Manhattan Wardrobe Supply Reviews FIT Lingerie Exhibit

The  Fashion Institute of Technology’s next exhibit, Exposed: A History of Lingerie, opens on June 3 and Manhattan Wardrobe Supply was lucky enough to preview the exhibit.  It follows the journey of lingerie from the late 18th century all the way to present-day.  FIT exhibits are always superbly curated and very interesting, and this one promises to be nothing less.

So what’s so interesting about lingerie?

Everything.  Lingerie is at the same time modest and sexy– and inspires more visible clothing as well. In the late 18th century, you can see all of the corsetry that also influenced how outerwear, such as dresses, were fastened (you guessed it — via corset-style closures).  Fast forward to the 90s, and you can see the lingerie influencing outerwear more literally, in items such as Gaultier’s bustiers (most famously worn by Madonna).

This exhibit is arranged in chronological order — no separation by soft and hard lingerie, for example– so you can really see how silhouettes have evolved over the years. From the hard corsets of the late 18th century, through to the 1950s, though corsets weren’t used, restrictive girdles and other garments helped women obtain the desired hourglass shape, all the way to the 2000s where just about anything goes, you can really see the evolution of the undergarment.  Even today, you can get lingerie from Agent Provocateur, La Perla and other fine lingerie purveyors that take aspects from across the decades and turn it into something very sexy and modern.

We just loved the timelessness of lingerie — like a Saks Fifth Avenue camiknicker from the 20s looks like it could easily hang in the same store today.  Or, how a nightgown from the 50s (paired with a gown from the same era, showing the influence lingerie and outerwear have on each other) reminded us of some clothing from the 1800s– and also from the 70s.

Manhattan Wardrobe Supply tips for taking care of vintage lingerie

A lot of us still have vintage lingerie — whether it’s ours, from a thrift shop, or inherited from our mothers and grandmothers.  Don’t forget to treat it well– there are options for cleaning, such as Restoration Color Safe Fabric Restorer, which gets out old stains and restores lingerie to its old self; Vintage Textile Soak, which helps remove stains caused by storage in a hope chest (or other kinds of wood); or Retro Clean, which helps bring out the brightness and take away the yellow from all kinds of retro lingerie. Some of these methods are used by museums to restore clothing for their exhibits, so they’re definitely good enough for you to use on your valuable vintage. These fine washable cleaners as well as others are available at Manhattan Wardrobe Supply.

Exposed: A History of Lingerie runs from June 3 through November 15, 2014.  You can also purchase a book of more than 70 images of lingerie over the years, organized by Colleen Hill, the curator at FIT, and available from Yale University Press.