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.
Poster DD. Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Troyes.
Embroidered stockings. Galliera Museum, Paris.
Silk stockings 1900 embroidered with a lace pattern.
Pair of embroidered stockings.
Galliera Museum, Paris.
Nicolas Lafresen, also called Lavreince, Le Lever. Charcoal, 28 × 23 cm. Don Georges Heine 1929, Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris. Inv 26833.
Animal materials are used less for underwear these days because they are fragile and difficult to maintain. Since the 16th century solid materials such as horn, ivory or whalebone have been called upon for use in corsetry. They were used for the busks inside basques and for stays. Whalebone was the only material that was flexible enough and which predated steel and elastic. Whales were hunted from the 12th century in the Bay of Biscay (on the Spanish coast), and then, in the 17th century, the whale industry moved to Greenland. In the 18th and 19th centuries leather and suede began to be used for certain corsets for rigidity and decoration. These animal materials made way in the 20th century for steel. The Warner Company launched their “Waterproof Corsets”, which were stainless steel corsets that overcame the shortfalls of this metal.
Silk culture came to France relatively late. It was already common in China and India when it arrived in France in the 14th century, at the time when the Papal court moved to Avignon. Silk weavers set up in Avignon to meet the demands of the popes. When the popes returned to Rome, some silk mills stayed in the Uzès region, then opened in Lyon. François Ist primarily encouraged the silk mills in Lyon, then Henri IV continued his work with Olivier de Serre and Laffemas who planted their grounds with mulberry trees, as the mulberry bombyx, more commonly known as the “silkworm” feeds on mulberry leaves. It also secretes a very fine and remarkably supple thread.
Yva Richard, postcard with unwritten back c. 1925, 14 × 9 cm. Private collection, Paris.
Stockings Jacques Fath, 1954 with Roger Scemana’s Pince-bas for Jacques Fath, c.1955. Elastic and strass. Galliera Museum, Paris. Inv.1933.382.6 et 1993.195.2.
Stockings (detail) Jacques Fath, 1954. Galliera Museum, Paris. Inv.1993.382.6.
Silk insulates very well, is extremely soft to the touch, and is perfect for lingerie. The principal silk fabrics are made in cloth, muslin, taffeta, pongee or crêpe weave. Others are satin, jersey and twill for girdles and corsets. Silk is difficult to wash, however. It is fragile and expensive which means it is not of interest to clients of modest means. Nevertheless, its softness and shine give an immense power of seduction. The French silk mills expanded rapidly in the 17th and 18th centuries and provided France a monopoly in terms of fashion. The silk mills in Lyon manufactured all types of undergarments, petticoats, luxurious stockings for ceremonial wear in European courts and brocade exterior of stays.
In the 19th century, the silk mills of Lyon were still appreciated in the same way. It was only when synthetic fibres, which could imitate the shine of silk, were invented that silk was used less for underwear and was limited to luxury lingerie. Until the Second World War, petticoats were made out of silk; corsets were covered in silk satin, and nightclothes were made out of satin, velvet, cretonne, or silk crêpe. Today, silk is still important for designers when they create luxury underwear, and for sexy nightwear such as baby-doll nightdresses.
Dior Négligé, c. 1960. White lace, pink satin