Women's lingerie is the stuff of fantasy. A vital element in the skilled art of undressing, it never fails to work its strange magic on the male libido. The sex is prosaic unless seen through a veil that emphasises its forbidden attractions. In the words of Montaigne - 'There are things best displayed by concealment'. Women have worn underwear since the dawn of civilisation, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, as the social climate dictated. Society frequently advanced hypocritical pretexts for the wearing of lingerie, involking dubious reasons of health and hygiene. No-one was willing to admit the truth, that these clinging undergarments, these 'snares of Venus' clothed the erotic life of eras perverse, brutal or lascivious.