded by Kate Mellor and Katy Gibson. Kate Gibson Lingerie, taking the opposite track from Bravissimo, only produces petite lingerie for women who wear AA to 34B cup bras, thereby provided choice for smaller women. Both Cadolle and Kate Gibson Lingerie use couture fabrics and laces to created designer lingerie and petite designer lingerie.

Within the UK the choice of lingerie available is vast. In London Rigby and Peller are famous for their fitting service, and produce their own branded lingerie that sits alongside other brands such as Lejaby, Prima Donna and other premium brands. Bravissimo specialises in larger cup size bras, and has a huge choice of Fantasie and Freya. For more provocative sexy luxury lingerie Agent Provocateur is available in major UK cities and online.

Drapers magazine runs the annual Drapers Awards and includes a category for 'Best Lingerie Retailer' in the UK. In 2007 this was won by Scottish Lingerie Retailer, Boudiche, in 2006 by Marks and Spencer, and previously Figleaves held the title for 2 years running.

Companies such as The Natori Company, founded in 1977 by Josie Natori have helped expand lingerie beyond bras and underwear into the areas of sleepwear and loungewear, creating clothes that can be "worn either to bed or out on the town." ^[1]

Market structure

The lingerie market at the turn of 21st century was driven by the advent of modern technologies and fabrics that help in designing innovative products such as laser-cut seamless bras and moulded T-shirt bras. Designers are putting greater emphasis on rich-looking fabrics, laces, embroideries and brighter, more daring colors.

The global lingerie market in 2003 was estimated at $29 billion.^[2] Bras accounted for 56 per cent while briefs represented 29 per cent of the lingerie market in 2005.^[3] The world’s largest lingerie manufacturer, Victoria's Secret, operates almost exclusively in North America. The European market is quite fragmented, with Triumph International and DB Apparel leading the market.^[4]

See also

• Berlei
• Hosiery
• Undergarment
• Wonderbra

Notes

1. ^ "Josie Natori Turns Dressing Inside Out". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1664382,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
2. ^ Lingerie market peaks in 2003
3. ^ Bras and briefs dominate the global lingerie market
4. ^ North American lingerie market is consolidated, while the EU market remains fragmented

References

• Carter, Alison J. (1992). Underwear: the fashion history. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-6222-1
• Cox, Caroline (2000). Lingerie: a lexicon of style. Scriptum Editions. ISBN 1-902686-08-X

Categories: Lingerie | French words and phrases | Human sexuality

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