BWW Reviews: UNDRESSED Looks At Undergarments Through the Ages In The Visiting Exhibition From London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

Tuesday 21st April 2015, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences Powerhouse Museum, Ultimo

In an age when body shapes are predominantly defined by exercise and diet, UNDRESSED: 350 YEARS OF UNDERWEAR IN FASHION gives a glimpse into times where clothing, in particular, undergarments, molded bodies to into the desired silhouettes. The collection of over 80 items from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, combined with commentary from the curator, archive footage and posters and advertising takes visitors on a journey from the stays and side hoops to spandex and skimpy knickers.

Christian Dior summed up the importance of the right underwear in 1954 when he said "without proper foundations there can be no fashion" and this exhibition therefore requires an understanding of the clothing of the ages. To understand the provocative nature of an gentleman's exposed shirt in the 1700's, it is necessary to understand the coats that were worn in the era and the formality that dictated that jackets were always buttoned up. An awareness of the changes in fashion helps draw connections between which parts of the body are being accentuated and which parts are being disguised, for both men and women.

The collection includes some surprising inclusions from Queen Victoria's voluminous drawers, the oldest bra in any museum collection, a metal corset used for medical purposes and a men's girdle to tame a pot belly. The evolution in shape, material, color and function is enlightening and a little disturbing when the size of some of the waists is considered. The pictures and advertisements also show the start of manipulating pictures as the exhibition notes that the artifacts that researchers have examined do not correspond to the measurements that would have been necessary for the images. The exhibition also highlights that creating the fashionable silhouettes were the focus rather than the size, in comparison to the modern obsession with dress size.

It is also intriguing to see that once items were no longer necessary underthings, succeeded by scientific fabrics and simplified designs, they were seen as symbols of sexuality and sensuality. The exposure of underwear as outerwear incorporated into fashion by designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood and Balenciaga was also designed to draw on this shift in attitude by being provocative and challenging perceptions.

This exhibition is an interesting insight into the past for anyone with an interest in fashion, design and even engineering they manipulated bodies to hide or accentuate features, hold things up or down or simply deal with of daily life in times where washing outer clothes was impractical, making a easily washable and more comfortable under layer close to the body a necessity.

UNDRESSED: 350 YEARS OF UNDERWEAR IN FASHION

Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences - Powerhouse Museum,

500 Harris Street, Ultimo, NSW

28 March - 12 July 2015

Admission: Free with general admission: $15 adult, $8 child/conc,$38 family

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