Underwear.....

[Janne]

You see, I was told that my great grand mother and women her generation never wore underwear. They wore several layer of skirts so it was not practical to wear underwear type knickers.
Impractical as it was quite difficult to undress them when they needed to go to the loo. They wore a kind of loin cloth during 'the curse".

I was also told that some men in the countryside wore a kind of loin cloth they wrapped around instead of underwear, similar to the cloth that they wrapped around the feet.

Underwear as we know it today only became practical with the invention of elastics.

 

[Laurentius]

Hygiene is the main reason. It's easier to change a pair of underwear, than it is to change the outer trousers. Means that you can wash the trousers less (inflicting less wear upon them in the process), while allowing you to stay clean.

J

I do remember reading somewhere years ago that the late lamented Prince never washed his underwear. Oh no, he had a fresh brand new pair of silk boxers to wear every day.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

You see, I was told that my great grand mother and women her generation never wore underwear. They wore several layer of skirts so it was not practical to wear underwear type knickers.
Impractical as it was quite difficult to undress them when they needed to go to the loo. They wore a kind of loin cloth during 'the curse".

It depends a lot on how far back you go. Remember we have at times been subjected to the point where a woman may easily be wearing a shift, a corset, bloomers, several petticoats, an over skirt, and underskirt and stockings... Or a crinoline, or a bustle, or panniers...

I have on my sewing table two books by Janet Arnold called "Patterns of fashion" they cover ladies dress from the 1600's through to the middle of the 20th century. It's most interesting seeing what they wore. Once I've stabilised my weight (am trying to shed a substantial portion of my body bass on health grounds), I aim to make a couple of garments from said books.

For more info, I can recommend Bill Bryson's At Home: a short history of private life which has a good chapter on clothing, as well as being an interesting book on the whole.

I was also told that some men in the countryside wore a kind of loin cloth they wrapped around instead of underwear, similar to the cloth that they wrapped around the feet.

Underwear as we know it today only became practical with the invention of elastics.

Draw strings...

Also a loin cloth worn like this, under a pair of trousers is still underwear, it performs the same function, sure the victorians may not have worn Wye fronts, but they still wore garments that performed the same function.

Then we get into things like Braes and hose, and so on...

J

 

[Janne]

Exactly my point. With those top layers it was difficult to go to the loo if you also had knickers. My great grand mother was born around 1870 in Austro Hungary.
Maybe the dress habits were different between areas in Europe?


Did Scots wear anything under the kilt? The sporran had two functions I read, one to store stuff, the other to keep the kilt down.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Exactly my point. With those top layers it was difficult to go to the loo if you also had knickers. My great grand mother was born around 1870 in Austro Hungary.
Maybe the dress habits were different between areas in Europe?

Very different. The climate ain't the same across Europe, fashion wasn't the same across Europe, not to mention how it changed within the classes.

It's a question asked of many living historians who specialise in the 18th and 19th century, and there's not much info out there on how one goes to the loo when wearing so many layers. Other than "carefully". I am sure in the past not everyone wore knickers, but bloomers did exist and serve the same purpose as modern knickers...

Did Scots wear anything under the kilt? The sporran had two functions I read, one to store stuff, the other to keep the kilt down.

I'm not sure I want confirmation to be honest...

J

 

[Janne]

Do you not think that the truth was "sanitized" to be more in line with some moral thinking?
What I mean is - no "honorable, moral" woman would be without knickers, a piece of clothing the common prostitute never wore.
So officially, in descriptiond, pictures and such, the wife/ mother wore underwear, but in reality not?

 

[Janne]

I sm myself hugely interested in history and the customs of past. Got it through the Mothers milk, my mother was a food historian.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Do you not think that the truth was "sanitized" to be more in line with some moral thinking?
What I mean is - no "honorable, moral" woman would be without knickers, a piece of clothing the common prostitute never wore.
So officially, in descriptiond, pictures and such, the wife/ mother wore underwear, but in reality not?

It's hard to be certain what was worn, by who, and when. A lot of it is speculation. Some people find underwear more comfortable than no underwear, some don't. Some find it a faff, some don't. Without a time machine, none of us can be certain.

I sm myself hugely interested in history and the customs of past. Got it through the Mothers milk, my mother was a food historian.

History is an interesting and important subject, if we don't study history, we're doomed to make the same mistakes...

J

 

[Janne]

History is an interesting and important subject, if we don't study history, we're doomed to make the same mistakes...

J

Weird. I always say the same.
Pity I did not meet you when I lived in E. Sussex, we would have had fun and rewarding discussions!

 

[MikeLA]

Tried under armour and merino for hot weather found both no good for me. Gone back to using cotton and do own silk which are good in hot weather also

 

[Tonyuk]

Yes, but if one of the newfangled stuff is impractical or hurt us, I do not see any problems omitting it.
I am not sure why we wear underpants? Hygienic reasons, so we do not need to wash the trousers that often?

Wintertime longjohns are nice, for the warmth. But in summer?

We do know that overheating the male gonads is negative, our fertility goes down.

I tried tabbing once while "commando" , long story short the tip of it rubbed against the zip of the combats, not nice, undercrackers definitely preferable that day Bit of powder and some germoline and away.

Tonyuk