From the beginning of the history of lingerie, women were taught that the silhouette figure was what their bodies were suppose to look like, but at what cost?
When the Roaring Twenties came, along with it came those elaborate parties, and fashion changed dramatically, then all of the sudden, the boyish silhouette was in, and the quest for the flat chests, flat stomachs, and straight hips, and buttocks, led to the fashion industry to create the liberty bodice, the chemise, and bloomers, which were all loose-fitting and light that was a long-overdue substitute for plain old white appeared pastel colored lingerie. The first brassieres were designed to flatten the breasts, adding to the total boyish look and the corset was no longer needed, except the bottom part that held up the stockings, so the corset was shortened right down to a belt - the suspender belt.
The 30s brought back the full-figured silhouette and a complete turnaround in the shape of the desired silhouette. The woman's feminine side once again became the priority as women were encouraged to look well-proportioned, full-figured, but still reasonably slim in the hips. Now women had a full set of lingerie to outfit themselves with breast-enhancing brassiere, an elastic suspender belt, and the girdle, that kept all the curves in the right places. One of the biggest advancements in the lingerie industry came in the 1930s, when Dunlop Rubber invented Lastex, which was an elastic fiber that could be interwoven with the fabric used to make lingerie fashions.
Now the industry could make lingerie in various sizes, which help properly fit a woman's shape. When World War II came, along with it came shortages and Germany could not import the fabrics they had been using and their industry dried up. People started making home-knitted underwear out of anything they could find, which was not very sexy, but they were warm. After the war, lingerie consisted of the basic bras and suspender belts, which soon became the norm for most women.
The teenage girl emerged from the oppression of the war and looking for excitement became a target market. These teenagers were anxious to grow up and wearing lingerie was a big step towards getting there. So, the lingerie industry started to create lingerie sets that would attract the attention of these young girls, and the German lingerie industry exploded. Over in America, the lingerie industry was making its own mark as everyone was trying to create something new and different. The market was flooded with all kinds of innovations to help women look sexy. For instance, Howard Hughes created a new bra with a special wire-reinforced design for Jane Russell.
The silhouette suffered as bras are burned as the 60s brought a wave of women's emancipation movements where feminists burned their bras. It is ironic that they had lots of support for this movement, because now that they had burned their bras, their support was gone, and later in life they would find that their support sagged. This movement gave the lingerie industry a heavy hit as many manufacturers were forced out of business, but on the positive side, Lycra had just been invented, and women's legs began to be adorned in tights, which was even better for the men because they like the sexy little mini-skirt, which came with a demand for bikini briefs. By the 1980s, wire-reinforced bras had become the number-one seller for those who needed that added support, which are still very popular today. Probably the biggest seller now is the push-up bra.
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