Lingerie: A History & Celebration of Silks, Satins, Laces, Linens & Other Bare Essentials [Hardcover]

Catherine Bardey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001 | Series: Life's Little Luxuries

The retrospective of lingerie through the ages offers the admirer and wearer fashion tips by example for making these bare essentials look great so you can feel great. Lingerie is part icon, part turn-on, and an international symbol of feminine mystique.

Author and former fashion stylist Catherine Bardey takes a tasteful and entertaining look at the history, iconography and appeal of women's underwear, from bloomers and emancipation and the evolution of underwear. From the confining corsets of the Edwardian era to the conical shaped bras of the 1950s to the sheer, supportive shapes of today's lingerie, styles have changed dramatically through the decades, influenced by cultural changes as well as sports and the entertainment industry.

Lingerie is lavishly illustrated with over 100 photographs, illustrations, advertisements and ephemera.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

ENTICING.

DECADENT.

EROTIC.

SENSUAL.

Lingerie comes out of the closet in this fascinating journey through the history, meaning and pleasures of our most intimate apparel.

Since Eve donned a fig leaf, lingerie has always been part icon, part turn-on, part social indicator-and a potent symbol of the feminine mystique. It is indisputably one of "life's little luxuries," the delicious secret a woman carries with her everywhere, choosing to conceal or reveal it at her whim. Catherine Bardey takes a provocative and entertaining look at lingerie, from bloomers and thongs to Merry Widows and Wonderbras - and along the way, she provides lots of tips, facts and practical information designed to help you fill your dresser drawers with all of the "bare necessities" of life.

About the Author

Catherine Bardey has been a stylist for Elle, New York and French Vogue. She has written for Glamour, Vanity Fair, Martha Stewart's Living and other magazines. Her previous books include Secrets of the Spas, Making Soaps & Scents, Making Candles & Potpourri and Lingerie, all available from Black Dog & Leventhal. She lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579121055
• ISBN-13: 978-1579121051
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 4.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,355,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars star for illustrations only, March 12, 2005

By 

Keri "Librarian" (Kentucky, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lingerie: A History & Celebration of Silks, Satins, Laces, Linens & Other Bare Essentials (Hardcover)

This book's text is dreadful. Incredibly wrong information, ridiculously mislabeled pictures including these "gems":

1)mid 1880's Fashion illustrations captioned as "Fashions from the 1850's as portrayed in Godey's Lady Book" (Having access to Godey's I can also vouch they are most certainly not from Godey's as well. They appear instead to be French- the high quality color printing gives that away.)

2)A Fashion illustration from the later 1820's is captioned "In the 14th century belts and sashes served as waist restraints, prefiguring the more severe cinching that would follow."

3)A circa 1750 fashion illustration is captioned "The 15th century farthingale was so restrictive it disappeared from Europe by the early 1600's"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great pictures but..., December 23, 2004

By 

pete.m (Burbank CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lingerie: A History & Celebration of Silks, Satins, Laces, Linens & Other Bare Essentials (Hardcover)

Unfortunatly the elaborate descriptions and lack of reference to photo's make it difficult to "see" what the author talks about. The pictures in this are all very nice and most importantly I did learn. Thanks

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A nice light read, March 14, 2003

By 

Jake Spooky (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lingerie: A History & Celebration of Silks, Satins, Laces, Linens & Other Bare Essentials (Hardcover)

This history is a pleasant little coffee table book, very light to read, and lots of photographs which people might refer to as "tasteful." I don't know how much I really learned about lingerie from reading this book, but I definitely enjoyed it.