Name/Title
Underwear : a historyEntry/Object ID
GT2073.E9Description
To the student of the history of fashion it is hardly less essential to understand the contribution of the unseen than of the visible elements in the constantly changing feminine outline (and it is as well to stress that this book is concerned only with women's underwear). As a fashion writer and historian, Elizabeth Ewing has been closely connected with the fashion and foundationwear industries for many years. Her approach is given depth by an appreciation of the practical aspects of design, manufacture and application -- what materials were used, how and by whom they were made up, how they were worn. Although the book starts as far back as 3000 BC, the prehistory of underwear remains shadowy at least until the reign of Elizabeth I. Thereafter Ewing traces in detail the part played by the hoop, stays, bum roll, panniers, petticoat, bodice, drawers, corset, brassiere, knickers, chemise, camisole and all the other contributors to what was outwardly seen. The influence of social pressures -- women's emancipation, sport, the movement "back to nature," of the introduction of new materials and more sophisticated processes of manufacture, and always (overtly or covertly) of the sexual motivation underlying all fashion.Lexicon
Search Terms
underwear, underwear--historyBook Details
Author
Elizabeth EwingPublisher
Theatre Arts BooksDate Published
1972Call No.
GT2073.E9Notes
Length: 160