Undergarments for women have served a number of functions over time, and have changed dramatically with the changing status women hold in society. In the past they were used to enforce expected shapes that society deemed appropriate. As the role of women changed, their undergarments did as well, to the point that ladies underwear today would have been considered quite scandalous in bygone years.

In the 1800s, undergarments were designed functionally to shape women into the form they were expected to have. In order to attain the tight waisted frail look, a garment that could probably be more aptly described as a device was worn, that was intentionally designed to cinch the body into smaller proportion. It was so difficult to don that it usually required external assistance. Progress, if that is what it can be called, was the invention of a design that featured metal eyelets and a pulley system to free the women so she could constrict herself without assistance.

Also in the 1800s, the crinoline was worn by most women. This undergarment was worn to help support the weight of dresses that were in style at the time. They employed metal rods and whalebone for increased structural support. Originally the crinoline was designed to yield an overall bell shape, but this gradually changed to a style with a more flattened frontal area combined with an extended rear area. This made for a natural augmentation and exaggeration of female shapeliness and was considered quite erotic at the time.

Eventually the tight fit of the restrictive undergarments was recognized as an overall unhealthy thing, but it remained well into the next century. The beginning of the end was the invention of fibers that had a stretching ability that could be made into lengths. While this would not eliminate the corset, it allowed for the device to be transformed into a true piece of clothing. It was still restrictive, but more along the lines of skin tight body wear, not ropes and knots.

The invention of the brassiere spelled doom for the corset, but it did not really mean any greater comfort for ladies. In its original design, the brassiere did not enhance or emphasize the bust, but instead was a device intended to flatten it in a most decidedly unfeminine way. Still it was an improvement over the draconian style enforced by the corset. Ironically, this era saw the reemergence of the impossibly tiny waist as the fashion style.

The flower power era of free love and social unrest brought with it the release of the pent up frustration of women. This decade in America was made famous but its icons. The Beatles rose to fame, man landed on the moon, and burning of the draft card by men and brassieres by women represented the demands for change. Women and men protested the war, which disproportionately affected men, while women were the primary victims of a patriarchal society intent on preventing women from equal treatment in the workplace and society at large.

The 1960s also the development of the Lycra fiber, while not a fabric, its addition to fabric in varying proportion allowed for an inherent elasticity. The fiber can be stretched to seven times its length and then return to its original state when tension is released. It allowed for the development of more comfortable fabrics which made the brassier much more comfortable. This era also saw the appearance of the first tights and the mini-skirt.

Women began to have an effect on the marketplace as their social role settled into what we recognize today as a more socially just role. Their views and likes began to shape the shape of undergarments, molding them in design and color to reflect what one would expect, variation in style. The bikini style of underwear became famously popular, an has been joined by the thong. Ladies underwear has made the leap from being a restrictive enforcement of style and status on women, to reflect the style and status they chose for themselves.

Find great prices on ladies underwear by shopping online. There you will find many choices of womens underwear to consider. Go online for your needs today.

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