The Story of Lingerie. Muriel Barbier

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      Natural fabrics such as linen, hemp and cotton were the textiles most used. Ever since ancient times people have worn underwear made out of wool and linen, and hemp when they could afford it.

      Linen was used by the Romans and Greeks, and then the Northern Europeans, only becoming usual in France in the 11th century. For a long time linen production was a monopoly of Flandres, and of the Bruges region in particular. Linen culture intensified at the end of the 17th century: it was mainly used for manufacturing chemises, but also certain corsetry garments. The lining of 18th century stays was made out of unbleached linen. Linen does not insulate or protect the body from heat or cold; it does not allow air to circulate easily which means the skin cannot breathe, but it is very soft which explains its use for underwear. Linen is tightly woven in cloth weave with threads of various sizes. Derivatives of cloth weave are very often used: cambric was perfected in the 13th century by Jean-Baptiste de Cambrai in France, and cretonne or lawn was developed in Saint Gall, Switzerland.

      Hemp was used a little less as it is slightly heavier and less resistant than linen. It was more often chosen for household linen and was tightly woven in cloth weave with fine threads. It was also used in the manufacture of shirts. Hemp shirts are hard-wearing and can last a lifetime, and their hygienic qualities are close to those of linen. Today, the use of hemp is very limited in production and it is no longer used in underwear manufacture.

      Cotton, on the other hand, is a material which is much more suitable for underwear. It was developed very early on in Ancient Egypt and in India, where it was woven from 1200 BC. It was imported into Europe after the last crusade (1291). The cotton trade began to develope: European merchants bought cotton which passed through Venice, the hotbed of European trade. In the Middle Ages cotton was still little used in France and England: these countries were embroiled in the Hundred Years’ War.

      Cotton is much more permeable to air than hemp or linen; it has better thermal qualities than linen, and it is very soft. All of these qualities make it the ideal material for lingerie. All sorts of cloth weaving are suitable for weaving cotton: cretonne, lawn, muslin, net, cheesecloth, organdie, cotton fabric, percale, poplin and felt. The types of weaving are differentiated by the thread tension, but cotton underwear can be made in serge (flannel) or in more complex weave (satin or towelling).

      Cotton became popular in France in 1686, when the Siamese ambassador visited Louis XIV wearing Indian-made outfits, in printed fabrics and cottons. The French company Indes Orientales was set up by Colbert in 1664 and began to import these new materials[20]; there were already cotton weaving centres in France, however, in Lyon, Rouen and Troyes. These towns are still attached to the industry.

      In the 19th century, corsets, petticoats and chemises were made out of poplin, percale, twill and calico. These types of weave were an indicator of social status, as mentioned by Clarisse in the Georges Feydeau play Mais n’te promène donc pas toute nue: (“You are surely not going out completely naked!”) “I am sorry, my dear. The fact is, all women in my position have lawn chemises and I do not see why I should have mine made of madapolam.[21]“ Cotton became part of numerous undergarments and, at the end of the 19th century; research began into an open-weave cotton. In 1887, Docteur Lewis Haslam announced that skin should breathe, and he invented Aertex, a perforated cotton fabric. He set up the Aertex Company in Aldermanburry in 1888. Aertex clothes are cool in summer and keep one warm in winter. In 1891 the Aertex Company began to design women’s underwear. In the same year the Viyella brand appeared, produced by William Hollin & Co, with the slogan “Viyella does not shrink”[22]. These innovations made healthier underwear which was more pleasant to wear. Cotton went hand in hand with the growing trend for natural living. It became a symbol of fresh, pure lingerie and was the favourite underwear material in the 1970s. It is still widely used today combined with Lycra.

      Corset. White ribbed silk embroidered with coloured silk and silver thread in a floral pattern (detail of lower half), English, 1750. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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