Underwear as Outerwear

       

The bedroom used to be the only place where underwear was seen; private quarters for your intimate lacy garments to sneak out, until Vivienne Westwood plastered lingerie over everyday sweatshirts in her 1982 Buffalo collection. Before this a slip of bra strap was seen as inept- god forbid the exposure of an actual bra. Symbolizing sexual power and inspired by the late 1970’s punk fashion, underwear as outerwear has eroticized the catwalks, but in a more look but don’t touch fashion instead of Ann Summers men’s fantasy- so hands off boys.

The corset, which was originally deemed as a symbol of oppression in the early 20^thcentury has become utilized as fashionable outerwear, empowering women with thanks to Lycra and elastic in the 1980’s. Jean Paul Gaultier’s provocative collections, which birthed from Westwood’s anti-fashions continually tried to normalize the unexplored. His obsession over the corset, which comes from the love of his grandmother’s salmon pink lace up stays, has fuelled his constant return to the boudoir for inspiration.

Even though Gaultier appears to have championed this concept, his celebrated conical bra corset worn by Madonna in 1990 bears resemblance to YSL’s black beaded conical breastplate gown in his 1967 African Collection. New York Fashion Week S/S13 saw Francisco Costa revitalize this avant-garde look with sculptured dresses in marshmallow white and liquorice black revealing circular conical brassieres.

In the 80’s this trend represented the uproar of street style and club fashion. However, with the boom of the burlesque scene in the 21^st century and the erotic fantasies of the ’50 Shades of Grey’ trilogy, underwear as outerwear has once again sexually charged the runways with skin baring becoming the hottest trend. D&G featured 50’s style bralets and raffia corsets while Dior’s S/S10 sexually exposed a purple satin slip ‘dress.’

The original anti-aesthetic now appears to be uncovering a more reserved noir romance as seen in Jason Wu’s S/S13 collection. Infusing lace and leather with sheer sheaths and lacy elegant bandeau’s Wu created a respectable style instead of a scandalous scene. To recapture this cheeky honoured concept, we should look to Westwood’s saying of “fashion is about eventually being naked.”