What do the thousands of images of bras and panties on perfectly sculpted bodies that we see spread across billboards and magazines say about our society?

Many women indulge in lingerie to please men. Yet, since antiquity, women have always kept lingerie hidden away under outer garments. Thus, lingerie must be more than erotic bait.

Authors Muriel Barbier and Shazia Boucher have researched iconography to explore the relationship of lingerie to society, revealing the economy and corridors of intimacy. They correlate lingerie with emancipation, querying whether it asserts newfound freedoms or simply adjusts to changing social values. This Mega Square book contains pictures of lingerie from the 17th to the 21st century.