Embracing comfort & individuality with 1970s lingerie
Underwear that felt barely there was the marketing angle of the day. Lacy lingerie took on a new sophistication, bras embraced a spectrum of vibrant colors, and shapewear began to prioritize comfort alongside aesthetics.
Scroll on to see how 1970s lingerie, bras, panties, girdles, and shapewear looked back then.
1970s lingerie: Lovable Lace Mates super-stretch bra & stretch lace longleg (1970)
Vintage 70s bra slips from 1971
Lorraine Shapelings undergarments in bold colors (1971)
Vintage 1970s blue lace mesh bra and underwear (1973)
Vintage 70s halter bras (1975)
Booby Traps bra & underwear by Mary Quant (1974)
Printed, as shown here in our “Trump Trump” collection, or unprinted, Booby Traps are available in six sheer hues. Along with our Booby Traps, we are also introducing Mary Quant Tights in 12 hues. Mary’s Booby Traps and Tights will be sold in her cosmetic fashion outlets around the world.
DON’T MISS: See the vintage ‘bullet bra’ look that was big in the ’50s
Vintage Bali bras – like a natural woman (1977)
Maidenform Sea Dream demi-bra and bikini underwear (1971)
1970 underwear in bright colors and prints
Look what’s coming out from under. Clusters of one-size-fits-all body things — they’re no-bra bras and big-girl undershirts with matching panties — in a whole paletteful of yummy new colors and flash new prints.
Vintage 70s Juniors underwear – soft green with lace accents
Smoothie Q body briefer with built-in bra (1973)
Now there’s nothing standing between you and clingy clothes.
Gone is everything that’s kept you out of those body-hugging tops. Gone is everything that’s stopped you from pouring yourself into those clingy knits and crepes. Gone, all gone. Smoothie Q by Young Smoothie has come to your rescue with a body briefer with seamless Dacron polyester cups.
A feathery few ounces of sensuous, silky Qiana nylon blended with the persuasive yet gentle control of Lycra spandex powernet to give you that all-in-one look all over. With not a trace of a seam in the cups to spoil the natural look of the real you. (1970s prices: The seamless-cup body briefer stylein beige and white, sizes A, B, C, D Cups, $17. DD Cup. $18.)
DON’T MISS: The most popular 1970 dresses were a groovy blend of boldness & femininity
Vanity Fair I-Liner bra and garterless panty brief (1970)
The New Slimmetry. Today’s slender beauty doesn’t need reforming. Just a light little smoothing from our flexible new I-Liners. They feel as natural as nothing, but nothing ever looked so sleek under clingy clothes.
From the I-Liner collection: Bra in Vanilure shape-crepe. 32 to 36 A B C cups, 38 B C cups. Garterless pantie brief of our own Curvalon stretch fabric. Both in our new body tint, Apricot Cloud. Vanity Fair Mills, Inc.
1970s Eiderlon panty styles (1977)
Retro Eiderlon panty colors & styles (1978)
Lite Diet Skinny Waist underwear: Shapes you as you lose weight (1978)
Real women don’t come in just small, medium and large. But those are the sizes you had to pick from when you were buying a body-shaper. Well, things have changed. Because now there’s Lite Diet Skinny Waist by Young Smoothie — a body beautifier briefer with a brain.
It makes ordinary sizes obsolete. Because it doesn’t know what size it is until you put it on. Lite Diet Skinny Waist by Young Smoothie is made of an extraordinary new fabric of Lycra with amazing control properties. It understands that your bust and body don’t conform to any precise size. That you’re a bit plus or minus.
So our briefer with a brain adjusts for this. The instant you put it on. The Lite Diet Skinny Waist Body Briefer (with mesh crotch), also has our exclusive Skinny Waist construction that performs waist-trimming miracles the minute you put one on. Then, if you decide to diet, it conforms to your changing measurements. Actually follows your diet with you.
1970s lingerie: Maidenform Sweet Nothings (1978)
“I want a bra that’s a little lacier, a little plungier, and a lot prettier.” That’s why Sweet Nothings are so hard to resist. Because they’re made with the lightest satins, laces and delicacies to feel as sexy as they look.
Vintage stretch lace and nylon bra and underwear – Underscene by Bestform (1971)
Lingerie and slips for women from Sears (1971)
Vintage 1970s lingerie: Maidenform Un-underwear (1970)
Vanity Fair Underglows 1970s undergarments with lace (1979)
The colorful life begins today! Our elegant new Underglows come in Fresco Pink with Ecru lace (shown) and 7 more fashion colors, in satin Glisandan anti-cling Antron° III nylon. Bra, 32 to 36 A, 32 to 38 B, C, about $10. D cup, about $11. No Ride-up Petti, S, M, L, below the knee, about $8. Longer lengths, about $9.
1970s lingerie – Lovable spandex bra (1970)
REMEMBER THESE? Underoos made boring old kids’ underwear fun to wear in the 1970s & 80s (and beyond)
1970s lingerie: Sears Seamless Ah-h Bra with underwire and lace (1974)
Jade green demicup bra and half-slip (1970)
Body accessories are not only the fun and sexy part of the new softdressing, they’re essential to make the look happen.
Clingerie is the soft of Crepelon nylon… as the smoothness of a Vassarette demicup bra, contoured with fiberfill to lightly shape you under the most yielding dresses. In the new softcolor experience: Justine Jade. Clingerie to match in a demi flareline half-slip with hand-cut lace.
1970s undergarments: K-Mart bras and underwear for women (1977)
Free Spirit Fanny Briefs from Playtex (1978)
Vintage 1970s maternity lingerie and underwear
ALSO SEE: 170 hip vintage 1970s dresses, skirts, pantsuits & other fab retro fashion for women
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Clearly, ladies’ undergarments haven’t changed much in 50 years. Although in 2023, the “Trump Trump” bra would take on a whole new meaning…