Poland makes Lingerie News Again

For all the embarrassment and commotion about lingerie, it seems Poland is in the news again. A recent exhibit at the Museum of Industry in Opatowek, chronicling the evolution of women’s underwear, has inspired some elders to wonder why this particular aspect of history needs to be on display. In fact, the attitude is reminiscent of the Koniakow lace affair.

A few years ago, villagers found that they could make more money by selling handmade Koniakow lace thongs and g-strings. The lace, a symbol of their heritage and used primarily in Catholic religious garments, was suddenly turned into a booming lingerie business. Tourists envied the fancy lace thongs and the ladies of the village found that thongs were much faster to make than tablecloths and doilies. Plus, the tourists were not interested in the heirloom cloths. But they loved the thongs. The elders of the community and many church officials, however, were not happy as they felt the ancient profession of lace making was being degraded.

And through the months of January to March 2008, the older community, again, must deal with the blatant viewing of lingerie. The display has gone as far back as the early 1900s with tight corsets and knee length knickers and moves through time periods right up to the tiniest thongs of today.

For the most part, though, the visitors are curious to see the display for different reasons. The young want to know what it was like before their time, the older people want to know what is popular today and then others yet just want to remember what they used to wear.