Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear

Other garments devised to lift, separate or exaggerate parts of the anatomy and to provide a structure for the fashionable shape of the day are exhibited including rare 18th-century hoops alongside crinolines and bustles. Some were designed in response to consumer demands for more practical undergarments which did not compromise movement, such as an ingenious collapsing bustle, are presented alongside its original advertising materials. The use of underwear to add volume to the body in other contexts are shown through displays of men’s briefs by aussieBum from 2015, designed to enhance the genitals.

The exhibition also demonstrates how underclothes and nightclothes morphed into lounge wear over time; dressing gowns were transformed into informal garments for home entertaining such as tea and hostess gowns. Highlights include an 1840s man’s dressing gown, a silk evening dress by Paul Poiret from 1911 which anticipated the chemise dress of the 1920s, a 1970s kaftan for home entertaining, a chic 1930s jump suit by the London fashion house Baroque and embroidered lounge pyjamas from the 1920s.

Many designers are fascinated by the relationship between underwear and outerwear, and underwear and the body. Garments on display will show how designers have challenged accepted ideas about private and public, gender, sex and nudity. Underwear is by definition worn beneath other clothes - while shirts, chemises and petticoats were sometimes partially revealed before the 20th century to indicate quality and the wealth of the owner, todays social and cultural revolution usually means anything goes.

Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, sponsored by Agent Provocateur and Revlon. 16th April 2016 – 12 March 2017.