1800's style of bras, underwear, lingerie and intimate apparel.

Throughout the 1800's and almost until the turn of the century traditional camisole and vest remained the poor relation of ladies underwear. The first fashionable changes to the traditional corsets were embroidered decoration. This new fashionable look to ladies undergarments received a large amount of public criticism as being excessive and unnecessary.

From here undergarment designers started producing elegant and beautiful creations using imagination and craftsmanship which had never been seen before. An ever-increasing fashionable luxury in undergarments featured fine Dutch linen or batiste, embroidery, lace, heart-shaped necklines, crochet work, pleating and coloured ribbons.

The elegant woman of the time wore about 5 pounds of undergarments including knickers, camisole, deportment skirt, corset and waist slip. During the colder months of winter, warmer undergarments were also added.

The sheer weight of the undergarments led to the clothing reform movement. In 1896 the General Association for the Simplification of Women's Clothing was founded. Amongst other things the association took as its aim the liberation from all pressure and constriction. But with regard to undergarments, the association achieved very little at first.

The history of industrialization shows that up to the 1840's corsets were hand-cut to size by the corset-maker. Standard production followed, coupled to the weaving of corsets on hand looms.