You may be more familiar with your suspender belts, your balconette bras, and your chemises, but what about your peignoirs, merry widows, and tap pants? Here’s a brief guide to the lesser-known branches of vintage lingerie.
Bullet Bra
A shape made famous the world over by Madonna and Jean-Paul Gaultier in 1990, the conical (or bullet bra) has cups that are formed into a more pointed shape than those we may be used to. The emphasis here is not on exposing mountains of cleavage, but on defining and emphasising a perkier form underneath less revealing clothes.
Tap Pants
Also known as, ‘Dance shorts’, these flattering pants have a similar shape to the ever-popular French knickers, but are generally much looser. They skim the derriere for a flattering silhouette – and they make great sleepwear too.
Merry Widow
The ‘Merry Widow’ is a style of shapewear named after the famous Warner’s corselet, originally released in 1955. Falling somewhere between a corset and a basque, the merry widow is shorter in the body to allow for a greater range of movement, and, unlike a corset, features underwired cups and no lacing. It does, however, have the boning of a corset, and a waist tape for extra cinching effect. Very Jessica Rabbit.
Peignoir
You know that scene in Moulin Rouge where they’re in the elephant, and Nicole Kidman comes out from behind the screen wearing that jaw-dropping, floor-length black lace robe? That’s a peignoir – or as I prefer to call it, a sexed-up dressing gown. Flattering on all body types, and so much sexier than that bobbly polka dot towelling robe from Dorothy Perkins.
Slips
In the past twelve months or so, the slip have undergone something of a fashion resurgence in the, ‘Underwear as outerwear’ stakes. No summer festival has been complete without a slip-style dress, paired with wellies, and several department stores have reported a big increase in slip sales. Maybe this is due to the popularity of midi-length dresses, or the number of sheer materials in the fashion market, but whatever it is, women are falling back in love with the lightweight fabrics and smooth silhouettes of a lingerie item formerly associated with our great-aunt Betty. Patterned, plain, lacy, smooth, shaping or skimming – there truly is a slip for everyone.
Constant Spinner 