JLo Marketing, Lace, and Maidenform for Sale

Here is a link to some 2004 marketing materials used in the JLo Lingerie campaign in Toronto. I have included it for the fun promo neon & as an example of what can be done to spruce up a product launch party.

Lingerienet is a Dutch lingerie trade zine. It is a place to keep up with the latest trends. Too bad I don't read Dutch. This pointer highlights a Nov 06 ad for JLo lingerie.

Maidenform Brands Inc trades on the NYSE under the symbol MFB.

Here is a partial dictionary entry--finding that my big project to build a lingerie dictionary/history has been undertaken on wikipedia--that addresses some historical, economic and sociological issues of fashion. The topic of "Lace" is itself too large for my simple task.

Lace:
Lace is a decorative fabric used to accentuate the main clothing item--although entire garments can be found created from lace.
"Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute in Manhattan, says that lace always has been associated with luxury. In the 16th and 17th century, the lace trim often would be the most expensive part of a dress, she says, and men would wear lace cuffs and collars to show off their wealth." from Lovely lace: Lace is a fashion chameleon, found on underwear, eveningwear By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, AP

From Drawers to Tap Pants

I originally started looking at historical changes in lingerie for the sexual energy the whole topic evokes->then I learned how much of a serious issue lingerie is. Seriousness arising out of discussions regarding why certain people wore certain things--the commercial, health and fashion considerations of every article. There is much concern that presentations be historically correct.
knowlesville.com offers a pictorial history from 1840-1940 while discussing briefly the efforts some women undertook to dress correctly.

Victorian and Edwardian women wore a lot of lingerie, and sometimes it's confusing what goes where and what it's called. Here's a helpful guide:

A Victorian woman started her marathon dressing session with a pair of drawers. Drawers are most often split (crotchless) and about knee length. Some drawers aren't split, and it makes you wonder how they worked, since they were under alll the other layers. Many times you'll see drawers refered to as bloomers, pantalets, or even pantaloons, which are really men's pants. Over her drawers, she would slip on a chemise which is a long sleeveless gown. A shorter version of a chemise is a camisole. Both the chemise and the camisole protected the skin from the corset, and vice versa. The next layer would be the corset. Over the corset would be worn a corset cover which protected the outer garments from the busk of the corset as well as hid the corset under sheerer garments. Sometimes it's hard to determine if a garment is a camisole or a corset cover, so we've grouped them together. Depending on the period, different types of hoops cages and bustles would then be added to give the outfit the shape that was currently in fashion. Next one or more petticoats were added to provide even more fullness under the skirt. Finally, after donning at least 5 layers of underwear, the Victorian woman was ready to put on her skirt and bodice.

After the Victorian and Edwardian periods many of these layers were simplified. As corsets became less structured and offered less support for the breasts, brassieres were introduced, and these later became bras. In the 1920s and 30s, cotton chemises gave way to silk and rayon slips & teddies, often cut on the bias. Drawers became tap pants, and then later panties.
Through out all of these periods, there were gowns and robes for sleeping and lounging.

I Dreamed ad fun

Maidenform Bra Ad satire--just how much a part of modern culture is the bra....

• I Dreamed I Was St. Francis in My Maidenform Bra


• I Dreamed I Was In A Bra Ad in My Maidenform Bra

And the 2007 Maidenform Bra Ad calendar is for sale--maybe I'll get one....

Fresh Pair

okay, this looks interesting enough to look at again--although it smacks of a continuous ad.

Update 14 June 2008:

As it turns out the blog was a short-lived (only about 5 months long) marketing campaign for Freshpair.com. It was left behind in the internet dust heap--there does not seem to be a shortage of storage space in cyberspace. The retail sight lives on & has "expert advice" on lingerie care, fitting, National Underwear Day and a glossary as well as clothing for men & women to buy & wear. It is a good, no frills American web-store for the practical, everyday underwear consumer--not a fancy luxury site with splashy graphics and in-house designers.

The Modern Chastity Belt

making note of a great site (fashion-era.com) providing an overview of "The Fashion History of Undergarments".

Here's a product that is too bizarre not to be true: Forget-me-not panties at $100.00 a pair. They are all sold out--so says the site. Panties include GPS and biometric devices "make sure you will never be forgotten". Billed as a modern chastity belt for domineering male egos--or females wanting to play with their submissives.

After flipping through Flickr for a while I can say that there are many photographers shooting underwear portraits. Most are filler--even some with pretty girls. Camera as penis.

Virtual Lingerie Museum

Vintage clothing websites
Any history of women's underwear requires good reference materials. Going to the library or the museum is part of the job in getting the research done—making up stuff is fun, but not credible. Because the number of reference books available is almost none and collections are only found in urban settings my research is limited to the Internet.

What I've found is an array of sources. However, most of them do seem to be making up stuff; at best, the authors water down watered down information until it is meaningless. It can be like trying to understand the Bible from one of those tracts that appear in big box bathrooms sometimes. The few impressions that come through are so stilted and vague to not resemble religion.

So, I've begun to develop my own resource library—a dynamic museum for the development of modern underwear. There are a few scholarly collections scattered around, and a few researchers out there. Writers, those so far discovered, have two topics through which they trace this history: fashion and sociology/anthropology. (There are some who are collecting out of nostalgia.)

However, the bulk of the material for my collection is from the online collections of vintage lingerie retailers. The resulting linkdump is a compilation of web-based retailers of vintage underclothes. A list of shopkeepers stocking contemporary articles is beyond my scope. I also refrain from new items inspired, or even made from patterns, by vintage clothing. Although I would add a site listing patterns. Much of the material is for sale—and therefore dynamic. What is there today may be gone tomorrow.

These sites are listed in the order of when they turned up in my browser. I have tried to give brief description when it crossed my mind. If you know about other sites that could be listed drop an email & I'll check it out. I am not building a soft porn website and will not put up any listings that range into that area.

• Vintage Pastelle


• Dandelion Vintage


• Sleek-n-Chic


• Babylon Mall


• Vintageous


• Vanity Treasures--this site has lots of advertising and packaging materials as well as clothing items. Includes lingerie boxes and stockings still in the graphite boxes.


• Petticoat Dreams–this site is focused on the petticoat around 1950 in the UK. It does have some historical images and magazine articles (the kind touting current fashion).


• Another Time Vintage Apparel


• Glorious Vintage
–a website featuring clothing for gals, some of which are foundation garments.

• www.wickedlady.com/collectables/lingerie.php


• Ad Classix
–this is the website of a retailer of vintage advertising. This link is to the fashion & lingerie index

• online exhibit hosted by Kent State University


• Google Directory of lingerie history-related sites


• ”antique” bras & panties for sale


• Vintage Chikana vintage slips


• Glamour Gurlz


• Heavenly Vintage Lingerie


• Pink Girl Vintage Lingerie

If you do not wish your site to be listed, or I've broken your copyright rules, let me know & down it will come.
last updated 20 April 2008.