Lingerie through the ages

In ancient Egypt 3,000 B.C a young girl ties a knot in the cloth she is wearing between her legs creating the first briefs.

Several hundred years later the Greeks confirmed the existence of underwear by revealing women wearing foundation briefs.

By the 1800's knitted drawers were the rage, if you were a classy lady the bigger the pant, the better! Enormous bloomers that fell below the knee were the height of chic! These enormous bloomers were however open-crotch in design claiming that this was the hygienic approach!

Bra history began as far back as Cretan times, but 1907, was the year when the word brassiere was first reported in an American copy of Vogue.

From the 1500s until the 1800s the corset was the primary under-garment used by women for the purpose of shaping the waist and lifting the breasts.

In 1893, Marie Tucek patented the "Breast Supporter" - the first design similar to the modern-day bra using shoulder straps and hook-and-eye closure to support the breasts in pockets of fabric.

By 1907, "brassiere" began to show up in high-profile women's magazines such as American Vogue and eventually, around 1912, it appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary.

In 1913, New York socialite Mary Phelps-Jacobs patented her bra design under the name of Caresse Crosby. Some suggest it was her French maid who provided the idea or the stitching help. Two silk handkerchiefs were tied together, baby ribbon sewn on to make straps and a seam set in the centre front. Her friends were sold on this innovative idea and Mary applied for a patent for her "Backless Brassiere" design. However within a short time, Mary lost interest in the brassiere business and sold her patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500.

By 1928, entrepreneur Ida Rosenthal took bra design to its next level by introducing cup sizes and bras for a women's lifetime. Several years later, Bra history took on a new dimension when in 1935, Warners introduced four cup sizes called A, B, C and D, but it was in the 1950s that Britain followed this standard. The British corset manufacturers were using descriptions like junior and medium to describe breast fullness.

Thongs and G-Strings first arrived on the scene in the 30's and they were considered inappropriate and risqué. In latter years the style was adored by Brazilian women proud of their blessed derrières! And then came the creative sparks and old style silks and more racy and lacy designs were introduced. As the styles evolved and the French Can Can became fashionable the open-crotch was stitched up! These racy Parisian dancers helped influence the creation of the knickers we know and love today, knickers that revealed more thigh than ever before.

The epitome of Hollywood vintage glamour would be silk satin French Knickers worn by picture perfect screen sirens of the 1940's with their gorgeous legs. Brimming with sophistication, elegance and poise, the modern romantic is still charmed by the bygone era. She's whimsical, extravagant and, above all, exceptionally classy.

Guide to glamorous bras