Customer Reviews

Lingerie: Two Centuries of Luscious Design

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I happened to see this at the library, and of course it looked interesting. :) But drawn in by the cover doesn't necessarily mean the insides will match. There are chapters that cover everything about lingerie from the 1770's through the 1970's. After a one to two page writeup about lingerie from that time period, how it came to be, and how it was evolving, there are pages of full color photographs that are examples from that particular period. Nothing overly racy, and nothing modeled with real bodies. That's all fine, but after seeing page after page of cotton frocks, I figured you pretty much had to be into the subject big time to get the most enjoyment from the book.

I did find the earlier time periods rather interesting, in that the photographs show exactly what torture women of that time had to subject themselves to in order to be considered "fashionable". And the catalog pages from the turn of the century are always fun, to see what sales pitches were used as well as to see the prices.

If you're into vintage lingerie, there's a lot here for you. If you expect more glamour shots based on the cover pictures, then you'll be very disappointed. It all depends on what you're looking for, I guess...

Warning: This is a great book for lovers of lingerie (particularly vintage and retro)- athough it will lead you to lusting for some of your own.
It's all about the garments, rather than a girlie model peep show.