Underneath It All: A History of Women's Underwear, by Amber J. Keyser

It was a quiet morning at the Teen Desk, thanks to a freak blizzard, and I was in need of something to browse. Not wanting to commit to a full-length novel, I picked up Amber J. Keyser's Underneath it All: A History of Women's Underwear. This is a book a patron pointed out to me the other day, saying it looked really fun and she'd have to come back for it once her TBR list was a bit smaller.

Weighing in at just under 100 pages and written in a user-friendly style aimed at a younger (teen/tween) audience, Keyser's well-researched and interesting book chronicles the history of something most of us take for granted. Beginning in the 1300s when function was key to today's more fashionable (and comfortable! styles, undergarments have been as important to the clothing industry as are the latest runway trends--even though it wasn't always P.C. to talk about them. Mixed in with the facts are stories of iconic historical figures and how they pioneered changes in the undergarment industry. Everyone from Queen Elizabeth 1 to Madonna and Beyonce. 

And it's not just a fashion thing. The book discusses the issue that sweat shop labor that is used to mass produce some (not all) undergarments and how some companies are working to change that. It talks about how different cultures have different views on what is/is not acceptable when it comes to undergarments (and how society is striving to become more accepting of these differences). There is also a whole section about body image and how changing undergarment trends have both helped and hurt this growing concern. I also learned a few things while reading. For example: Did you know that there is a "smart" bra that can supposedly warn the wearer of early signs of possible breast cancer? No, me neither. But that's a pretty cool thing. 

Although I'm not typically a non-fiction reader, I found Underneath it All: A History of Women's Underwear to be a really interesting read. An added perk: I feel a bit smarter having read it. I love when that happens. Don't you?

 --AJB