CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

On Undergarments Undergarments are clothes worn under other clothes, often directly next to the skin. They keep outer garments from being soiled by bodily secretions and discharges, shape the body, and provide support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Some undergarments are intended for erotic effect. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as undergarments and as outer clothing. If made of suitable material, some undergarments can serve as nightwear or swimsuits. From ancient paintings, sculptures and mosaics we know, for example, that in 2000 BC in Minoan Crete both men and women had extremely small waists, presumably from wearing constricting belts or girdles from childhood. Even the corset may be a more ancient invention that we imagine. Although the bra as we know it was not invented until the 20th century, women in ancient Greece strapped or bound their breasts with lengths of cloth or leather and young female dancers and athletes are shown wearing what can best be described as a bikini.Of all the various forms of female underwear, the corset in its various guises has probably played the largest role in keeping women immobilised over the centuries. Corsets restrict movement and make breathing shallow and difficult (reducing lung capacity by almost 60 per cent) thus giving women the reputation of being ‘delicate flowers’ who could not exert themselves without fainting. Corsets were also used as a metaphor for virtue, despite the fact that courtesans were as tightly laced as any other woman. It was thought that an ungirdled woman might be wanton or ‘loose’.Corsets have been worn for several hundred