BLOG INTRODUCTURY ESSAY

An Exploration of the Queer Lingerie Industry: Curator’s Essay

I. Introduction-

The concept of lingerie was introduced in the 19th century as a word to describe women’s undergarments. It began with the development of the corset to alter a woman’s shape into an appealing hourglass figure in the 1920s; these restrictive garments were then supplemented by the creation of the bra in 1935 to support a woman’s breasts. Following all of this in 1960, with the Women’s feminist movement came the popularity of a thin androgynous figure with minor focus on undergarments used for structure- in the early 20th century underwear, as we know it, began to develop and evolve into the erotic fashion that Lingerie is today. The industry since has expanded to become an imperative part of women’s wardrobe, as a basic and necessary aspect -for both hygienic and fashion reasoning. Lingerie has evolved rapidly in the last two centuries with regard to changes in society, fashion and culture and yet with the major advancements in Queer and LGBT Culture, the evolution of Lingerie has moved much more slowly.

II. Rise in LGBT Lingerie brands-

The Lingerie Industry is historically a business that is known for over-sexualizing the human body (ie. The Victoria's Secret angels) and accentuating femininity of a person. In my exhibition I would like to further research how the industry is changing to cater to the Queer consumer and for the Queer community. Most recently, especially with the latest legalization of gay marriage, there is a growing popularity of brands that have a focus on queer culture. Underwear and Lingerie brands such as Chromat, Tomboyx, Play Out, RodeOH, Chrysalis and FYI by Dani Read, not only cater in size, fit and body modification necessity to a Queer consumer, but also include Queer representation in their advertising for the brand.

Bluestockings Boutique is a lingerie and underthings store located in Boston, NYC and online; the store has the tagline "Underthings for Everyone". “Bluestockings' mission is to empower people who have been marginalized by the mainstream lingerie industry and to offer them an experience that reflects their identities, their bodies, and their values” (http://www.bluestockingsboutique.com/pages/about-us). This boutique along with openly identified queer bloggers for major mainstream Lingerie blogs, the Lingerie Lesbian and LGBT blogger Rose Wednesday for The Lingerie Addict show a rapid integration of Lingerie with Queer gender presentation.

III. Homoeroticism in Lingerie Advertising-

Lingerie is almost always related back to sex therefor homoeroticism is not a new factor to be shown in lingerie advertising, but accurate queer representation is. Typically when a lingerie ad uses two women in an advertising campaign is it because it is being used as a representation of something outside of the norm, a taboo. These advertisements are not used as a socially appropriated image catered towards lesbian couples but instead as an image catered towards the straight male gaze. Beginning in the late 1920’s, homoeroticism began to present itself as a titillating tactic of advertising to draw in consumers. Typically these homoerotic scenes have shown two women in sexualized poses looking completely detached emotionally from one another. Thus showing a sensual appeal to the “male gaze,” (as per Laura Mulvey’s definition in "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema), These ads cater to the cisgendered audience. Luckily, most recently there has also been a shift in the advertising of the queer romantic relationship as an advertising campaign for lingerie that I would like to discuss. These ads, although typically presented from Queer labeled companies, are a fresh and thoughtful take on accurately representing the queer community.

III. Androgyny in Lingerie Advertising-

On the other end of the spectrum from Homoeroticism comes the depressive desexualization and androgyny demonstrative in many self-proclaimed “androgynous” and queer lingerie brands. These advertisements typically feature a person, who is thin, has minimal curves, and is more focused on looking masculine then femme (ex. Sloan and Tate Lingerie). They also show a person who lacks expression, and looks more sad then anything else. These ads demonstrate a person who sits between gender binaries and also sits without emotions.

Androgyny is nothing new in Lingerie-the feature of the boyshort as a classic panty shape is the biggest example. The boyshort has the gender “boy” in the first part of the word, and directly identifies a consumer who is looking for a less overly “feminine” fit, and a more desexualized covered look. Another example of the crossing of gender binarys in the lingerie industry is the popularity of the Calvin Klein logo brief for woman- these woman’s underwear were designed off of the popular Men’s briefs that give off a more masculine feel.

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