Yem

Yem refers to an ancient Vietnamese bodice used primarily as an undergarment that was once worn by Vietnamese women across all classes. There exists a modern variant called "áo yem", but the historical garment was simply called "yếm". It is a simple garment with many variations from its basic form, which is a simple, usually diamond or square-cut piece of cloth draped over a woman's chest with strings to tie at the neck and back.

Ribbon Corset

The ribbon corset is made of pieces of ribbon, as opposed to fabric. In 1901, a simple pattern of silk ribbon, two bones, and a busk was available, allowing women to construct their own ribbon corsets.

A pseudo-ribbon corset looks like a ribbon corset but is made from cut cloth instead of ribbons. The outside seam of the cut cloth is sewn fine, while the tight inside seam is sewn plain and curved.

Waist Cincher

A waist cincher (sometimes referred to as a Waspie) is a belt worn around the waist to make the wearer's waist physically smaller, or to create the illusion of being smaller. Today Waist cinchers and Waspies from the 1980s are a type of wide, laced belts with elastic fabric and soft plastic stiffeners.

Pettipants

Pettipants are a type of lingerie worn by women. The name is probably derived from a portmanteau of the French word petit ("small"), the spelling "petti" coming more cirectly from "petticoat," and the English word pants. Pettipants are similar to long shorts, though they may be made from material such as cotton and lace, and usually have ruffles down each leg. They are available in different lengths up to knee length.

When pettipants were fashionable, they were usually worn under skirts, dresses, culottes, or walking shorts for modesty or comfort. However, they are not considered a modern or popular style; currently they are most likely to be worn by square dancers or persons involved in historical reenactment. Unlike other types of underwear, pettipants will not ride up and eliminate hot-weather chafing.

Petticoat

A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing for women; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress. The petticoat is a separate garment hanging from the waist (unlike the chemise).

In historical contexts (sixteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries), petticoat refers to any separate skirt worn with a gown, bedgown, bodice or jacket. These petticoats are not strictly speaking underwear as they were made to be seen.in both historical and modern contexts, petticoat refers to skirt-like undergarments worn for warmth or to give the skirt or dress the desired fashionable shape. In this context a petticoat may be called a waist slip or underskirt (UK) or half slip (US), with petticoat restricted to extremely full garments. Petticoat can also refer to a full-length slip in the UK, although this usage is somewhat old-fashioned.Petticoat is the standard name in English for any underskirt worn as part of non-Western clothing, as with the sari.

Pantalettes

Pantalettes are undergarments covering the legs worn by women, girls, and very young boys (before they were breeched) in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. A form of leggings or long drawers, pantalettes originated in France in the early 19th century, and quickly spread to Britain and America.

Pantalettes could be one-piece or two separate garments, one for each leg, attached at the waist with buttons or laces. They were most often of white linen fabric and could be decorated with tucks, lace, cutwork or broderie anglaise.

Ankle-length pantalettes for women were worn under the crinoline and hoop skirt to ensure that the legs were modestly covered. Pantalettes for children and young girls were mid-calf to ankle-length and were intended to show under their shorter skirts.

Pannier

Panniers or side hoops are women's undergarments worn in the eighteenth century to extend the width of the skirts at the side while leaving the front and back flat. This provided a flat panel where boldly scaled woven patterns or rich embroidery could be fully appreciated. The style originated in Spanish court dress of the seventeenth century, familiar in portraits by Velázquez.

By mid-eighteenth century it had been developed into the robe à la française, which ensured that a woman took up three times as much space as a man and always presented an imposing spectacle. At their most extreme, in the French court of Marie Antoinette, panniers could extend the skirt several feet at each side.

Farthingale

Farthingale is a term applied to any of several structures used under Western European women's clothing in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to support the skirts into the desired shape.

Crinoline

Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the skirts of a woman's dress into the required shape. In form and function it is very similar to the earlier farthingale.

Bustle

A bustle is a type of framework used to expand the fullness or support the drapery of the back of a woman's dress, occurring predominantly between the mid- to late 1800s. Bustles were worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. Thus, a woman's petticoated or crinolined skirt would lose its shape during everyday wear (from merely sitting down or moving about). The word "bustle" has become synonymous with the fashion to which the bustle was integral.

Hoop Skirt

A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. Hoop skirts typically consist of a fabric petticoat with casings to hold a stiffening material, variously rope, osiers, whalebone, steel or nylon.

Lightweight hoop skirts, usually with nylon hoops, are worn today under very full-skirted wedding gowns. They can sometimes be seen in the gothic fashion scene. They are also an essential part of American Civil War reenactment.

Liberty Bodice

The liberty bodice (Australian and British English), like the emancipation bodice or North American emancipation waist, was an undergarment for women and girls invented towards the end of the 19th century, as an innovative alternative to a corset. In the United Kingdom they were well-known for decades, with some older women still using them in the 1970s.

A liberty bodice was a simply-shaped sleeveless bodice, often made of warm, fleecy fabric, usually with suspenders (US garters) attached. It might be straight or slightly curvy, and sometimes had buttons to fasten on other underwear: drawers (knickers or US panties) or petticoat/slip. A vest (US undershirt) might be worn underneath. The bodices had no boning, unlike corsets, although some had firm cloth strapping which might encourage good posture. While some writers discuss liberty bodices as a restrictive garment imposed on children, these bodices were originally intended to "liberate" women from the virtually universally-worn, heavily-boned and firmly-laced corsets that were the norm of contemporary fashion. These new undergarments derived from the Victorian dress reform Movement, which aimed to "free" women from body-compressing corsetry and excessive layers of tedious, "unhealthy" underclothing. The concept was related to the Women's Emancipation Movement, but in practice some of the early liberty bodices in the UK were advertised for maids who would be freer to get on with their work without a constricting corset. Later the liberty bodice came to be thought of as something practical for a child who could be buttoned up warmly.

Basque (Clothing)

A Basque (also known as a torsolette) is an item of women's historical apparel. The term, of French origin, can mean either a long corset or jacket characterised by a close, contoured fit and extending past the waistline over the hips.

In Victorian outerwear, basque refers to a closely fitted jacket extending at the back past the waistline over the hips, to be worn over a bustle. In 20th century and contemporary attire, the term is used to refer to an article of lingerie, particularly a torso-hugging camisole that resembles a basque or corset (typically featuring decorative front or back lace-up detail), but of more delicate construction and offering little or no figure-molding compression. Basque may also refer to details reminiscent of lingerie such as frilly lace and cutout, "peekaboo" designs

Chemise

The term chemise or shift can refer to the classic smock, or else can refer to certain modern types of women's undergarments and dresses. In the classical usage it is a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts commonly worn in Western nations.

Fishnet

In the field of textiles, fishnet is a material with an open, diamond shaped knit. Fishnet is most often used as a material for stockings, tights or bodystockings. Fishnet is available in a multitude of colors, though most often sported in traditional matte black. Fishnet is commonly worn on the legs and arms by practitioners of goth and punk fashion, but is also commonly worn in mainstream as a fashion statement. It is generally considered to be a sexy garment, and may be a component of sexual fetishism. Fishnets are used mostly as a sort of undergarment, it defines curves by sticking close to the body, generally making the wearer look more muscularly defined.

Stocking

A stocking, sometimes referred to as hose, is a close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg. Stockings vary in color and transparency. By analogy, the term is also used to describe a type of horse marking in which the white coloring extends from the horse's hoof to just above the knee.

Functionality of Stockings

In modern usage, stocking specifically refers to the form of women's hosiery configured as two pieces, one for each leg. The term hold-ups and thigh highs refers to stockings that stay up on their own, while the word stockings is the general term or refers to the kind of stockings that need a suspender belt (garter belt, in American English), and are quite distinct from tights or pantyhose (American English). Thigh highs are often perceived as preferable to pantyhose for various reasons, such as:

• Aesthetics-garters, lace, top fashion, applique, exposure of the thigh, complexity (though it is possible to make tights with fake stocking tops near the top of the legs)

• Easier and quicker access to the genital area-enhances sexual spontaneityMessage-as more detail is involved, a perception of erotic intent is raised

• Health and cleanliness-less sweat, more ventilation; reduction of fungal and bacterial challenge

• Personal convenience-it is considerably easier and quicker to go to the toilet while wearing stockings

Styles of Pantyhose

Pantyhose are available in a wide range of popular styles. The sheerness of the garment, expressed as a numerical 'denier'/'dtex', ranges from 3 (extremely rare, very thin, barely visible) to 15 (standard sheer) up to 30 (semi opaque) until 100 (opaque). Examples of opaque tights showing mostly 40 denier opaque tights upwards.

Control-top Pantyhose

It is intended to create a slimmer form, has a reinforced panty. There may be visible panty lines when wearing high-cut skirts or shorts.

Sheer-to-waist Pantyhose

It is sheer throughout, with the panty portion being the same thickness and color as the leg portion, and are designed for use with high-slit gowns, miniskirts, hot pants, or lingerie. Often sheer-to-waist pantyhose will be reinforced along and on either side of the seam in the middle of the panty.

Open-crotch Pantyhose

It sometimes known as crotchless pantyhose, does not have a gusset. Instead, an opening is in place for hygiene or pantyhose fetishism activities.

Some pantyhose have single- or double-panel gussets incorporated into them. In single there are two seams instead of the usual one, with a single one on the opposite side; with double panel gussets, there are two seams on either side.

Pantyhose

Pantyhose (also called tights) are sheer, close fitting coverings of the body from the waist to the feet. Traditionally considered a woman's garment, pantyhose appeared in the 1960s and provided a convenient alternative to stockings. Like stockings, pantyhose are usually made of nylon. Pantyhose are designed to:

• Be fashionable

• Ease chafing between the foot and footwear

• Keep the legs and feet warm

• Hide physical imperfections such as blemishes, bruises, scars, hair, or varicose veins

Besides being worn as fashion, in Western society pantyhose is sometimes worn by women when formal dress is required. For example, the dress code of some companies and schools require pantyhose or fashion tights to be worn when skirts or shorts are worn or as part of a uniform.

Composition of Pantyhose

Pantyhose generally has a standard construction:

• The top of the waist is a strong elastic

• The part covering the hips (panty area) is composed of a thicker material than the legs

• The gusset or crotch is also a stronger material, sometimes made of cotton

while the legs of the pantyhose are made of the thinnest material which has a consistent construction down to the toes, which may be reinforced to guard against wear.

Most pantyhose are composed of nylon and a mixture of spandex, which provides the elasticity and form fitting that is characteristic of modern pantyhose. The nylon fabric is somewhat prone to tearing and it is common for very sheer hose to 'run' soon after snagging on something rough or sharp.

Variations in pantyhose construction exist, such as with fishnet pantyhose. They may also be composed of other materials such as cotton or wool.

Knee highs

Knee-highs are hosiery that covers the leg up to the knee. Typically worn by women in western society, these garments have become a global staple of modern semi-formal dress. They are generally made of nylon or other pantyhose material. Demand for such articles exploded during the 1960s and 1970s with the increase in popularity of the miniskirt. Knee-highs are also worn by many Catholic grammar schools and high schools. They come in many different colors and patterns, and are becoming more popular. They also keep legs warm in the winter months and are very comfortable to wear.

Garter (Stockings)

Garters are articles of clothing. They are narrow bands of fabric fastened about the leg, used to keep stockings up. Normally just a few inches in width, they are usually made of leather or heavy cloth, and adorned with small bells and/or ribbons. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg was slenderest, to keep the stocking from slipping. The advent of elastic has made them unnecessary from this functional standpoint, although they are still often worn for fashion.


Garters in Fashion

A garter is often worn by newlywed brides. It is the groom's privilege to remove the garter and toss it to the male guests. The symbolism to deflowering is unambiguous. Historically, this tradition also relates to the belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring good luck. As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress, the tradition arose for the bride to toss articles of clothing to the guests, including the garter. Another superstition that has circulated is the male equivalent of the bride throwing her bouquet to the unmarried ladies, i.e., the unmarried male wedding guest who successfully caught the garter was believed to be the next man to be headed to the altar from the group of single men at that wedding. Traditionally, the man who caught the garter and the lady who caught the bouquet will share the next dance.

Teddy

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A teddy, also called body and camiknicker, is a form of bodysuit-like lingerie, often worn in the boudoir. By definition, a teddy is an undergarment which combines a camisole and panty in one piece. Unlike a bodysuit, it is typically looser and more sheer, and may be designed to slip off from the shoulders, rather than to open at the crotch.



Modern Teddy Styles

There are two main types of teddies available today: teddies designed for visual appeal and teddies designed as practical clothing. Most modern teddies fall into one of these two categories. Common teddy styles are listed and explained below.

Bareback Teddy

A teddy with an open back. Bareback teddies typically include one or more straps to provide bust support, so they can be worn without a bra, giving the wearer the appearance of a bare back.

Body Briefer Teddy

A fitted teddy designed for smoothing and shaping of the wearer's figure. Body briefers typically come in a variety of control levels, achieved by using different materials or thicknesses of materials in the body areas they are designed to control. Like sleep teddies, body briefers tend to use simpler materials and styles than teddies designed for visual appeal. Body briefers are also commonly referred to as "body shapers" or "women's shapers".

Fashion Top Teddy

A teddy which combines a thong panty, bra and fashion top. Fashion top teddies come in a wide variety of styles, from simple styles with plain materials to very fancy styles with beads, crystals or sequins. Fashion top teddies can be worn as fancy undergarments or as an outer garment without a top over them.

Sleep Teddy

A loose-fitting teddy designed as sleepwear. Sleep teddies tend to use simpler materials and styles than teddies designed for visual appeal.

Teddiette

A teddy with detachable garters.

Traditional Teddy

A loose-fitting teddy designed for visual appeal and to show off the wearer's figure. Traditional teddies often use sheer or partially sheer material.

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Slip

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A slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the skin from coarse fabrics such as wool. Slips are also worn for warmth, and to protect fine fabrics from perspiration.

A full slip hangs from the shoulders, usually by means of narrow straps, and extends from the breast to the fashionable skirt length.

A half slip hangs from the waist. May also be called a waist slip or rarely a petticoat.

Slips are usually made of a smooth and slippery fabric such as silk, satin, polyester, tricot or nylon, although cotton slips are also used particularly in hot countries. They are often decorated with lace at the edges and hem, and are typically worn over more intimate undergarments. Slips are also worn for modesty under translucent outer garments. A half slip may be worn with a matching camisole as an alternative to a full slip.

A slip dress is a dress for street wear styled like a slip, fitting close to the body and having narrow shoulder straps. The term should not be confused with the British English "gymslip," an outer garment worn by girls during physical education classes in high school. In various other languages, such as Dutch, French, German and Greek, "slip" refers to different types of undergarment: tightly fitting, both male and female undershorts, such as briefs and thongs.

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Playsuit

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A playsuit is an item of lingerie consisting of an all in one design where the top half, similar to a negligee, is joined to the bottom half, similar to a panty or shorts. The playsuit also exists in mainstream fashion as a type of garment for day or evening wear.

The playsuit, which is typically a shorter version of the jumpsuit, was popular in the 1970's, and was usually made from silky fabrics for evening wear, or jersey and terry-toweling for casual summer occasions. Since 2006, the playsuit, jumpsuit and catsuit has made a resurgence in mainstream fashion.

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Nightshirt

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A nightshirt is a garment intended for sleeping in. It is somewhat longer than most regular shirts, reaching at least down to the thighs, but usually shorter than a dress or robe, leaving some of the legs uncovered. It is generally loose-fitting to avoid restricting the wearer's movement while sleeping.

As a bedtime garment, the nightshirt is the successor of a type of long undergarment used by many Europeans through the 19th Century. This undergarment was worn all day under outer clothing. At night the outer clothing was removed, and men and women slept in the long shirt-like garment. This smock was longer for women than for men, more resembling a dress. Upon arising in the morning, the outer garments were again put on over it.

In modern usage the nightshirt usually functions as an alternative to other specialized sleepwear, such as pajamas, in that it is removed after arising and put away for use during the next sleeping period. It may also be used in private and intimate settings as comfortable attire for relaxation. As a sleep or lounge garment, it has the convenience of being a single piece, and provides a degree of warmth and a moderate degree of modesty for the wearer.

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Corselet

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A corselet or corselette is type of foundation garment which is a brassiere and girdle in one. It will sometimes have lace in front or in the back. The name is a taken from the word corset with the diminutive "-ette".

It is also the name of a piece of body armor for the torso, and it usually consists of a breastplate and back piece.

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Corset

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A luxury hourglass corset from 1878. It features a busk fastening at the front and lacing at the back.A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it, or with a more lasting effect). Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers.

In recent years, the term "corset" has also been borrowed by the fashion industry to refer to tops which, to varying degrees mimic the look of traditional corsets without actually acting as one. While these modern "corsets" and "corset tops" often feature lacing and/or boning and generally mimic a historical style of corsets, they have very little if any effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corsetmaker and should ideally be fitted especially for the individual wearer.

Uses of Corset in Fashion

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The most common and well-known use of corsets is to slim the body and make it conform to a fashionable silhouette. For women this most frequently emphasizes a curvy figure, by reducing the waist, and thereby exaggerating the bust and hips . However, in some periods, corsets have been worn to achieve a tubular straight-up-and-down shape, which involves minimizing the bust and hips.

For men, corsets are more customarily used to slim the figure. However, there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when an hourglass figure (a small, nipped-in look to the waist) was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset. An overbust corset encloses the torso, extending from just under the arms to the hips. An underbust corset begins just under the breasts and extends down to the hips. Some corsets extend over the hips and, in very rare instances, reach the knees . A shorter kind of corset, which covers the waist area (from low on the ribs to just above the hips), is called a 'waist cincher'. A corset may also include garters to hold up stockings (alternatively a separate garter belt may be worn for that). Normally a corset supports the visible dress, and spreads the pressure from large dresses, such as the crinoline and bustle. Sometimes a corset cover is used to protect outer clothes from the corset and to smooth the lines of the corset.

Special Types of Corsets

There are some special types of corsets and corset-like devices which incorporate boning.

Corset Dress

A corset dress (also known as hobble corset because it produces similar restrictive effects to a hobble skirt) is a long corset . It is like an ordinary corset, but it is long enough to cover the legs, partially or totally. It thus looks like a dress, hence the name. A person wearing a corset dress can have great difficulty in walking up and down the stairs (especially if wearing high-heeled footwear) and may be unable to sit down if the boning is too stiff.

Neck Corset

A neck corset is a type of posture collar incorporating stays and it is generally not considered to be a corset.

Advantages of Corsets

Health benefits Corsets promote good posture.Corsets can reduce pain and improve function for people with back problems or other muscular/skeletal disorders, such as Lordosis.Some large-breasted women find corsets more comfortable than brassieres, because the weight of the breasts is carried by the whole corset rather than the brassiere's shoulder straps. Straps can chafe or cut the skin. However, if a bra is properly fitted, the weight of the breasts is carried by the band and not by the shoulders, thus eliminating this problem for even women with very large breasts.

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Thong

The thong is an undergarment and swimwear, worn by both sexes but more commonly women. The style characterized by a thin strip of material along the center of the garment's back designed to sit between the wearer's buttocks, connected directly to the bottom front of the garment and to both sides of the front at the top via a waistband. Basically, it is a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips. At times the rear area became so narrow that it would disappear between the wearer's buttocks.


A similar item is the G-string, of which the back consists only of a string. The two terms G-string and Thong are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing. A G-string is one variety of thongs. See the design and variety of thongs for details. Thongs come in a variety of styles depending on the thickness, material, or type of the rear portion of fabric and are available for both men and women throughout the world. It is known as the "fio dental" in Brazil. Since, the thong is essentially a panty with a strap in the back, it is often called a T-back.

Tap Pants

Tap pants are a form of lingerie worn mostly by women. It is also known by the names of French knickers, side-cut shorts, and dance shorts. As the name implies, they are a type of shorts, in that they cover the pelvic area and the upper part of the upper legs. Tap pants look much like track shorts, allow freedom of movement, and can be worn as an outer garment over other types of underwear (g-strings). However, most wearers may wear them as innerwear or leisurewear with nothing underneath. From a distance, one could mistakenly identify tap pants as a half slip.

Panties

Panties (in the USA and Canada) or knickers or pants (in the UK and Commonwealth) or undies (in Australia and New Zealand) are a form of underwear, usually light and snug-fitting, designed to be worn by women or girls in the area directly below the waist. Panties are not usually worn by men or boys. Typical components include a waistband (often elastic), a crotch to cover the genital area (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton), and a pair of leg openings (also often elastic). They have either no legs or in some cases very short ones. The term is usually used in the plural-a single unit is a "pair of panties"-though "panty" is used in such derivatives as "panty liner".

Girdle

The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity.

G-string

A G-string (alternatively gee-string or gee string) is a type of underwear, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by both men and women. It is also a style of thong swimsuit whose rear area became so narrow that it would disappear between the wearer's buttocks. The two terms G-string and thong are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing. A G-string is one variety of thong. See the design and variety of thongs for details.

Control Brief

A Control brief is a type of panty girdle undergarment with longer legs and a higher waist, normally worn by a woman to lift and shape her buttocks area while flattening the stomach area. They are made with thicker material than pantyhose and fit snugly to slim a woman's stomach and thighs. Some are made with padding on the hips and buttocks area to make those areas appear bigger.

Boyshorts

Boy shorts, also known as boy short panties, boys' cut, booty shorts, shorties, tap panties or boyleg briefs are a sort of lingerie that goes all the way down the hips. They are a relatively new, but increasingly popular style of lingerie among women and are named for their similarity in looks to men's knit boxer shorts, which themselves are a variation on traditional boxer shorts. Boy shorts often cover most of the buttocks area, but this is not always the case with thong-back lingerie also widely available.


Boy shorts are a popular choice since most of them may avoid displaying a prominent visible panty line provided they don't ride up, and yet are a modest and comfortable alternative to thongs and conventional panties. They are also popularly teamed-up with a camisole and worn as loungewear. Cotton-spandex blends and lace are the most popular materials for boyshorts.

Bikini and Bikini Variants

A Bikini or two piece is a women's swimsuit with two parts, one covering the breasts (optionally in the case of the monokini), the other the groin (and optionally the buttocks), leaving an uncovered area between the two (optionally in the case of the Tankini). It is often worn in hot weather or while swimming. The shapes of both parts of a bikini resemble women's underwear, and the lower part can range from revealing thong or g-string to briefs and modest square-cut shorts.


Bikini Variants

Bikini Underwear

Types of underwear worn by both men and women are identified as bikini underwear, similar in size and revealing nature to the bottom half of a bikini bathing suit. For women, bikini underwear can refer to virtually any tight, skimpy, or revealing undergarment that provides less coverage to the midsection than traditional underwear, panties or knickers. For men, a bikini is a type of undergarment that is smaller and more revealing than men's briefs.

Sports Bikini

There is evidence of ancient roman women playing Expulsim Ludere, an early version of handball.[32] Female athletes who play beach volleyball professionally usually wear two-pieces. These bikinis are designed with functionality rather than fashion in mind.

Men's Bikini

The term men's bikini is used to describe types of men's swimsuits, men's underwear, or similar garments. Men's bikinis can have both high or low side panels, string sides or tie sides, and most lack a button or flap front. Many do not have a visible waistband like briefs. Suits less than 1.5 inches wide at the hips are less common for sporting purposes and are most often worn for recreation, fashion, and sun tanning.

An example of this style, known as the posing brief, is the standard for competitions in the sport of bodybuilding. Male Punk rock musicians have performed on the stage wearing woman's bikini briefs.Men can now be seen wearing bikinis, thongs, and g-strings at pools and beaches throughout the world, however, it is still less popular in the United States than in Europe where men have been wearing bikinis for decades.

Mankini

Mankini is a type of sling bikini worn by men. It was popularized by Sacha Baron Cohen when he donned one in the film Borat. The buzz around the film started building during the Cannes Film Festival in May 2006, when Baron Cohen posed in character on the beach in a neon green mankini, alongside two models. According to one fashion expert suspenders combined with bikini briefs or panties form an unaesthetic pattern. Hollywood comic Jim Carrey has worn a mankini on the beach, and British designer Alexander McQueen paraded male models in mankinis in Milan Fashion Week 2008. Mankinis have also caused controversy in New Zealand, with the wearing of mankinis to rugby sevens tournaments banned.

Torsolette

A Torsolette (also known as a basque) is a short corselette, covering the chest to the waist line. The undergarment is similar to a Victorian-era corset, but with less compression of the ribs. The modern-day Torsolette features lace-up or hook-and-eye fastening, as well as boning or vertical seams for structure and support. It usually, though not always, has brassiere cups, and is distinguished from the bustier by its length. It sometimes features detachable garters, or suspenders. In American English, it is sometimes known as a "Merry widow" (or "Merrywidow").

Negligee

The negligee is a form of womenswear intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. It is a form of nightgown; first introduced in France in the 18th-century, where it mimicked the heavy head-to-toe style of woman's day dresses of the time. By the 1920s it began to mimic woman's satin single-layer evening dresses of the period. The term "negligee" was used of a Royal Doulton run of ceramic figurines in 1927, showing women wearing what appears to be a one-piece knee-length silk or rayon slip, trimmed with lace. Although the evening-dresses style of nightwear made moves towards the modern negligee style (translucent bodices, lace trimming, bows - exemplified in 1941 by a photo of Rita Hayworth in Life), it was only after World War II that nightwear changed from being primarily utilitarian to being primarily sensual or even erotic; the negligee emerged strongly as a form of lingerie.


Modern negligees are often much looser and made of sheer and semi-translucent fabrics and trimmed with lace or other fine material, and bows. Multiple layers of fabric are often used. The modern negligee thus perhaps owes more to woman's fine bedjackets or bed-capes, and up-market slips than to the nightgown. It spread to a mass market, benefiting from the introduction of cheap synthetic fabrics such as nylon and its finer successors. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the trend was for negligees to become shorter in length (e.g. the babydoll of the 1970s). Negligees made from the 1940s to the 1970s are now collectible vintage items.‎ In the UK in 2004, negligees accounted for only four per cent of woman's nightwear sales, woman's pajamas having dominated since the mid 1980s. However, UK negligee sales are said to have been the fastest increasing sector of the market since 1998. The word comes from the French négliger, meaning to neglect, to disregard or to overlook.

Camisole

Historically, camisole referred to jackets of various kinds,including overshirts (worn under a doublet or bodice),women's négligées and sleeved jackets worn by men. Nowadays, a camisole or cami is a loose-fitting sleeveless woman's undergarment which covers the top part of the body but is shorter than a chemise. A camisole normally extends to the waist but is sometimes cropped to expose the midriff, or extended to cover the entire pelvic region. Camisoles are manufactured from light materials,commonly cotton-based, occasionally satin or silk, or stretch fabrics such as lycra, nylon, or spandex.


A camisole typically has thin "spaghetti straps" and can be worn over a brassiere or without one. Since 1989, some camisoles have come with a built-in underwire bra or other support which eliminates the need for a bra among those who prefer one. Recently, camisoles have been known to be used as outerwear. A variety of sleeveless body shaping undergarments have been derived from the camisole shape, offering medium control of the bust, waist and/or abdomen. Such control camisoles are the most casual of shaping garments, covering the torso from above the chest to at or below the waist. They look similar to tight-fitting cotton or silk camisoles, but the straps are usually wider, the hems longer, and the stretch fabric provides a smoothing touch. Camisole is also a clinical term for a straitjacket.

Bustier

A bustier (alternately bustiere) is an article of clothing for women, which is form-fitting and is traditionally worn as lingerie. It looks somewhat like a Basque, but a bustier is shorter. It reaches down only to the ribs or the waist and has a different function: its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts to move up, while gently shaping the waist. Modern bustiers are often made with mesh panels rather than boning. The bustier is a multi-purpose garment and doubles as a push-up bra for inner wear and as a camisole for outer wear. The bustier can also be worn as a half-slip under diaphanous upper garments if a bold display of the midriff is not desired.

Types of Bras

There is a wide range of brassiere styles available, designed to match different body types, situations, and outer garments. The degree of shaping and coverage of the breasts varies between styles, as do functionality, fashion, fabric, and color.

Nursing Bra

A nursing bra is a brassiere that permits comfortable breastfeeding, without the need to remove the bra. The Importance of Fit Because of all of these size changes, a bra that accommodates this fluctuation is incredibly important, particularly during the first 2 months of breastfeeding. In addition to being important for comfort, an ill-fitting bra or a bra that does not grow or shrink with mom could result in infection if it is compressing a milk gland, for example. When a milk gland becomes compressed, it could clog and possibly result in an infection called mastitis. Extremely painful, mastitis is difficult for mom not just physically but emotionally. A well-fitting nursing bra provides support to the breasts and helps to maintain breast shape by limiting the stretching of supportive tissue.

Sports Bra

Sports bra is a bra that provides the additional support for the breasts required during physical exercise. It is intended for wear during vigorous exercise that might cause the breasts to move uncomfortably or excessively, preventing discomfort and potential embarrassment during exercise. Sports bras are sturdier than regular bras and offer greater support for the chest during periods of exercise, thus increasing comfort and reducing the chance of damage to the ligaments of the chest.

Underwire Bra

An underwire bra (also under wire bra, under-wire bra, or underwired bra) is a brassiere that has a wire built into the underside of the cup, and is intended to lift, separate, shape, and provide additional support for women's breasts. The underwire is a thin, U-shaped strip of metal, often with plastic or nylon tips, or a U-shaped, molded plastic piece that is fitted inside the cloth along the bottom and sides of the bra cup.

Brassiere

A brassiere commonly referred to as a bra, is an article of clothing that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. As well as an undergarment, the bra is considered a foundation garment because of its role in shaping the wearer's figure. It was originally developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to replace the corset, and has now become, in many parts of the world, the standard method for supporting a woman's breasts.


The bra can be worn to support and enhance breast shape during everyday activities. A specialized bra, the sports bra, can be worn to support and restrain breasts during exercise. The bra may also be worn to preserve modesty or to present a certain image of femininity. Bras are typically designed to lift the breasts into a particular position, for a more youthful look or for enhancing cleavage. These roles are sometimes conflicting. Some designers aim at producing a garment that fulfills a practical role as well as making it look attractive. Bras are also used during pregnancy (when breasts are enlarged and more sensitive), and for nursing (see nursing bra) to support and provide access for breast feeding. Some have questioned the practical need for the bra, with some women preferring not to wear a bra on a regular basis.


The bra has become charged with political and cultural meanings that overlay its practical purpose. Traditionally it is viewed as symbolic of a young girl's coming of age. It can also be interpreted as a feminine icon. On the other hand, some feminists consider the brassiere a symbol of the repression of women's bodies.

Babydoll

A babydoll is a short, sometimes sleeveless, loose fitting nightgown or negligee intended as nightwear for women. It sometimes has formed cups called a Bralette for cleavage with an attached loose fitting skirt falling in length between the hips and the belly button. The garment is often trimmed with lace, ruffles, appliques, marabou fur, bows and ribbons, optionally with spaghetti straps. Sometimes it is made of sheer or translucent fabric like nylon or chiffon or silk. The garment's hemline is usually about six inches above the knee like a minidress and may have a scoop-neck. Usually panties are worn underneath.

Lingerie Market Structure

Lingerie Market at the turn of 21st century was driven by the advent of modern technologies and fabrics that help in designing innovative products such as laser-cut seamless bras and moulded T-shirt bras. Designers are putting greater emphasis on rich-looking fabrics, laces, embroideries and brighter, more daring colors

The global lingerie market in 2003 was estimated at $29 billion.Bras accounted for 56 per cent while briefs represented 29 per cent of the lingerie market in 2005.The world's largest lingerie manufacturer, Victoria's Secret, operates almost exclusively in North America. The European market is quite fragmented, with Triumph International and DB Apparel leading the market.

Overview of Lingerie

Lingerie is a term for fashionable and alluring women's undergarments. It derives from the French word linge, "washables" and ultimately from lin for washable linen, the fabric from which European undergarments were made before the general introduction of cotton from Egypt and then from India.

The concept of lingerie being visually appealing was a development of the later nineteenth century. Up through the first half of the 20th century women selected underwear for three major purposes: to alter their shape (first with corsets and later with girdles or bras), for reasons of hygiene, or for modesty. Women's underwear before the invention of the crinoline was often very large and bulky. As the 20th century progressed underwear became smaller and more form fitting. In the 1960s 'controversial' lingerie manufacturers such as Frederick's of Hollywood begin to glamorize lingerie and the idea of lingerie having a sexual appeal slowly developed.

The lingerie industry has expanded in the 21st century with designs that double as outerwear. The French refer to this as 'dessous-dessus' which basically means innerwear as outerwear. The boutique Faire Frou Frou, which is an antiquated phrase meaning "show it off", heralds this philosophy by categorizing lingerie as an accessory with details such as straps and lace trim that should be layered and shown as part of one's outerwear

Since the mid-1990s women have had more choice in bra sizes; the focus has changed from choosing bras in an average size to wearing bras that actually fit perfectly. In the UK, for instance, the media is fueling an awareness campaign about the need for each woman to have a proper bra fitting before every purchase.

Other companies have provided made to measure alternatives. The world famous French House of Cadolle, now owned by the fifth generation Cadolle, Poupie Cadolle, makes bras, corsets and other lingerie on a made to measure basis (also known as Demi-mesure for clothes adapted to fit the customers' measurements). The made to measure method is also used by British firm Kate Gibson Lingerie, founded by Kate Mellor and Katy Gibson. Kate Gibson Lingerie, taking the opposite track from Bravissimo, only produces petite lingerie for women who wear AA to 34B cup bras, thereby provided choice for smaller women. Both Cadolle and Kate Gibson Lingerie use couture fabrics and laces to created designer lingerie and petite designer lingerie.

Within the UK the choice of lingerie available is vast. In London Rigby and Peller are famous for their fitting service, and produce their own branded lingerie that sits alongside other brands such as Lejaby, Prima Donna and other premium brands. Bravissimo specialises in larger cup size bras, and has a huge choice of Fantasie and Freya. For more provocative sexy luxury lingerie Agent Provocateur is available in major UK cities and online. A newer brand Boudiche emerged in the last few years with boutiques in Scotland offering designer brands sourced from around the world, including from the UK , Undrest, and more unusual brands such as I.D. Sarrieri from Romania.

Drapers magazine, runs it's annual Drapers Awards and includes a category for 'Best Lingerie Retailer' in the UK. In 2007 this was won by Scottish Lingerie Retailer, Boudiche, in 2006 by Marks and Spencer, and previously Figleaves held the title for 2 years running

Companies such as The Natori Company, founded in 1977 by Josie Natori have helped expand lingerie beyond bras and underwear into the areas of sleepwear and loungewear, creating clothes that can be "worn either to bed or out on the town."