KNITTED bathing costumes and voluminous knickers all feature in a new book by a Dales author.
Dulcie Lewis reveals the secret history of underwear in her latest publication Casting Off the Corsets.
The author, who lives near Leyburn, is already well-known to WI audiences for her humorous talks on topics ranging from early baths and lavatories to the development of beauty treatments and cosmetics.
Her previous social history books include a Flush in the Pan and a look at traditional Yorkshire food in Not Just Yorkshire Pudding.
In her latest book, the writer takes a look at some of the garments that women have donned in the name of fashion and attaining the perfect figure.
It takes readers through a history of knickers, bodices, corsets and stockings and looks at some of the mind-bogglingly impractical or just plain funny items women once wore.
Stays were the precursor to corsets and were useful as the generous decolletage it allowed women could be used to conceal a handkerchief, purse or even a letter. King Louis XIII is said to have once used a pair of sugar tongs to retrieve a letter he wished to read from just such a hiding place.
Casting off the Corsets is published by Countryside Books.
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