Glamorous Lingerie Expert

Negligees came into popular fashion in the nineteen twenties. The intention was a garment for bedroom wear that was comfortable but provocative and it has kept its sex appeal  to this day.

It comes as no surprise that the negligee was first introduced in France, the center of innovative high fashion, as early as the 18^th century.

Just as now the garment was designed to bring glamour to the bedroom although at that time it covered the body from head to toe in the style of women’s day dresses of the period.

By the time the First World War was over, women of all classes began to aspire for emancipation and freedom from the drab apparel that their circumstances had restricted them to for previous centuries.

Fashion was no longer to be confined to the wealthy upper classes.

Manufacturers and retailers were constantly looking for ways to profitably expand their markets and the obvious target was the newly emancipated female with a gradually increasing earning power, and access to printed media that also devoted more space, not to mention advertising, to women’s interest subjects.

In a similar way to the 18^th century negligee its twenties counterpart modeled itself on the satin evening dresses so popular at the time, knee length with the addition of lace to trim the hem.

It became almost de rigueur for movies of the thirties and forties to have, at least, one scene featuring the leading lady wearing an elegant and graceful negligee.

Although these were modest by today’s standards, what they didn’t reveal of the stars assets was not hard to imagine.

Rita Hayworth, Hedy Lamarr, Vivian Leigh, Jane Russell are among the legendary stars whose glamour and beauty helped put the negligee high up on the list of a woman’s most wanted.

As the twentieth century progressed the negligee, in common with other items of lingerie, became more revealing, more sensual and more erotic.

Often the fabric used has become sheerer, more see through with trimming in the form of lace, bows, etc. used to enhance the femininity of the wearer.

At the same time fashion has dictated the length or coverage of the garment with perhaps the best known style being the “Baby Doll” that coincided with the mini skirt craze of the late sixties and seventies.

The purpose of all the female fashion cycles through the ages has been to attract the male; the modern negligee takes this natural instinct to the highest level.