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敬请期待中文版  Acontemporary latex corset by House of Harlot, on display at thecurrent "Undressed" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum inLondon Picture credit: @SuzyMenkesVogue THE BLACK AND RED rubbery latex corset looked discreetenough, even if Revlon had given the mannequin scarlet lips and thesupplier of this fetish underwear was House of Harlot. Then twowords on a display panel for an adjacent set of lingerie pulled meup with a jolt: "Porno Chic". I had been waiting for some cheek and shock at "Undressed: ABrief History of Lingerie" at the Victoria and Albert Museum inLondon. That title was already a pun, for men's "briefs"are included in the selection of underclothes, from Victorian"stays" (made at home from sewing whale bones together in verticalstrips) to today's heat-treated vests from Uniqlo.  Detail ofmen's cotton underpants, c. 1890s Picture credit: Victoria and AlbertMuseum, London There is not much "wink, wink, nudge and giggle" at the show,which curator Edwina Ehrman has put together skilfully in theawkward space the Victoria and Albert (or V&A) allocates to itsfashion exhibitions. For once, the condensed lower level, with itsdisplay windows cheek by jowl, has the right sense of intimacy forits subject.  Satin andostrich feather bed jacket by Rosa Pichon, France,1930-1935 Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London From homemade to luxury creations, there is an impressivecollection of what the curator calls an exploration "of theintimate relationship between individual underwear and fashion'svital role in moulding the body". That is outside the basic needfor health, hygiene, and comfort.  A "BustImprover" by Dickins and Jones, London 1910 Picture credit: Victoria andAlbert Museum, London Not until the 1930s was the saucy side of underwear madepublic in advertisements for the new garments which, as the 20thcentury developed, included X-shaped stretch corsets and bras thatseemed to reduce in size as the decades went by. I would not claim that 18th- and 19th-century underweardisplayed a period of innocence. Women's uplifting bodices anddecorative bows were designed to give the body allure. And alreadyin 1890 there was a shocking-pink silk-satin corset, not really sodifferent from the sparkling creation with a wasp waist produced bycorset supremo Mr Pearl for burlesque performer Dita Von Teese in2011.  Satin andlace corset, 1890-1895 Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum,London  Legendarycorset-maker Mr Pearl's creation for burlesque artist Dita VonTeese Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London There are surprisingly few examples of those baffling bustlesthat Victorian women put up with in an era when "a glimpse ofstocking was something shocking", as the Cole Porter song goes.  Sequin snakestocking, c. 1910 Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London Edwina Ehrman, Curator of Textiles and Fashion at the V&A,has drawn a deliberate line between downstairs and upstairs - thelatter being the 20th-century period when underwear came out intothe public arena, either as a deliberate sex toy or as part offashion stripping down and revealing the body. The curator alsoincludes casual pyjama-party home wear.  "BrixtonBoyz" by Jennie Baptiste, 2001, captures the moment that men'sunderwear drifted beyond the waistband... Picture credit: JennieBaptiste I would have liked to see an explanation of this change, whichmust have owed a great deal to the invention of the contraceptivepill in the 1960s, when sexuality was underscored in ever-shortermini skirts, with or without anything underneath. Ehrman does showthe 20th century's development of the bra and the way thatunderwear evolved from female girdles to gender-neutral shape-wearfrom Acne Studios.  Mary Quantnylon body stocking, late 1960s Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum,London Accompanying films, especially the one by exhibition co-sponsorAgent Provocateur, show the sexuality and the craftsmanship of20th-century underwear.  The PeterPan "Hidden Treasure" bra, from the 1950s Picture credit: Victoria andAlbert Museum, London The curator also set out her aims in a pre-tour talk: thechanging conceptions of the ideal body and the social, cultural,and economic reasons behind those changes. She promised "sex,gender, and morality".  JeanPaul Gaultier bustier dress, 1989 Picture credit: Victoria and AlbertMuseum, London Yet I went away looking for more. I remember the V&A's showfrom 2007, "Kylie - The Exhibition", which showed the Australianperforming artist's outfits, mostly of the corset variety. Thereseems to be so much more that could be said in the current show:for example, underwear as entertainment. What about the reduction of seduction in a world whereconsensual sex is a smartphone swipe away? And whether anobsession with shaping the body through exercise and diet hasreduced the power and purpose of lingerie?  GwynethPaltrow wears a trompe l'oeil corset dress by Antonio Berardi,Spring/Summer 2009 Picture credit: Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock Above all, will hi-tech be let loose on our bodies, so that3D printing and design will customise our underwear to ourindividual body shapes? "Undressed" raises more questions than it answers. But viewerslooking for a visual, rather than an intellectual, jolt will findthe exhibition intriguing  VivienneWestwood's nude leggings for men, with mirrored figleaf Picture credit: Courtesy of the FIDM Museum at the Fashion Instituteof Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles "Undressed: A Brief History of Lingerie", sponsored by AgentProvocateur and Revlon, is on until 12th March 2017(vam.ac.uk/undressed) (责任编辑：admin) |