The only knitting book focused on lingerie and lingerie-inspired designs

Underwear has come out. Once kept demurely concealed, lingerie now pervades every fashion category, inspiring designs for day looks, loungewear, evening clothes, and accessories. Slips have become dresses unto themselves. Bra straps are meant to peek out from under tank tops. Camisoles are worn on their own or as layers over or under other clothes. Now, with Knitting Lingerie Style, designer Joan McGowan-Michael interprets this undeniable fashion trend for the knitter and, along the way, shares fascinating stories about lingerie history. Did you know that it was airplane magnate Howard Hughes who masterminded the underwire bra?

McGowan-Michael’s 30-plus designs, stunningly photographed by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, range from the truly functional—knitted bras, slips, corsets, camisoles, and stockings—to the purely fun. The brassiere inspires a curvature-enhancing twinset. The baby doll negligee is the basis for a lacy little gown and a matching thong set that’s both luxurious and (slightly) notorious. And a ribbed, laced-front sweater is an updated—and much more comfortable!—take on the classic corset.

The only book of its kind on the market, Knitting Lingerie Style includes projects that are bold and sexy, daring us all to bare a little skin, as well as more understated and demure, with sizes ranging from petite to plus.