In the past when I have been to the Fashion and Textiles Museum, I have not always gone away with a sense of fulfilment. Being quite a small museum, when setting up exhibitions they clearly have to really think about what is going to be displayed and in my opinion they don’t always include enough so I have walked away not feeling that I have learnt anything new or seen something in a different light, however, this time I left feeling inspired.
The exhibition was a celebration of one of the most fundamental things to how women look and feel; underwear. Everything from corsets to push-up bras and girdles to thongs where being displayed around the museum, with enough information to show how shapes and methods have changed over the past century, without overloading you with information. When walking into the museum you come across a wall of cabinets in which are examples of the different garments that were being worn in each decade, from the 1900s ‘S-shape’ with the low mono-bosom, cinched waist and accentuated hips, originally designed as a health corset by Mme. Gaches-Sarraute, to the Calvin Klein sports bra of the 1990s.
Moving round into the main room, there were mannequins’ wearing everything from Marks and Spencer’s to La Perla to Playboy, and then suspended from ceiling were corsets from various eras. What I did notice about the corsets hanging there, was that they really were so stunning with so much care and attention put into them that it makes you question where the boundary is between underwear and outerwear- surely something with that much detail and glamour to, you would want to show off, not cover up. Although some of the pieces would have been made as underwear, with fewer embellishments and cleaner lines that wouldn’t bulk up under a dress or top, some of them looked like they really were made to be worn as outerwear, such as the more extravagant pieces with Swarovsky crystals and plumes of feathers and even the ones with everyday embellishments like buttons and zips. The only problem was unless you have a 14inch waist; you can’t help but feel a little large walking around all of the early 20th century corsets.
Looking at the mannequins, most of the garments didn’t really come into either categories of under or outer wear, but more into the boudoir theme. With stunning colours, fabrics and embellishments these pieces, well, you wouldn’t be able to leave the house in them alone without getting done for indecent exposure (whereas you could probably manage it with some of the corsets). Not only were a lot of them very sheer, or wear peek-a-boo styles, a lot of them had extreme lacing or ruching, which I’m sure if worn under even a vaguely slim fitting top or dress, would just look like you have a severe acne problems on your chest, and underwear is supposed to be flattering, right? So as far as these pieces go, they were clearly designed and made in the theme of the boudoir, to be worn on their own. But they really were beautiful and original and despite the plunging and cut away styles and barely there fabrics all of the pieces were very feminine without being crass or too raunchy. The only issue I had with the mannequins was that they were a very harsh colour of white, which I found to brash against the more neutral, earthy tones of some of the garments, but other than that I thought the display downstairs was really well done as you could see the whole way round each piece, and when you went up the stairs you were able to see some of the pieces more closely and really see the craftsmanship that went into making such delicate pieces.
Upstairs was different again; there was a seating area where you were able to watch various TV adverts for underwear. They again were really interesting to see how things shapes have changed over the eras; some were quite painful to watch due to the dubbing over the top, some had very little (of what I could see) to do with underwear and some were just excuses for beautiful women to prance around in next to nothing, but some were quite fun and had genuine sales intentions. Upstairs as well there was an original sizing chart and examples of how all the different pieces of a bra are put together.
I left the exhibition feeling like I had a better understanding about underwear, from colour choices and how they can affect your mood, to the technical processes and how women’s position in power have influenced the shape of underwear over the past century, I thought it was a really good exhibition, quite light-hearted and whether you like underwear which is frilly and girly or highly structured or a little more playboy, I’m pretty sure it’s an exhibition that everyone would love.
The exhibition was a celebration of one of the most fundamental things to how women look and feel; underwear. Everything from corsets to push-up bras and girdles to thongs where being displayed around the museum, with enough information to show how shapes and methods have changed over the past century, without overloading you with information. When walking into the museum you come across a wall of cabinets in which are examples of the different garments that were being worn in each decade, from the 1900s ‘S-shape’ with the low mono-bosom, cinched waist and accentuated hips, originally designed as a health corset by Mme. Gaches-Sarraute, to the Calvin Klein sports bra of the 1990s.
Moving round into the main room, there were mannequins’ wearing everything from Marks and Spencer’s to La Perla to Playboy, and then suspended from ceiling were corsets from various eras. What I did notice about the corsets hanging there, was that they really were so stunning with so much care and attention put into them that it makes you question where the boundary is between underwear and outerwear- surely something with that much detail and glamour to, you would want to show off, not cover up. Although some of the pieces would have been made as underwear, with fewer embellishments and cleaner lines that wouldn’t bulk up under a dress or top, some of them looked like they really were made to be worn as outerwear, such as the more extravagant pieces with Swarovsky crystals and plumes of feathers and even the ones with everyday embellishments like buttons and zips. The only problem was unless you have a 14inch waist; you can’t help but feel a little large walking around all of the early 20th century corsets.
Looking at the mannequins, most of the garments didn’t really come into either categories of under or outer wear, but more into the boudoir theme. With stunning colours, fabrics and embellishments these pieces, well, you wouldn’t be able to leave the house in them alone without getting done for indecent exposure (whereas you could probably manage it with some of the corsets). Not only were a lot of them very sheer, or wear peek-a-boo styles, a lot of them had extreme lacing or ruching, which I’m sure if worn under even a vaguely slim fitting top or dress, would just look like you have a severe acne problems on your chest, and underwear is supposed to be flattering, right? So as far as these pieces go, they were clearly designed and made in the theme of the boudoir, to be worn on their own. But they really were beautiful and original and despite the plunging and cut away styles and barely there fabrics all of the pieces were very feminine without being crass or too raunchy. The only issue I had with the mannequins was that they were a very harsh colour of white, which I found to brash against the more neutral, earthy tones of some of the garments, but other than that I thought the display downstairs was really well done as you could see the whole way round each piece, and when you went up the stairs you were able to see some of the pieces more closely and really see the craftsmanship that went into making such delicate pieces.
Upstairs was different again; there was a seating area where you were able to watch various TV adverts for underwear. They again were really interesting to see how things shapes have changed over the eras; some were quite painful to watch due to the dubbing over the top, some had very little (of what I could see) to do with underwear and some were just excuses for beautiful women to prance around in next to nothing, but some were quite fun and had genuine sales intentions. Upstairs as well there was an original sizing chart and examples of how all the different pieces of a bra are put together.
I left the exhibition feeling like I had a better understanding about underwear, from colour choices and how they can affect your mood, to the technical processes and how women’s position in power have influenced the shape of underwear over the past century, I thought it was a really good exhibition, quite light-hearted and whether you like underwear which is frilly and girly or highly structured or a little more playboy, I’m pretty sure it’s an exhibition that everyone would love.
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