See-through clothing

• 
  1. 1783
• 
  2. c. 1797
• 
  3. 1807
• 
  4. 1818
• 
  5. 1823
• 
  6. 1831–2
• 
  7. 1863
• 
  8. 1876
• 
  9. 1898

1. Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress, or Chemise a la Reine, by Vigée Le Brun
2. Point de Convention or Absolutely no agreement by Louis-Léopold Boilly. An Incroyable is shown propositioning a woman dressed a la sauvage
3. 1807 caricature showing an exaggeratedly transparent dress.
4. Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, showing a sheer gauze overdress with long sleeves over a white silk underdress.
5. Fashion plate showing a ball dress of sheer material over a pink underdress.
6. Portrait of Elena Chertkova Stroganova in a black satin dress with transparent white gauze sleeves.
7. Portrait of two sisters by James Tissot showing a muslin summer dress with a transparent bodice clearly showing the arms and a low-necked camisole.
8. The Gallery of H.M.S. Calcutta by Tissot. Summer dresses of sheer fabric, one with clearly visible low-cut back lining.
9. Portrait of Sonja Knips by Gustav Klimt. Afternoon dress in densely gathered sheer pink chiffon over a solid foundation lining.

A fashionable garment in the early 20th century was the "peekaboo waist", a blouse made from broderie anglaise or sheer fabric, which led to complaints that flesh could be seen through the eyelets in the embroidery or through the thin fabric.[9] In 1913 the so-called "x-ray dress", defined as a woman's dress that was considered to be too sheer or revealing, caused similar consternation. In August that year, the chief of police of Los Angeles stated his intention to recommend a law banning women from wearing the "diaphanous" x‑ray dress on the streets.[10] H. Russell Albee, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, ordered the arrest of any woman caught wearing an x‑ray dress on the street, which was defined as a gown cut too low at the neck or split to the knee.[11] The following year in 1914, Jean-Philippe Worth, designer for the renowned Paris couture House of Worth, had a client object to the thickness of the taffeta lining of her dress, which was described as "thinner than a cigarette paper". Worth stated that using an even thinner, sheerer lining fabric would have had the effect of an "x-ray dress".[12]

In Australia, an article was published in The Daily Telegraph on the 24 November 1913 strongly opposed to "freak dresses" and "peek-a-boo blouses" that had lately become the fashion in "other Capitals". The editorial complains of dresses of "exiguous transparancy and undue scantiness" and "the low-cut blouse that invites pneumonia".[13]

French actress Brigitte Bardot wearing a transparent top at a cocktail party in 1968

See-through and transparent clothing became very fashionable in the latter part of the 1960s. In 1967, Missoni presented a show at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, where Rosita Missoni noticed the models' bras showed through their knit dresses and requested they remove them.[14] However, under the catwalk lights, the garments became unexpectedly transparent, revealing nude breasts beneath.[14] The see-through look was subsequently presented by Yves Saint Laurent the following year,[15] and in London, Ossie Clark presented sheer chiffon dresses intended to be worn without underwear.[16] The trend led to jewellery designers such as Daniel Stoenescu at Cadoro creating "body jewellery" to be worn with sheer blouses and low-cut dresses.[17] Stoenescu designed metal filigree "breastplates" inspired by a statue of Venus found at Pompeii, which functioned like a brassiere and were designed to be visible through the transparent shirts while preserving the wearer's modesty.[17]

Punk rock artist Patti Smith wears a see-through slip inside-out on the cover of her 1978 album Easter.