Undressed:
A Brief History of Underwear is on at V&A from 16 April 2016-12 March 2017
This exhibition
told the story of underwear design from the 18th century to the present day. It
explored the intimate relationship between underwear and fashion and its role
in moulding the body to a fashionable ideal. Underwear is sometimes
controversial, sparking debates about health and hygiene, body image and
stereotyping. Its cut, fit, fabric and decoration reflect changing attitudes to
gender, sex and morality; shifting notions of public and private; and
innovations in fabric technology and design.
Underclothes
have also influenced outer wear. Nightwear has morphed into lounge wear and
garments such as corsets, crinolines and slips have been recast by fashion
designers to challenge convention and explore the dynamic relationship between
body and clothing.
This
fascinating and thought provoking story was told through over 200 objects.
Garments designed for men and women were displayed alongside advertising
material, fashion plates, photographs and films to bring new insights into the
most personal garments in our wardrobe.
The Story
of Underwear
Male and
Female
By: Shaun
Cole, Muriel Barbier, Shazia Boucher
Mirroring
the evolution of society’s values, the history of underwear highlights the
continuous, dancing exchange that exists between women's styles and men’s
fashion. Undergarments are concealed, flaunted, stretched or shortened,
establishing a game between yesterday’s illicit and today’s chic and thereby
denouncing the sense of disgrace that these simple pieces of clothing used to
betray.
Featuring
two separate works on male and female underwear, this study is full of
surprises and powerful reflections on man’s relationship with his body, and
woman’s with hers. From the ordinary, discreet underwear of ancient times to
the boxer-briefs and seductive push-up bras of the 21st century, this work
demonstrates how much the radical dictates of fashion reflect the evolution of
both the male and female archetypes, as well as the overall values of an era.
About the
Author
Shaun Cole
is an independent exhibition commissioner, writer and lecturer primarily based
at the University of London. As a curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum,
he oversaw several exhibitions, most notably Graphic Responses to AIDS (1996),
Fashion on Paper (1997), Dressing the Male (1999), Black British Style (2004),
and the innovative series Day of Record, which makes the connection between
decorative arts and personal identity. Shaun Cole has also written and lectured
on the subject of menswear and homosexual fashion. His publications include
‘Don We Now Our Gay Apparel’: Gay Men’s Dress in the Twentieth Century (2000) and
Dialogue: Relationships in Graphic Design (2005).
Muriel
Barbier is a graduate of the École du Louvre, where she now teaches decorative
arts from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. She is also a lecturer for the
UCAD museums, including the Fashion and Textile Museum.
Shazia
Boucher is a curator for the Museum of Lace in Calais, and often contributes to
exhibitions involving fashion, lingerie and lace.
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