The playful side of lingerie
by Kellie Murphy (Fashion Editor)
As I’m writing this it is snowy and three degrees outside. I felt so cold today my hands went numb and I couldn’t feel my feet under three pairs of socks. Inside my house of course, I have created a very cosy atmosphere. I wanted nothing more then to jump into bed with a hot water bottle and three blankets. This cosy feeling contrasted in a strange way with the weather in my head leading to a train of thought that ended up splashed on this page: lingerie. Wearing sexy underwear in January anyway feels like a bit of a crime but the thought of wearing lingerie when it’s so cold just sounds strange. But some people are, and good for them! Valentine’s day is coming closer and closer and lingerie is pretty tied up in this holiday. So keeping in mind all the last minute sales that will hit in February, I wanted to write about lingerie in all its glory and faults. The type of underwear you wear affects your mood as a poll from Shopsmart magazine revealed. 47% of women felt more confident or sexier when they wore an especially nice pair of underwear. It was also recorded that the women’s mood was negatively affected by wearing an ill-fitting or ugly pair of underwear, so it can have the power to ruin your day. And I believe this as underwear is often a hidden part of our wardrobe but it is so important in regards to how comfortable we feel with ourselves in our day to day life. And what interests me about lingerie is the contradictions it holds: presented as something that gives you confidence while making you feel uncomfortable.
Lingerie in the broad imagination isn’t something that excites me. It seems overly uncomfortable, focusing on how revealing or provocative the piece of underwear is, assuming that every woman would feel sexy, instead of just looking sexy. This is probably because lingerie is geared towards a male audience despite lingerie being worn by all genders. There is great difficulty in transgender women finding underwear that is gender inclusive and this is a serious issue in lingerie design. According to Forbes, transgender women struggle to find lingerie that accommodates them and this is an issue in affirming their identity, especially as underwear is the basis of our clothing and fashion is often used as a tool to express ourselves. This fact has an added importance to the trans community and non binary people who can use fashion to express themselves, affirming their identity. This is further depreciated by the intended viewer being a very specific one, a cis, heterosexual man which further constrains the design of lingerie, as lingerie is intended for the male gaze. This creates many issues which are not remedied in powerhouse clothing brands or else dealt with lingerie brands who enter the market filling this gap, making their business quite niche instead of a product in popular department stores. Vogue also touches on this issue, when discussing the difficulties the trans community has in India in finding gender affirming underwear that is comfortable. Many trans people are denied jobs with 96% of the trans community being forced to take low paying jobs which means they cannot afford gender affirming and comfortable lingerie. The popular image of lingerie on offer does not accommodate non-binary and transgender needs such as gender affirmation.
As lingerie often is catered towards a male fantasy, lingerie is often advertised centred on how you look, and who you’re wearing it for, rather than the person who’s wearing it. This can make wearers of lingerie feel uncomfortable in their own bodies, and it also influences design. Lingerie in the mainstream does not reflect the range of gender identities who wear lingerie. The focus on male approval historically has led to the confidence that women feel is wrapped up in the male’s reaction to the lingerie. This can lead to women feeling confused and disappointed in the underwear they’ve chosen, from delicate wisps of cloth to daring cuts that can leave women feeling awkward instead of empowered and anxious and uncomfortable in their bodies being showcased. Sizing in lingerie is often skewed, with sizing for plus sized women often out of stock or not available. The indication the fashion world is telling their customers is that only certain body types are meant to wear lingerie, and they are not people who are plus sized.
Yet things have been changing in the lingerie corner of the fashion world, with the pandemic and consumer preferences pushing this change. According to Edited, the pandemic was a big drive in the movement of dressing for comfort in the fashion industry. This affected the lingerie market bringing comfortable lingerie to the fore with clothing like slips, bralettes and unpadded bras. This would have appealed to consumers who were stuck at home for months on end. This aspect of comfort in fashion has remained and only grown in popularity which is intertwined with the current desire to dress up after lockdown, leading to playful and interesting lingerie designs. This has in turn aided women's relationship with lingerie as more options in underwear gives a wider range of choice, freeing women to feel more comfortable with what they’re wearing in a vulnerable and intimate moment. Edited report that retailers have increased investments in bralettes by 4% in the UK and US, and they’ve also increased investments in sports bras by 9%. Interestingly, Edited revealed that push up bras have gone out of fashion, having been on a two year decline, with a decrease by 15% year on year and 25% when compared to figures in 2020. This reveals that comfort is of a much greater importance than what is perceived as sexy, but this does not mean that lingerie that is comfortable has sacrificed sex appeal. Lots of brands have responded to demands for a more comfortable lingerie that is more inclusive to body sizes and different styles of underwear. For example, Bluebella, a British lingerie brand responded to customers' desires for brands to be more inclusive in sizing. Glamour UK describes the increase in their bra sizes to an F cup while underwear has increased to a size 26. Colourful designs are a staple in their production which introduces a newer, fresher idea of lingerie than the historical format of appealing to men rather than the women who wear it. This includes plus-sized women while also expanding lingerie options to include individual preferences, allowing more women to feel comfortable in their underwear.
There has also been a response to the needs of the trans community for gender inclusive underwear. Lingerie is both playful and inclusive of people’s needs, centring lingerie on the wearer rather than the viewer which increases the wearers confidence. Through pleasing yourself you increase your positive body image (which I think should always be the aim when you buy lingerie). The importance of underwear according to those interviewed by Vogue included underwear that didn’t hypersexualise the wearer, was supportive, affordable, had a range of compression and consideration for menstruation when designing boxers or briefs, while also appealing to individuals' idea of sexiness. Several brands meet needs such as these like the company Origami Customs. They design lingerie that is gender inclusive according to Reviewed, using compression to smooth out the pelvic area for those with penises. Their sizing is also inclusive of plus sized people with a range of xxs to 5xl.
Lingerie has entered a playful and modern era, including many people that wouldn’t have been even considered twenty years ago, let alone fifty. The focus on the comfort of the wearer, a transfer from the male gaze to women’s confidence and comfort and the inclusion of others outside of the original model of heteronormativity is such an exciting change we can only wait and see how lingerie will develop in the future.
