Although we've been wearing undergarments for as long as we've had clothes to put on them, the shapes they've taken have varied over time periods. Today, as at the beginning of the nineteenth century, underwear has the essential purpose of modeling the female form for a better "look" in our clothing; however, there are several key differences. There are differences in secondary purpose, differences in how they support our breasts, big changes in the “underpants” department, and finally, differences in how we view the subject in general. In the early 1800s, undergarments were worn to help keep outer garments clean before washing and regular bathing. The layer closest to the body would be a plain white slip that could stand up to regular washing. (“Slip” 37) Hand washing often involved boiling clothing and applying harsh lye-based soaps, so clothing washed more regularly would have been plain and of fairly sturdy material. (Harrison 11) Just take a look at your nearest mall, to see that undergarments are now anything but plain and are designed and worn for their sex appeal. The typical American mall has a sizable lingerie store like Victoria's Secret and/or Frederick's of Hollywood where you can see on a poster the frilly, lacy, colorful undergarments worn by a perfectly smooth woman, with no fat or blemishes. A quick Internet search for the advertising campaigns of one of these stores will produce the same results. The subtext of these ads is that the consumer will look just as sexy as the woman in the photo if she buys the undergarments. The reason for the fame of both these businesses is the sexy, high-quality bras and panties. The only form of support for the upper body... in the center of the card... Library ce. Network. February 20, 2014.Gau, Colleen. "Bra." Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion. Ed. Valerie Steele. vol. 1. Detroit: Sons of Charles Scribner, 2005. 188-192. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. February 21, 2014. Harrison, Rosina. Rose: My life in service to Lady Astor. London: Penguin Books, 1975. Print. Rogers, Abby and Aimee Groth. “13 Brands That Use Sex to Sell Their Products.” Company interior. Business Insider, Inc., 2014. Web. February 27, 2014. .Sanborn, Vic. "Women's petticoats in the times of the Regency". The world of Jane Austen. WordPress, November 6, 2010. Web. February 27, 2014. Steele, Valerie, and Colleen Gau. "Corset." Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion. Ed. Valerie Steele. vol. 1. Detroit: Sons of Charles Scribner, 2005. 290-292. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. February 20. 2014.