This is the second part of our series tracing the evolution of erotic lingerie — from the private world of Victorian intimacy to the moment lingerie began entering popular culture. If the nineteenth century was defined by what stayed hidden beneath clothing, the mid-twentieth century started changing the meaning of what was underneath: pin-up culture, Hollywood glamour, and the rise of mass media transformed lingerie from a private necessity into a visual language of femininity, seduction, and self-expression. This was the beginning of a new chapter, one where intimate fashion would no longer exist entirely in the shadows.
This shift didn't happen because society suddenly became more permissive — in many ways, the opposite was true. Throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, Hollywood operated under the strict Motion Picture Production Code, better known as the Hays Code, which tightly limited how sexuality could appear on screen: explicit nudity, overt eroticism, even prolonged kisses were all carefully regulated. Yet directors, photographers, and costume designers discovered something powerful — suggestion could be even more captivating than revelation, and fashion learned to frame the body instead of exposing it.
Structured bras, satin slips, silk stockings, suspender belts, and hourglass silhouettes became visual shorthand for glamour, hinting at intimacy without ever crossing the line of public acceptability. Desire was communicated through tailoring, posture, lighting, and craftsmanship rather than explicit exposure.
Hollywood icons like Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Ava Gardner helped establish this new visual language, their costumes turning intimate garments into symbols of confidence and elegance rather than objects of secrecy.
At the same time, another cultural phenomenon was reshaping the public imagination: the rise of the American pin-up during World War II turned lingerie into a recognizable aesthetic. Illustrators such as Alberto Vargas and George Petty created images of women in satin corsets, stockings, robes, and structured bras that appeared in magazines, advertisements, calendars, and military publications. The illustrations were undoubtedly sensual, yet they remained firmly within mainstream visual culture rather than existing on its margins.
What made this era remarkable was that lingerie was no longer confined to private spaces. Women bought beautiful undergarments not just because someone else might eventually see them, but because they'd become part of how femininity itself was imagined — department stores displayed them openly, fashion magazines discussed them alongside dresses and evening wear, and luxury lingerie houses invested heavily in embroidery, precision tailoring, and increasingly sophisticated construction.
One garment came to define this transformation more than any other: the bullet bra. With its sharply pointed silhouette, it became an unmistakable icon of post-war fashion. It may look theatrical today, but in the 1950s it represented technological innovation as much as style — advances in textile engineering, stitching, and pattern cutting let designers sculpt entirely new silhouettes beneath clothing. The bra itself had become a piece of design, not merely a functional necessity.
Photos by Danielle Reese
Perhaps most importantly, lingerie began to change psychologically. For centuries, intimate garments had largely reflected social expectations — what women were meant to wear beneath their clothing — but by the middle of the twentieth century, they increasingly reflected personal identity instead. A carefully chosen slip, an exquisitely tailored bra, a pair of silk stockings: these became expressions of taste and self-presentation. Even hidden beneath an evening dress, these garments carried real emotional weight — women knew they were wearing them, and that knowledge alone could subtly change how they carried themselves.
Fashion historians often describe this period as the moment lingerie stopped being simply underwear and became part of fashion culture itself. It was still elegant rather than overtly provocative, but the foundation had been laid, and the decades that followed would push that transformation much further. As music, nightlife, and youth culture began challenging traditional ideas of femininity, elements once considered too daring for the mainstream — leather, buckles, straps, and eventually harness-inspired silhouettes — would leave the underground and enter the public imagination, changing what intimate dress could mean.
Expert Commentary: Princess Petra
When you wear a handcrafted leather piece from DR+HARNESS, what do you feel you're wearing? Fashion? Art? Armour? Intimacy? Something else entirely?
"I love the feel of leather — all leather thicknesses, rigidity, touch, and smell. When I see something handcrafted, I very much appreciate the craftsmanship before it's even on my body, as a heavy sensory woman. When I wear any of my DR+HARNESS, I'm proud of the piece I'm adorned in, which goes hand in hand with the confidence I feel to showcase not just the item, my body, but myself as a woman."
But the transformation was only beginning. In the next part of our series, we enter the 1970s and follow the moment fetish aesthetics moved from the underground into fashion, nightlife, photography, and popular culture. Corsetry became outerwear, leather became a statement, and the visual language of desire was reinterpreted as an expression of confidence, identity, and artistic freedom.
To be continued in Part III: From the Underground to the Runway — When Fetish Fashion Became Fashion.