From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps and girdles to garters, Underwear: Fashion in Detail gets up close to some of the most intimate items in the V&A. The book traces the evolution of underwear, from rare examples dating from the sixteenth century and the exaggerated shapes of eighteenth-century courtly undergarments, to Dior`s curvaceous `New Look` girdles to contemporary lingerie by Agent Provocateur and Rigby and Peller. Meticulous colour photography shows these fascinating garments in close detail, while intricate line drawings reveal their construction. The book also highlights the work of designers such as Vionnet and Westwood, who have taken influence from underwear for their own outerwear creations.

About the Author
Eleri Lynn has managed the refurbishment of the V&A`s Fashion Gallery and the new Clothworkers` Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion at Blythe House. She is curator of the V&A exhibition, Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion, was assistant curator of The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007) and co-coordinator of V&A`s Fashion in Motion series of live catwalk events.