Since the first appearance of lingerie thousands of years ago on the Mediterranean island of Crete where women wore corsets made from bone designed to enhance and expose their breasts lingerie has gone through many changes. What is thought of as sexy and appealing has gone through many transformations over the years. Going from the pagan women mentioned above who wore very revealing items to entice and seduce men where the theme of the day was to exaggerate and expose a woman's body we move to the Middle Ages when the fashion of the day was to flatten the breasts and make them appear smaller and firmer which was the desired look of that time. In the time of the Renaissance, we saw a return to showing off and exaggerating the female form with women wearing corsets that made the breasts look conical similar to the lingerie we have seen Madonna wear in concerts and music videos while accentuating smaller waistlines. Up to the 18th century women started dressing a little lighter but still kept wearing tight whalebone corsets which had been despised by health experts due to the fact that they thought the devices were dangerous, which they were and for a short time these were outlawed. The mid 1800's saw the addition of the bustle which of course made the bottom look bigger coupled with the reemergence of the corset to make the waist look smaller. In the 1920's with parties and flapper dresses all the rage women with thin, flat, and almost boyish figures were considered desirable so now women wore undergarments designed to slim the body and flatten the breasts with corsets now being shortened and primarily used to hold up stockings. In the 30's and 40's the large breast look was in again and out came padded bras to enhance and lift the breasts to give the desired look. Indeed even the reclusive millionaire Howard Hughes invented a bra with a wire support made especially for the Actress Jane Russell. The lingerie industry suffered a big hit in the 1960's with all the bra burning and the feminist movement when many women started going braless as a form of protest. But at the same time lycra had been invented and the min skirt introduced which brought about the need for skimpy bikini underwear. In today's society the adoration of the female body is back in full bloom and one need only see the success of Victoria's Secret to know that it shows no signs of abating for awhile.
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