Intimate Wear Of the 19th Century Woman

The phrase intimate wear includes underwear and lingerie for women that’s personal to her physical body and unlike outerwear, inner wear consists of items that are worn specifically for specific parts of the female body – the upper and lower parts. 

There wasn’t much of a variety of intimate lingerie for both parts of the body for the nineteenth century woman. The most important item to the fashionable woman was the all-important constricting corsets made with whale or steel bones.   

This singular item was basically meant to give a woman an hour-glass shape, popularly referred to as a figure 8. This was the mark of beauty!

Wearing a corset all day long was torturous, and it could never have been worn without a helping hand, or two! But it was an important piece of intimate wear to have. 

Luckily towards the late 1880s, a women’s movement campaigning against the damage the corset of the time did to ribs and a woman’s internal organs caused by tight lacing, invented what was called the "health corset" that was specifically made to help her muscles.

By the early 1900s, the corset finally gave way to the liberty bodice, “a simple shape sleeveless bodice, often made of warm, fleecy fabric that came with attached garters”. 

The bodices had no boning, unlike corsets, although some had firm cloth strapping which was meant to encourage good posture. It liberated the women folk from those rib-crushing intimate wears.

And for the lower body, as the skirts became shorter, women wore what we call pantaloons (underwear that covers each leg separately from the waist to the ankle), that were strictly meant to conceal a woman’s legs.

Other intimate wear of the 19^th century include the union suit, stiff crinolines, hoop skirts, bustle, and drawers which everyone wore not only for modesty, but also for warmth.

Vintage Fashion – Hip Huggers

Hip huggers first made their debut in 1957 when Irene Kasmer designed the first pair out of denim. They had a unique cut for a fifties fashion item - a snug fit around the hips and thighs with the waistline placed at the hips, rather than the waistline, and a flare out to wide bottoms.

Hip Huggers - 60s

With many similarities to today’s low rise boot cut style jeans, hip-huggers became quite fashionable and thus popular from the mid-60s, becoming a wardrobe item popularised by the mods. They remained in style for about a decade with a downward trend around the early 70s.

By the end of the decade, hip-huggers re-appeared in the nightclub scene and were mainly worn by club-goers that fell within the psychedelic group.

Their legs were quite long and will sometimes sweep the floor as you walk, sometimes resulting in frayed and dirty hems.

Also associated with the hippie lifestyle, the trend was in some way inspired by urban living, rock bands, and icons of music; people like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Sonny and Cher, Mick Jagger . . . all wore hip huggers, and it soon became basic wear, not only for the psychedelic group but for pop musicians and the disco fanatics.

Hip huggers have re-appeared as low-rise pants with moderate flares. But they are no more exclusively pants or trousers. They come made in a variety of designs ranging from lingerie to bum shorts, loose pants to smart pants, bell-bottoms, and straight cut legs.

The wonderful thing about hip huggers trousers is that today, they can be worn casual, or semi-formal while maintaining a relaxed but stylish look.

Vintage Inspired Fashion - Empire Dress

The Empire style dress is an old classic. It’s a style that evolved around the late 1700’s, one that was influenced by the loose, white tunics type clothing, belted under the bosom and worn by Greek and Roman women. 

The Empire dress design is vintage inspired at its best! The dress has a fitted bodice with it being either short sleeved, one sleeved, or sleeveless, which ends just below the bust.

This is what gives the style its characteristic high waist. From below the bodice, the dress falls to the floor in a soft body-skimming (not body-hugging!) but loosely fitting way.  Fabric must be soft, light, and almost airy.

Revived in the sixties and now back in fashion, this beautiful style is good to conceal your waist line and de-emphasize your wide hips if you have one. On the other hand, it will emphasise your bust-line and give your body a slimming, longer silhouette. 

Wear with a short or cropped classic wig or hairstyle, and if you want a softer look, go with short curls.

If you have long hair, there is no need to chop off your locks.

All you have to do is wear it up high, off your face and piled up your head; ensure you leave loose wisps of hair around the head. 

For a really classic vintage look as a bridesmaid, or at an evening event, if you are bold enough, accessorize with elbow length gloves and ballet style shoes or dainty strap sandals.

The empire style dress is also great as a mother-of-the-bride-or-groom dress.

Vintage Style Clutch Handbags Are Back

The clutch is one of the chicest and exclusive of all women’s handbags.

They are the most appropriate handbags for formal occasions, evening wear, or dinners, and it exudes sophistication whenever a lady holds one.

Traditionally, clutch bags were only used by women of style and panache, meaning that they were not meant for everybody or just any wear.

They were initially small and used as money purses, and as time progressed, they became fashion accessories, worn to the theatre, special occasions, and the like.

Its use is not much different today, however, there is a wider range of clutch bags that are incorporated into casual day wear, but they are still mostly used as evening bags.

There is an art in holding a clutch bag the right way. Fashionistas will tell you that you hold it in your left hand, close to your midriff, or held with your hand hanging down your side. Some may prefer to use it with its thin over-the-shoulder strap, but it is much more ladylike when worn without the sling or strap.

Clutch bag shapes range from small, square ‘pillbox’ shapes, to triangles, circles, tubular and heart-shaped pieces and larger sized modern styles. Materials used range from leather and skin to satin, velvet, ornately embroidered silk and heavily embellished pieces.  

What is the good thing about clutch handbags? Their timelessness makes them a classic fashion accessory – and good thing, they are now back full-circle. No woman’s wardrobe must be without a couple of clutch handbags

Vintage-Inspired Bustiers and Corsets: Latest Trends in Fashion and Style

Bustiers and corsets are historical women undergarments that were popularly worn during the Victorian and Edwardian Period. They were worn as essential items of their underwear.

They primarily shape a  woman's bosom by uplifting and tightening the upper abdomen which then pushes (lifts) up the bust while cinching and shaping the waist, literally carving out the perfect silhouette of every woman dreams.

To produce the hour-glass figure, women had to wear bustiers and corsets to squeeze their bodies almost painfully into shape

Almost like a basque which is really a longer corset that's a body-hugging item of lingerie, a bustier is shorter and extends no further than the waist.

Bustiers were regarded as fine lingerie and majorly worn by wealthy elitist women who desired lingerie meant to 'mould' and form an ideal body shape but though the earlier women undergarments of the 16th century don't look as edgy and fashion-forward as the bustier-corsets of today, they definitely served the essential purpose of body-shaping.

The trendy fashion-forward vintage inspired underbust corset worn as an outerwear garment over a vintage style bustle skirt.

This is because they were formed with boning made from whalebone or giant reeds with the aim to squeeze tight a woman's torso until it reaches the desired shape. They usually fasten at the front with hook-and-eyes or with a busque (a rigid element placed at the centre front of the fifteenth and eighteenth-century lingerie which keep the front rigid and upright).

Some bustiers and corsets are still made with boning to retain their shape and clasp the body very firmly, however, instead of the use of animal bone, boning is now made from hard plastic, mesh panels, and steel.

Today, vintage-inspired corsets and bustiers mainly serve as fashionable outerwear and can be worn both formally and informally. They can be worn informally just as you will a camisole top with a pair of jeans, shorts, or mini skirts, or as a formal top for evening wear like floor-sweeping velvet skirts, formal tailored pants, or full-circle evening skirts.

A burlesque vintage-inspired corset/bustier made from lace and satin. It has steel bones and a demi-cup for a full lift and support.

And for the modest who don't like to expose the midriff or a bra under a sheer transparent top, a bustier will serve as a great innerwear.

They come embellished, embroidered, lacy, fashionable underbust, sassy, and lace trimmed, and made from materials like embroidered satin, brocade, Jacquard, velvet, mesh, taffeta, and cotton.

Further Reading:

Suspenders and Garters - Vintage Inspired Lingerie 

Vintage Inspired Lingerie for Plus Size Brides 

Interesting History of Women's Underwear