The bustier: Between constraint and freedom

Associated with grand Hollywood events and gala evenings the place diamond necklaces and opera gloves are important, the strapless costume has lengthy evoked a picture of final femininity. One can not assist however recall Marilyn Monroe in stunning pink in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Grace Kelly wearing white in To Catch a Thief (1955), or Audrey Hepburn in a pink Givenchy strapless robe in Funny Face (1957).

The American author and feminist Susan Brownmiller explored the essence of femininity – an enormous topic – in her ebook Femininity (1984). “Femininity, in essence, is a romantic sentiment, a nostalgic tradition of imposed limitations,” notably these imposed by clothes.

“Feminine clothing induces the body to strut about in small, restrained yet show-offy ways,” she noticed. “Feminine clothing produces its special feminine sounds: the staccato clickety-click of the heels, the musical jangle of bracelets, the soft rustle of silk, or, in an earlier era, the whisper of petticoats, the snap of a fan.”

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Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga

Often, the bustier is corseted. It clings to the physique and constrains, and even sculpts, in keeping with the prevailing requirements, because of its intricate development. “The quest for the perfect body in the perfect dress was contained in the quest for the perfect corset, which could uplift, augment or flatten the breasts, widen or narrow the hips, pinch or elongate the waist, sway the back, slope the shoulders and push in the stomach, in accordance with the fashion ideal of the time,” wrote Brownmiller.

Yet, cinema and popular culture quickly turned the bustier into a logo of empowerment: within the cone-breasted Jean Paul Gaultier bustier, Madonna, as early because the Nineteen Nineties, reminded the world that her physique was a supply of energy, not simply an object of seduction. After her got here Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, usually strapped into dazzling stage bustiers reworked into veritable armor.

Heir to the corset however stripped of its “disciplinary” perform, the bustier stays a garment on the sting, wavering between constraint and freedom. By each framing and exposing the physique, it additionally speaks to our period, when femininity nonetheless calls for efficiency. But above all, it exemplifies the return of tailoring: clothes with clear traces that provide construction to the wearer. On the autumn-winter 2025-2026 runways, essentially the most minimalist variations stood out, usually favoring the absence of straps.

Margaux Krehl

Translation of an unique article revealed in French on lemonde.fr; the writer could solely be answerable for the French model.