1000 Dessous: A History of Lingerie (Paperback)

~ Gilles Neret (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Since the beginning of civilization, women have worn underwear. Justified as protection, or a hygienic necessity, this "second skin" was devised to satisfy perverse erotic instincts. A "trap laid by Venus" to entertain and stimulate the fantasies of both the woman who wears them and the man who discovers them. Corsets, bras and panties are not utilitarian items -- they are elements in a mystic ritual linking man and woman. They act as an obsessive focus for fantasy, for the sex they conceal is powerless without the decorations and seductions which separate us from it. Pleasure would perish without censorship. Women have always known how to stimulate the latent fetishism of the men around them. Under her dress, a Greek girl of the classical period would wear a belt around her hips which was of no practical use except to draw attention to her feminity. Likewise, the women of Rome already wore garters round their thighs, though the stocking had not yet been invented.

In our own century, vamps, starlets, pin-ups and models have filled our cinema screens, our advertising hoardings, our office calendars and our imaginations with the erotic engineering of the garter belt and the surreptitious rustle of nylon stockings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 767 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; illustrated edition edition (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822876291
• ISBN-13: 978-3822876299
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #539,369 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must have for lingerie lovers, June 13, 2000

By	Kristen Weiser (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This softcover book has very little text and lots of fantastic photographs which tell the history or timeline of women's lingerie.

Full of B&W and color photographs, illustrations, designs, ads, and glamour shots. A great gift for lingerie lovers.

Also see: 1000 Nudes; The Male Nude; 1000 Tattoos

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 1000 Dessous, interesting, but risque, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This is an interesting book with lots of full color and contemporary depictions of historical lingerie, but tends to rely too heavily on the pornographic aspects of women's underwear, and includes many photos which are purely historical pornography and bear no connection to lingerie. Maybe I'm just a prudish American, but I expected more history, and maybe a little text.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars i loved it, July 13, 2004

By	geena maree (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1000 Dessous: A History of Lingerie (Klotz) (Hardcover)

great book. excellent pictures of all types of lingerie. a must for any lingerie or fetish designers.