Ladies Unmentionables and Enclothed Cognition

Or, invisible layers for the audacious Neo-Victorian woman

Many historic clothiers find making underthings tedious and time-consuming; after all it’s the layer that no one sees.

Well, unless the viewer is prepared to make an indecent proposal.

However, there are really some good reasons to spend resources on an intimate wardrobe, whether you’re the maker or the purchaser. Not the least of these reasons is that underthings are an important part of Victorian material culture that had socio-psychological and economic significance.

It seems like a lot for the modern couturière - create at least a small collection of chemises, drawers, corset-covers, and at least a couple of petticoats per skirt profile. It’s also not an insignificant investment in muslin, lawn, lace, and ribbon. And then there’s the patterns, and whether you can draft your own, not to mention that the styles changed as profiles changed. So many of us tend to take shortcuts, simply because of the resources required to create this invisible wardrobe.

Western cultures have worn underthings for as long as they made outer garments (the fashion layers) out of more costly fabrics. In the Victorian era we see a peak in the lavishness of undergarments, exceeded only by the following Edwardian era. What were once sturdy utilitarian garments meant to protect clothing and be vigorously laundered had evolved into exquisite - and complex - confections of lawn and lace that were essentially hidden from view.

Victorian advertisements featured a staggering array of styles and designs of undergarments, from drawers to corset covers. Lavishly-illustrated advertisements and ladies’ magazines built a market, and women aspired to the fine lace-encrusted pieces that the media promoted. Due to industrialization, women could mail-order the charming underthings that met their desires, and often in multiples.

Naturally, women also made their own, and many patterns were available to the local seamstress or the home sewer. These patterns were for intimates of the more sturdy, plain, and serviceable type, but the media - having created the demand for lacy underthings - was a valuable resource for women to decorate their own creations with ribbons and effervescence.

Hidden figures

It is well known that the clothing we wear has an impact on our psychological state. This so-called “enclothed cognition” creates a cognitive state that meets the needs of the environment or our psyche. For instance, school uniforms are demonstrated to create a focused educational environment, and formal clothing makes us feel more powerful and confident - but less friendly and possibly less creative too. Alternately, that cognitive state might just be in opposition to the dominant culture, and this is one of those punk things that we like to talk about.

Undergarments are also recognized as affecting enclothed cognition. Our hidden clothing helps us construct or re-construct our identities. A recent study demonstrated that women’s undergarments affect our sense of self worth and capabilities. The significance of the “right” underthings becomes part of the shifting who-we-are at any given moment, and exerts a powerful influence on our self-perception and confidence levels.

Petticoat Power

One’s clothing - and likewise - one’s underthings represented a woman’s place in Victorian society. Like many historical trends, as the means became available, the lower classes often took on the trappings of high-society. One of those means was industrialization; young women - often immigrants - sewed in factory workshops (for shamefully low wages and in poor conditions), which created a supply of ready-mades accessible to most purses. The sales of ready-mades were an important economic driver in a time of increasing populations needing clothing, and it enabled women to enter the workspace both as producers of clothing, but also in other businesses because it took the task of sewing clothing off our list of domestic duties.

When the New Woman was moving into the public space, clothing - and enclothed cognition - played a powerful role in how we constructed our public identities. Beautiful intimate clothing probably made women feel more confident and self-assured, even though it was hidden.

The modern couturière takes the time to build an intimate wardrobe, because it is essential to the dress silhouette. But I think that’s not all - we do it to feel amazing. All those yards of ruffles and ruches aren’t just for the silhouette; there’s cheeky attitude in wearing those lace-encrusted drawers, festooned with ribbon roses. Layers of petticoats feel audacious, especially when the skirts have to be lifted. A bit of chemise lace peeking out of a neckline is saucy.

So, take the time to build your intimate wardrobe. Think of it as self-care for the couturière.