Intimate Apparel

The play is about a desire for intimacy and the lengths that some will go to obtain it. A need for intimacy is an equalizer across class and racial divisions, as Mayme, Mrs. Van Buren, and Esther each search for intimacy in very different ways. Esther makes intimate apparel, lingerie, which is designed to show the parts of the body that are usually only shown in private. Although Esther conflates intimacy with sex and marriage at the beginning of the play, she learns after she marries George that neither sex nor marriage guarantee intimacy. Intimacy is about familiarity, allowing another person to share in your secrets, passions, and vulnerabilities. George’s letters create a false sense of intimacy, seemingly baring his soul but ultimately turning out to be the work of someone else’s soul. At the end of the play, Esther finds intimacy and connection because she is pregnant.

Each scene in the play takes place in a bedroom. For Mrs. Van Buren, allowing Esther access to her bedroom is a privilege that she doesn’t extend to others. Conversely, Mayme’s bedroom has been traversed by many, so she finds her inner secret self in her music and her fantasies.