Welcome to a history of the lingerie brand Prima Donna as well as a look at the evolution of Lingerie through out the years
The Early Years
Bloomers
The lower part of a “rational dress” for women advocated by Amelia Jenks Bloomer (q.v.) in 1850. The entire costume consisted of a short jacket, a skirt extending below the knee, and the bloomers, or loose “Turkish” trousers, gathered at the ankles.
The innovation failed and was much mocked. The name survived, however, to be used for divided skirts, for the knickerbockers that women wore while riding bicycles in the craze for cycling of the 1890s, and for women's loose, baggy underwear.
bloomers. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 17, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9015718
This article on knickers and bloomers provides an in depth look at the history of these early underwear.
"Why the name Bloomers?
The term “bloomers” derives it's name from Amelia Bloomer. Amelia was prompted to wear clothing that would adhere to the period's modest fashions, but would also allow her to comfortably pursue her latest passion: Bicycling!
The ladies fashions of the time were cumbersome, at best, and included great trailing skirts, a tightly laced whalebone corset, and about six feet of straggling skirts. These styles were hardly suited for active pursuits...let alone bicycling.
Amelia had become a very successful crusader through articles she wrote and published in “The Lily,” a publication that she owned and edited. It wasn’t only style that Amelia attack, but she published articles promoting women’s rights, temperance, and child labor laws, and through her newspaper, she evidently managed to provoke nationwide controversy.
In researching the specific style that Amelia concocted, one will be left guessing. Some say that the pant-style garment was blousy ending at the ankles with a button closure that held snugly around the ankle, and worn with a mid-calf length skirt, while others picture it as “men’s pants.”
One can imagine that there was a specific style of garment that could be called “bloomers” during that time, but history has managed to obscure the name bloomer with many styles. Pantaloons, drawers, knickers, and in the U.K., knickers are referred to as many styles of woman’s underwear."
Knickers
“EVERY WOMAN probably owns at least one pair of M&S knickers but, until the end of the 18th century, "decent" women had always gone knickerless. Drawers were originally worn only by men but, due to changes in fashion, women increasingly adopted them. The early drawers were similar to men's, with back lacing to pull the waist in, the legs gathered into a band below the knee and an opening at the crotch seam from the front to the back.
From the 1850s, drawers became more decorative and denoted class distinction until, by the end of the century, they were part of everyday wear. The Victorians innovated more luxurious underwear using silk, and in 1886 Triumph started making underwear.
The end of the 19th century saw the arrival of "closed" drawers with a side waist opening, and by the turn of the 20th century, "knickers" - the term taken from knickerbockers - had become more colourful. By the 1920s, some women still wore drawers but many found knickers more practical. Wide frilly versions became known as French knickers and the closer fitting Directoire knickers sported elasticated tops and bottoms. During the Second World War women had to learn to make do, with home- knitted knickers becoming their only option during rationing. The Directoire knickers worn by women in the Armed Services were dubbed "passion killers" due to their unshapely appearance and dull colours.
In the 1950s, Nylon and elastic revolutionised underwear and, as more knickers were machine-manufactured, designs were simplified. Bikini pants became popular in the Sixties when knickers needed to be figure-hugging to fit with the new short skirts and unisex trousers. Designer knickers were all the rage in the Eighties, epitomised by Calvin Klein's underwear range. A decade on, knickers are getting smaller, with G-strings making up 40 per cent of Knickerbox's sales. Knickers can be sensible or sexy, practical or PVC, with more choice than ever before from lines such as La Perla, Berlei and the purveyors of saucy lingerie, Agent Provocateur.”
Copyright 1998 Newspaper Publishing PLC
