Ancient inspirations

Thinking of lingerie and intimate apparel may evoke images of bras that hardly keep ladies covered and barely-there underwear.

Donning modern-day lingerie means putting everything on display and showing off a woman's shape in its most flattering way.

In ancient China, though, a curvy figure was considered a temptation and a sin, so women were left with few choices of outer clothes and were strictly governed by status. The underwear then became a unique channel for women to let out their romantic passion and over thousands of years, Chinese women developed various styles of underwear with amazing craftsmanship and ingenious designs.