by Kyle Framsburger
Social status for women in America was one of submission in the years from 1800 until at least 1920, when women finally gained the right to vote in the United States. After that, they discovered that the mantle of patriarchal discrimination would require another four decades of struggle to lift. Throughout the transformation of the role women play in American society, ladies underwear changed in step with the times.
Beginning with the fashion in vogue for women in 1800, there are several things to point out. First the women truly look beautiful in elegant dresses made famous through the magic of Hollywood. What is generally left out of the films is the severity of the uncomfortable undergarments tying the women into the shape the dresses accentuate. A women wore a device replete with whale bones and strong laces that were tightened around their body to attain the impossibly symmetric shape expected at the time.
Another problem with the lovely dresses of that time was the desire by fashion aficionados to have the skirt portion of the dress bellow out in a full bell shape. Since fabric alone could not hold this preferred image and women certainly are not built that way, a creation known as the crinoline was developed to make it possible. This contraption was actually made of metal in the shape of an dome to hold the bottom portion of the dress out, and to help hold up the weight of this layered clothing.
It would not be until the 1900s that any significant changes to the foundations of female attire. The restrictive nature of the corset was beginning to be recognized as not just uncomfortable but truly unhealthy for girls and women. In 1930 fabric technology produces a material which could be made into long elastic fibers. This change to the corset allowed fro at least some release as the garment was still form fitting but at least no longer mechanically restrictive.
Finally the corset was replaced, but the new alternative, the brassier, was not the female shape enhancing product of today, the original was little more than a tight piece of cloth made to flatten the bust. World War II famously saw the invention of nylons, providing a luxury of sorts but still not comfortable or easy to wear, and they were terribly susceptible to damage. With the end of the war, the tiny waist again emerged as the ideal shape for a woman with the resulting uncomfortable style of clothing to enhance that shape.
In the wild and crazy decade of the 60s, the US in general experienced a tumultuous period of social change. Civil rights, rages against an unpopular war, and the notion that women should be afforded the same rights in the workplace as men highlight the news. World War II had thrust women into the workplace, but the return of the men pushed them back into the shadows. As a symbol of their dedication to freedom and emancipation from male dominance, many women burned bras, while men burned their draft cards, it was a time of turmoil.
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.
The evolution of undergarments for girls and women evolved rapidly, and knickers and baggy styles were replaced by smaller and smaller styles until the bikini brief became the most popularly accepted. The 1970s saw as its major change to female undergarment the invention of the push-up bra. Ladies underwear had come 180 degrees from restrictive designs made to force women to a societal mandated shape, to one of comfort and femininity that allowed for the freedom of individual choice.