LINGERIE DICTIONARY

Don't know the difference between a bustiere and a corset? Just want to know more about various lingerie fashions? Look no further than the Prairie Passion Lingerie Dictionary. There are also numerous fashion terms described here that one may come across while shopping for lingerie.

Baby Doll - A sleeveless, loose-fitting short nightgown or negligee often decorated with lace, ruffles, bows or ribbons usually made out of some sheer, smooth material. Usually made of sheer or translucent fabric and accompanied by a matching panties, g-string or thong.

Bandeau - Literally a "band", in French, worn around a woman's breasts. In the early 20th century this referred to a simply shaped brassiere, usually of a soft fabric and delicate trimmings providing little support or shaping. By the middle of the 20th century, it came to refer to a structured outer garment worn around the breast area, following (or improving) the contours of the body, but still retaining a relatively simple circle or band shape, emphasizing the bare midriff.

Basque - (see also torsolette) A short corselette, covering the chest to the waist line. The undergarment is similar to a Victorian-era corset, but with less compression of the ribs. The modern-day Torsolette features lace-up or hook-and-eye fastening, as well as boning or vertical seams for structure and support. It usually, though not always, has brassiere cups, and is distinguished from the bustier by its length. It sometimes features detachable garters, or suspenders. In American slang, it is sometimes called a "Merry widow".

Bikini – 1. A type of undergarment worn by both men and women that has narrower sides than briefs or regular panties. The rear coverage is also not as full as briefs. For women a bikini can refer to virtually any tight, skimpy, or revealing undergarment that provides less coverage to the midsection than traditional briefs or panties. 2. A type of women's swimsuit, characterized by two separate parts — one covering the breasts, the other the groin (and optionally the buttocks), leaving an uncovered area between the two garments.

Body Briefer - A garment similar to the girdle, but providing more comprehensive coverage and firmer shaping. The shape of body briefer has a similar form to a leotard but is constructed of heavier elasticated fabric and may contain wires to give additional support.

Body Stocking - A form-fitting piece of lingerie, usually see-through, that covers the body from head to toe.

Boy Shorts - A style of panties, named for their resemblance to male shorts. also known as boy short panties, boys' cut, booty shorts, shorties or boyleg briefs are a sort of lingerie that goes all the way down the hips. Boy shorts often cover most of the buttocks area. Boy shorts are a popular choice since most of them may avoid displaying a prominent visible panty line provided they don’t ride up, and yet are a modest and comfortable alternative to thongs and panties.

Brassiere/Bra - Designed to lift, support or enhance the breasts. Some bras push-up in order to increase cleavage. The bra is considered a foundation garment, as well as an undergarment, because of its role in shaping the wearer's figure.

Briefs - Rise to the waist or just below the navel and have full coverage in the rear. In the classic (or full) brief, the sides extend below the hip. In the high-cut (French cut) brief, they are somewhat narrower. Boyleg briefs (or boyshorts) are styled after men's briefs and may have short legs extending below the crotch. Control panties (or control briefs) are a special type of briefs designed to offer support and give a slimmer appearance; these usually contain a stretch material such as spandex and may extend above the waist.

Brocade - A class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. Ornamental features in brocade are emphasized and wrought as additions to the main fabric, sometimes stiffening it, though more frequently producing on its face the effect of low relief, and the appearance that the weave was actually embroidered on. In some, but not all, brocades, these additions present a distinctive appearance on the back of the material where the supplementary weft or floating threads of the brocaded or broached parts hang in loose groups or are clipped away.

Bustiere/Bustier - A piece of lingerie that extends from the breasts to the waist pushing up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts to move up, while gently shaping the waist. Often detachable garter straps are included for holding up stockings.

Camisole/Cami - A tight-fitting piece of sleeveless lingerie, which covers the upper portion of the body. Camisoles are increasingly worn as outerwear, since many come with a built-in underwire bra.

Chemise - A loose fitting garment similar to a smock that is often worn over bra and panties. Is often made of satin or silk. Great for any type of figure.

Control brief - A type of panty girdle with longer legs and a higher waist, normally worn by a woman to lift and shape her buttocks area while flattening the stomach area.

Corsage - The bodice of a dress. In the 19th century, corsage was a common term for a woman's bodice or jacket. In modern usage, corsage is often confused with a corset, but a corset is tighter. A bridal corset is often a corsage.

Corselette/Corselet – A type of foundation garment that combines a brassire and girdle into one item. It occasionally has lace in the front or the back. The name is derived from the word corset with the diminutive “-ette” added.

Corset - A garment that fits under the breasts and snugly around the waist molding/shaping the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes. Corsets feature lacing either in front or back and often include under-wire bras to flaunt cleavage.

Demi-cup Bra - These bras come across the breast just above the nipple; also known as a half bra. Demi's don't expose the nipple like a shelf bra.

Faux - Imitation or fake such as faux fur, faux leather, or faux silk.

Garters – A narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg, just above the knee, used to keep stockings up. The advent of elastic has made them obsolete from a functional standpoint; however, they are still often worn for fashion.

Garter belt – (also suspender belts) An elastic garment circling the hips that has straps that hang in front and in back, with small clips on the ends. The clips may either attach directly to stockings or to garters for the purpose of holding up stockings. As a functional item these are as obsolete as the garters they attach to.

Girdle – A form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity.

G-string - A type of thong, a narrow piece of material that covers or holds the genitals. The material narrows further to a string, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips. Worn as swimwear or underwear by both men and women.

**NOTE: The two terms g-string and thong are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing. The primary difference between the two garments is that a g-string has less material between the legs and buttocks, hence a string-like appearance.

Hipsters - Similar to briefs, they have full coverage in the rear, but are worn lower with the waistband around the hips.

Lamé - A type of fabric woven or knit with metallic yarns. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé is often used in evening and dress wear; and in theatrical and dance costumes. Lamé comes in different varieties, depending on the composition of the other threads in the fabric. Common examples are tissue lamé, hologram lamé and pearl lamé.

Leather - A material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses.

Lingerie - Lingerie is a term for women's fashion undergarments designed to be visually appealing or sensuous.

Lycra - Is a spandex synthetic fabric that is very stretchy and often used in tight-fitting garments like bodysuits and tight dresses.

Marabou - A soft feathery and fluffy material that is made from turkey feathers and used on the trim of women's clothes and accessories.

Mini Dress / Minidress - A minidress is a dress with a hemline significantly above the knees. Generally the hemline is around eight (8) inches (about 20 cm) above the knee.

Mini Skirt / Miniskirt - Often hyphenated as mini-skirt this is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees. Generally the hemline is eight (8) inches (about 20 cm) or more above knee level.

Negligee – A form of nightgown; first introduced in France in the 18th Century, where it mimicked the heavy head-to-toe style of women's day dresses of the time. Modern negligees are often much looser and made of sheer and semi-translucent fabrics and trimmed with lace or other fine material, and bows.

Nightie - A short, hip-length dress usually made from see-through or nearly see-through material with matching panties.

Nursing Bra - Traditionally, nursing bras are made with flaps of fabric over the cup which can be unclasped and pulled down to access the breast. Even with the flap pulled down, the cup of the bra supports the breast. There are also no-flap versions made of stretchable fabric which can pulled to the side at feeding time.

Panties - A form of underwear, usually light and snug-fitting, designed to be worn by women or girls in the area directly below the waist. Typical components include a waistband (often elastic), a crotch to cover the genital area (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton), and a pair of leg openings (also often elastic). They have either no legs or in some cases very short ones. The term is usually used in the plural -- a single unit is a "pair of panties" -- though the singular "panty" is used in such derivatives as "panty liner".

Pantyhose - (also called tights) A sheer, close fitting covering of the body from the waist to the feet, almost exclusively worn by women. The name refers to the combination of 'panties' with sheer nylon hosiery.

Peephole Bra - A brassiere where the cups either loosely cover the breasts, or cups are non-existent. This type of bra does not give the breasts much support, and is generally intended for wear in erotic encounters.

Peignoir - A long nightgown for women, usually sheer, and made of chiffon.

Push-up Bra - Extra padding or underwire is added on the bottom and sides of each cup to help enhance the cleavage and lift the breasts.

Stockings - A close-fitting, variously elastic garment covering the foot and lower part of the leg, often garter belts are used to hold them up. Usually sheer and made of silk, cotton, or nylon.

Sports Bra – A specialty bra intended for wear during vigorous exercise that might cause the breasts to bounce around. It provides firm support for the breasts thereby, preventing discomfort and reducing the chance of damage to the ligaments of the chest during high-impact exercises.

Tanga – 1. A panty that is similar to boy shorts but cut higher in the back of the leg exposing the lower buttocks. Usually made of lace or sheer fabric. 2. (see thong) An undergarment or swimwear for both sexes which has no material around the sides other than the waist band.

Tap pants - A form of lingerie worn exclusively by women. It is also known by the names of French knickers, side-cut shorts, and dance shorts. As the name implies, they are a type of shorts, in that they cover the pelvic area and the upper part of the upper legs.

Teddy - A piece of lingerie that combines a camisole and panty into one piece; it resembles a one piece bathing suit. Typically it is sheer and does not have garter straps.

Thong - Underwear and swimwear characterized by a thin waistband. The front or pouch is extended to the back with a narrow strip of fabric which fits between the buttocks of the wearer, and becomes wider as it meets the waistband. Minimizes panty lines and reveals the buttocks.

**NOTE: The two terms thong and g-string are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing. The primary difference between the two garments is that a g-string has less material between the legs and buttocks, hence a string-like appearance.

Torsolette - (see also basque) A short corselette, covering the chest to the waist line. The undergarment is similar to a Victorian-era corset, but with less compression of the ribs. The modern-day Torsolette features lace-up or hook-and-eye fastening, as well as boning or vertical seams for structure and support. It usually, though not always, has brassiere cups, and is distinguished from the bustier by its length. It sometimes features detachable garters, or suspenders. In American slang, it is sometimes called a "Merry widow".