How pin-up photos fooled dress history : the making and marketing of lingerie pictures

Hold onto your bloomers: let's undress the bare facts about pin ups, Edwardian underwear, and... the history of marketing? Thank you Birch for sponsoring! Visit https://birchliving.com/SnappyDragon to get 20% off your Birch mattress, plus two free pillows. If you’re looking for a mattress for your little ones, also check out the new Birch Kids line! Pin up photos have shaped our misconceptions about turn-of-the-century dress, and nowhere is this more true than in the realm of undergarments and historical underwear. Old pinup photos are some of the only pictures we have of people wearing Victorian and Edwardian lingerie, so fashion history relies on them heavily to show us what historical underwear was like under those beautiful Victorian dresses. But we have to remember, spicy pin up photos were often highly staged and stylized! They were more art than documentary, much like lingerie photoshoots done by celebrities today. For a more accurate view of everyday underthings, turn to sources like Sears Roebuck catalog -- although even those depictions of historical underwear were influenced by marketing ideals of the time. We can also look at antique lingerie items like chemises, Edwardian combinations, and corsets, but we have to consider why the antiques we still have weren't worn out! This is why it's so important to understand context when it comes to to fashion history, as with any kind of history. Join my Patreon for behind-the-scenes updates, pattern diagrams, research l