Hello, gorgeous! It probably no longer comes as a surprise these days that I love celebrating business birthdays. In fact, my own brand turns twelve soon…. but this week it’s the turn of one of my favourite long-term projects, The Underpinnings Museum, for which I’ve been documenting the extensive vintage collection of founder and luxury lingerie designer Karolina Laskowska since 2016, turns five years old this week – and we are celebrating with our latest digital exhibition ‘Silken Petals: Flowers, Femininity And Lingerie’.

“Florals for spring? Groundbreaking,” scoffs Miranda Priestly, the fictional fashion editor in The Devil Wears Prada. Despite Miranda Priestly’s scorn, this very universality makes flowers a fascinating subject and The Underpinnings Museum’s new online exhibition will explore how and why flowers are used particularly often in lingerie design. 

‘Silken Petals: Flowers, Femininity And Lingerie’, guest-curated by Caroline Elenowitz-Hess, draws on the Underpinnings Museum’s permanent collection to explore the ways that flowers have been used as design motifs in undergarments from the 18^th century to today. Highlights of the exhibition include embroidered garters from the 18^th and 19^th centuries, cheeky souvenir lingerie from the 1940s and contemporary reinterpretations of the sensuality of flowers. The exhibition launches this week on 1^st November, which also happens to be the Underpinnings Museum’s 5^th business birthday.

The Underpinnings Museum is an online museum dedicated to the history of underwear. The goal of the project is to provide free access to an oft-neglected area of fashion study. It was founded in 2016 following a successful crowdfunding campaign. Its team members are located across Norway, the UK and Austria, and the project is free to access globally.

Love the Silken Petals: Flowers, Femininity And Lingerie’ exhibition?

As The Underpinnings Museum exists solely online, it provides access to culture at a time when in-person museum visits are out of the question for many. Whilst there is no obligation to donate, there are plenty of options to support us and keep the museum completely free, including purchasing a beautifully designed (by yours truly) digital catalogue of the ‘Silken Petals: Flowers, Femininity And Lingerie’ exhibition, subscribing to our Patreon from just £2 per month, or making a donation of your chosen denomination directly to the museum. You can support The Underpinnings Museum by sharing this exhibition on social media and writing about it!