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77-499: A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English , a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. In British English , a shirt is more specifically a garment with a collar , sleeves with cuffs , and a full vertical opening with buttons or snaps (North Americans would call that
154-411: A " dress shirt ", a specific type of collared shirt). A shirt can also be worn with a necktie under the shirt collar. The world's oldest preserved garment, discovered by Flinders Petrie , is a "highly sophisticated" linen shirt from a First Dynasty Egyptian tomb at Tarkan , dated to c. 3000 BC : "the shoulders and sleeves have been finely pleated to give form-fitting trimness while allowing
231-586: A "subjective study of string vests under hot/dry conditions" in the (British) Canal Zone of Egypt . For four weeks in July and August, as temperatures rose to 37C, men from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment were made to wear three different types of vest underneath their bush jackets. In every case the men reported that string vests kept them cool and reduced "dragging or sticking" between clothes and skin from sweat. However, at
308-596: A Mesh T-Shirt , Mattel Barbie ' s Earring Magic Ken doll, E-kids , Andy Capp , Rab C. Nesbitt , Jim Royle , Wallace in The Wrong Trousers , Madonna , and Kylie Minogue ' s Fever US cover artwork. English brands include Cockney Finestyle , Crystal , and Pendeen . "In 1955 the War Office ordered tests to be conducted on the garment. That summer, the Ministry of Supply ran
385-825: A button flap in the front. Medieval people wearing only tunics, without underpants, can be seen on works like The Ass in the School by Pieter Bruegel the Elder , in the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry by Limbourg Brothers , or in the Grimani Breviary: The Month of February by Gerard Horenbout . In 2012, findings in Lengberg Castle , in Austria , showed that lace and linen brassiere-like garments, one of which greatly resembled
462-423: A collar. The main measures for a jacket are: There are two main categories of fibres used: natural fibre and man-made fibre (synthetics or petroleum based). Some natural fibres are linen, the first used historically, hemp , cotton , the most used, ramie , wool , silk and more recently bamboo or soya . Some synthetic fibres are polyester , tencel , viscose , etc. Polyester mixed with cotton (poly-cotton)
539-486: A company operated by Ida Rosenthal , a Jewish immigrant from Russia, developed the brassiere and introduced modern cup sizes for bras. Modern men's underpants were largely an invention of the 1930s. On 19 January 1935, Coopers Inc. sold the world's first briefs in Chicago. Designed by an "apparel engineer" named Arthur Kneibler, briefs dispensed with leg sections and had a Y-shaped overlapping fly. The company dubbed
616-409: A cultural or occupational group. Recently, (late twentieth century, into the twenty-first century) it has become common to use tops as a form of advertisement. Many of these distinctions apply to other upper-body garments, such as coats and sweaters . Shirts may: Shirts with long sleeves may further be distinguished by the cuffs : Some combinations are not applicable, e.g. a tube top cannot have
693-444: A lower social class could adopt the fashionable outdoor wear of the wealthy elite, which, notably, included a coat. In the nineteenth century, the invention of the sewing machine paired with existing textile machinery increased the affordability of mass-produced, ready-to-wear clothing and helped spur the popularity of wearing coats and jackets. By the mid-twentieth century the terms jacket and coat became confused for recent styles;
770-587: A number of terms. Underclothes , underclothing and underwear are formal terms, while undergarments may be more casually called, in Australia, Reg Grundys ( rhyming slang for undies ) and Reginalds , and, in the United Kingdom, smalls (from the earlier smallclothes ) and (historically) unmentionables . In the United States, women's underwear may be known as delicates due to
847-522: A pocket for holding small items. Over the upper part of their bodies, both medieval men and women usually wore a close-fitting shirt-like garment called a chemise in France, or a smock or shift in England. The forerunner of the modern-day shirt, the chemise was tucked into a man's braies, under his outer clothing. Women wore a chemise underneath their gowns or robes , sometimes with petticoats over
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#1732772816157924-525: A selling point. By the end of the 1910s, Chalmers Knitting Company split the union suit into upper and lower sections, effectively inventing the modern undershirt and drawers. Women wore lacier versions of this basic duo known as the camisole and tap pants. In 1912, the US had its first professional underwear designer. Lindsay "Layneau" Boudreaux, a French immigrant, established the short-lived panty company Layneau. Though her company closed within one year, it had
1001-461: A separate piece of cloth, or "yoke", sewn to the front of the garment, and tightness of fit was adjusted by means of ties on the sides. This design proved so popular that it began to supplant the union suit in popularity by the end of the war. Rayon garments also became widely available in the post-war period. In the 1920s, manufacturers shifted emphasis from durability to comfort. Union suit advertisements raved about patented new designs that reduced
1078-522: A shirt for trapping air close to the skin which would provide insulation. In 1896, under the trade name Aertex, a cellular cloth based on the same principle was patented. It was later called a "Fishnet Tank Top", a Mesh Marina , and a "mesh shirt" and used for Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in
1155-411: A significant impact on many levels. Boudreaux showed the world that an American woman could establish and run a company, and she also caused a revolution in the underwear industry. In 1913, a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob created the first modern brassiere by tying two handkerchiefs together with ribbon. Jacob's original intention was to cover the whalebone sticking out of her corset, which
1232-460: A stiffened decorative bodice worn on top of another bodice stiffened with buckram , reeds, canes, whalebone or other materials. These were not the small-waisted, curved corsets familiar from the Victorian era , but straight-lined stays that flattened the bust. Men's braies and hose were eventually replaced by simple cotton, silk or linen drawers, which were usually knee-length trousers with
1309-664: A suit is traditionally called a lounge coat (or a lounge jacket ) in British English and a sack coat in American English. The American English term is rarely used. Traditionally, the majority of men dressed in a coat and tie , although this has become gradually less widespread since the 1960s. Because the basic pattern for the stroller (black jacket worn with striped trousers in British English ) and dinner jacket ( tuxedo in American English ) are
1386-410: A tiny (" wasp ") waist came to be seen as a symbol of beauty, and the corsets were stiffened with whalebone or steel to accomplish this. While "tight lacing" of corsets was not a common practice except among a minority of women, which sometimes led to a woman needing to retire to the fainting room , the primary use of a corset was to create a smooth line for the garments to effect the fashionable shape of
1463-461: A top manufacturer of union suits, which were common until the 1930s. Textile technology continued to improve, and the time to make a single union suit dropped from days to minutes. Meanwhile, designers of women's undergarments relaxed the corset. The invention of new, flexible but supportive materials allowed whalebone and steel bones to be removed. The emancipation or liberty bodice offered an alternative to constricting corsets and, in Australia and
1540-521: Is called a coat maker . Similarly, in American English, the term sports coat is used to denote a type of jacket not worn as outerwear (overcoat) ( sports jacket in British English). The term jacket is a traditional term usually used to refer to a specific type of short under-coat. Typical modern jackets extend only to the upper thigh in length, whereas older coats such as tailcoats are usually of knee length. The modern jacket worn with
1617-633: Is often used. Fabrics for shirts are called shirtings. The four main weaves for shirtings are plain weave , oxford , twill and satin . Broadcloth , poplin and end-on-end are variations of the plain weave. After weaving, finishing can be applied to the fabric. In the 1920s and 1930s, fascists wore different coloured shirts: In addition, red shirts have been used to symbolize a variety of different political groups, including Garibaldi 's Italian revolutionaries, nineteenth-century American street gangs, and socialist militias in Spain and Mexico during
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#17327728161571694-472: Is passed between the legs and then around the waist. Archaeologists have found the remains of such loincloths made of leather dating back 7,000 years. The ancient Hawaiian malo was of this form, as are several styles of the Japanese fundoshi . Another form is usually called a cache-sexe : a triangle of cloth is provided with strings or loops, which are used to fasten the triangle between the legs and over
1771-497: Is to be made. Overcoats worn over the top of knee length coats (under-coats) such as frock coats , dress coats , and morning coats are cut to be a little longer than the under-coat so as to completely cover it, as well as being large enough to accommodate the coat underneath. The length of an overcoat varies: mid-calf being the most frequently found and the default when current fashion is not concerned with hemlines. Designs vary from knee-length to ankle-length, briefly fashionable in
1848-480: The Middle Ages , it was a plain, undyed garment worn next to the skin and under regular garments. In medieval artworks, the shirt is only visible (uncovered) on humble characters, such as shepherds , prisoners, and penitents . In the seventeenth century, men's shirts were allowed to show, with much the same erotic import as visible underwear today. In the eighteenth century, instead of underpants, men "relied on
1925-574: The crotch . Henry VIII of England began padding his codpiece, which caused a spiralling trend of larger and larger codpieces that only ended by the end of the 16th century. It has been speculated that the King may have had the sexually transmitted disease syphilis , and his large codpiece may have included a bandage soaked in medication to relieve its symptoms. Henry VIII also wanted a healthy son and may have thought that projecting himself in this way would portray fertility. Codpieces were sometimes used as
2002-677: The friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile , some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear , and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal. Undergarments are generally of two types, those that are worn to cover
2079-404: The genitals and often buttocks. Terms for specific undergarments are shown in the table below . Underwear is worn for a variety of reasons. They keep outer garments from being soiled by perspiration , urine , semen , pre-seminal fluid , feces , vaginal discharge , and menstrual blood . Women's brassieres provide support for the breasts , and men's briefs serve the same function for
2156-527: The male genitalia . A corset may be worn as a foundation garment to provide support for the breasts and torso, as well as to alter a woman's body shape . For additional support and protection when playing sports, men often wear more tightly fitting underwear, including jockstraps and jockstraps with cup pocket and protective cup . Male dancers sometimes wear dance belts for support and modesty while wearing tights. Women may wear sports bras which provide greater support, thus increasing comfort and reducing
2233-607: The 'red shirts' and 'yellow shirts' respectively, though the later opponents of the later Thaksin supporting groups have largely ceased wearing yellow shirts to protest rallies. In the UK, the Social Credit movement of the thirties wore green shirts. The party leaders of Dravidar Kazhagam in India wear only black shirts to symbolise atheism. Whatever its color, the shirt itself means a certain wealth and social status. In Spain in
2310-408: The 18th century were laced behind and drew the shoulders back to form a high, round bosom and erect posture. Colored stays were popular. With the relaxed country styles of the end of the century, stays became shorter and were unboned or only lightly boned, and were now called corsets. As tight waists became fashionable in the 1820s, the corset was again boned and laced to form the figure. By the 1860s,
2387-549: The 1930s brought the corset back, now called the " girdle ". The garment lacked the whalebone and metal supports and usually came with a brassiere (now usually called a "bra") and attached garters. In 1933, Henrik Natvig Brun, a commandant in the Norwegian army, invented the first Brynje thermal String vest [ no ] , as Norwegian King’s Guard cold season clothing, in development since 1921 , repurposing two fishing nets, previously used to catch herring, and made into
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2464-513: The 1930s. Different colored shirts signified the major opposing sides that featured prominently in the 2008 Thai political crisis , with red having been worn by the supporters of the populist People's Power Party (PPP), and yellow being worn by the supporters of the royalist and anti- Thaksin Shinawatra movement the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). Each side is commonly referred to as
2541-514: The 19th century, then in Argentina during the time of Juan Perón , the word descamisados ("shirtless") means the masses of the poor. Undergarment Underwear , underclothing , or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions , to lessen
2618-554: The Roman period indicate that women (primarily in an athletic context, whilst wearing nothing else) sometimes wore strophiae (breastcloths) or brassieres made of soft leather, along with subligacula which were either in the form of shorts or loincloths. Subligacula were also worn by men. The fabric used for loincloths may have been wool , linen or a linsey-woolsey blend. Only the upper classes could have afforded imported silk. The loincloth continues to be worn by people around
2695-526: The UK, the liberty bodice became a standard item for girls as well as women. Men's underwear also continued to be developed. Benjamin Joseph Clark, a migrant to Louisiana from New Jersey , opened a venture capitalist firm named Bossier in Bossier Parish . One product manufactured by his firm was tightly fitting boxer shorts that resembled modern underwear. Though the company was bankrupt by
2772-455: The UK, they sold at the rate of 3,000 a week, given the moniker Y-fronts there. In this decade, companies also began selling buttonless drawers fitted with an elastic waistband. These were the first true boxer shorts , which were named for their resemblance to the shorts worn by professional fighters . Scovil Manufacturing introduced the snap fastener at this time, which became a popular addition to various kinds of undergarments. Women of
2849-423: The case of dry suits, the insulation value of the undergarments is selected to match the expected water temperature and the level of activity for the planned dive or water activity. Some items of clothing are designed exclusively as underwear, while others such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts are suitable both as underwear and as outer clothing. The suitability of underwear as outer clothing is, apart from
2926-577: The chance of damage to the ligaments of the chest during high-impact exercises such as jogging. In cold climates, underwear may constitute an additional layer of clothing helping to keep the wearer warm. Underwear may also be used to preserve the wearer's modesty – for instance, some women wear camisoles and slips ( petticoats ) under clothes that are sheer . Conversely, some types of underwear can be worn for sexual titillation, such as edible underwear or crotchless panties. Undergarments are worn for insulation under space suits and dry suits . In
3003-454: The chemise. Elaborately quilted petticoats might be displayed by a cut-away dress, in which case they served as a skirt rather than an undergarment. During the 16th century, the farthingale was popular. This was a petticoat stiffened with reed or willow rods so that it stood out from a woman's body like a cone extending from the waist. Corsets also began to be worn about this time. At first they were called pairs of bodies, which refers to
3080-417: The collar and wristbands being usually separate and adjustable". The first documented appearance of the expression "To give the shirt off one's back", happened in 1771 as an idiom that indicates extreme desperation or generosity and is still in common usage. In 1827 Hannah Montague, a housewife in upstate New York, invents the detachable collar . Tired of constantly washing her husband's entire shirt when only
3157-534: The collar needed it, she cut off his collars and devised a way of attaching them to the neckband after washing. It was not until the 1930s that collar stays became popular, although these early accessories resembled tie clips more than the small collar stiffeners available today. They connected the collar points to the necktie, keeping them in place. Many terms are used to describe and differentiate types of shirts (and upper-body garments in general) and their construction. The smallest differences may have significance to
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3234-407: The day, using the optical illusion created by the corset and garments together to achieve the look of a smaller waist. By the 1880s, the dress reform movement was campaigning against the alleged pain and damage to internal organs and bones caused by tight lacing . Inez Gaches-Sarraute invented the "health corset", with a straight-fronted busk made to help support the wearer's muscles. The corset
3311-439: The design the "Jockey" since it offered a degree of support that had previously only been available from the jockstrap. Jockey briefs proved so popular that over 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. Coopers, renaming their company Jockey decades later, sent its "Mascul-line" plane to make special deliveries of "masculine support" briefs to retailers across the US. In 1938, when jockeys were introduced in
3388-399: The difference in use is still maintained for older garments. In the early nineteenth century, Western-style coats were divided into under-coats and overcoats. The term "under-coat" is now archaic but denoted the fact that the word coat could be both the outermost layer for outdoor wear ( overcoat ) or the coat is worn under that (under-coat). However, the term coat has begun to denote just
3465-483: The early 1970s and known (to contrast with the usurped mini ) as the "maxi". Speakers of American English sometimes informally use the words jacket and coat interchangeably. Some of these styles are still worn. Note that for this period, only coats of the under-coat variety are listed, and overcoats are excluded. The terms coat and jacket are both used around the world. The modern terms " jacket " and "coat" are often used interchangeably as terms, although
3542-492: The early 20th century, it had some influence on men's underwear design. Underwear advertising first made an appearance in the 1910s. The first underwear print advertisement in the US appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1911 and featured oil paintings by J. C. Leyendecker of the "Kenosha Klosed Krotch". Early underwear advertisements emphasized durability and comfort, and fashion was not regarded as
3619-670: The end of the experiment, only two of the men agreed to continue wearing the vest. The report concluded that "seemingly, all vests were to be regarded with suspicion" and that "efficient indoctrination" would be required to encourage men to wear them. Back home no such indoctrination was required. Worn by miners and builders, the string vest, like the flat cap and donkey jacket , became a garment associated with working class grit." During World War II, elastic waistbands and metal snaps gave way once again to button fasteners due to rubber and metal shortages. Undergarments were harder to find as well, since soldiers abroad had priority to obtain them. By
3696-478: The end of the war, Jockey and Hanes remained the industry leaders in the US, but Cluett, Peabody and Company made a name for itself when it introduced a preshrinking process called " Sanforization ", invented by Sanford Cluett in 1933, which came to be licensed by most major manufacturers. Coat (clothing) A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion . Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down
3773-427: The exposed legs. Women's bloomers also became much shorter. The shorter bloomers became looser and less supportive as the boyish flapper look came into fashion. By the end of the decade, they came to be known as "step-ins", very much like modern panties but with wider legs. They were worn for the increased flexibility they afforded. The garter belt was invented to keep stockings from falling. In 1928, Maidenform ,
3850-535: The front, and closing by means of buttons , zippers , hook-and-loop fasteners (AKA velcro) , toggles, a belt , or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars , shoulder straps , and hoods . Coat is one of the earliest clothing category words in English , attested as far back as the early Middle Ages . ( See also Clothing terminology .) The Oxford English Dictionary traces coat in its modern meaning to c. 1300 , when it
3927-581: The front, with a full skirt in its essentials, not unlike the modern coat. By the eighteenth century, overcoats had begun to supplant capes and cloaks as outerwear in Western fashion. Before the Industrial Revolution , which began in the second half of the eighteenth century, the extremely high cost of cloth meant certain styles of clothing represented wealth and rank, but as cloth became more affordable post-industrialization, people within
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#17327728161574004-527: The genitals. Egyptian king Tutankhamun (1341 BC – 1323 BC) was found buried with numerous linen loincloths of this style. An alternate form is more skirt -like: a cloth is wrapped around the hips several times and then fastened with a girdle . Men are said to have worn loincloths in ancient Greece and Rome , though it is unclear whether Greek women wore undergarments. There is some speculation that only slaves wore loincloths and that citizens did not wear undergarments beneath their chitons . Mosaics of
4081-481: The height of its popularity in the later 1880s, and went out of fashion in the 1890s. Women dressed in crinolines often wore drawers under them for modesty and warmth. Another common undergarment of the late 19th century for men, women, and children was the union suit . Invented in Utica, New York and patented in 1868, this was a one-piece front-buttoning garment usually made of knitted material with sleeves extending to
4158-408: The indoor or outdoor climate, largely dependent on societal norms, fashion, and the requirements of the law. If made of suitable material, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimsuits . Undergarments can also have religious significance: The loincloth is the simplest form of underwear; it was probably the first undergarment worn by human beings. In warmer climates, the loincloth was often
4235-415: The long tails of shirts ... to serve the function of drawers. Eighteenth-century costume historian Joseph Strutt believed that men who did not wear shirts to bed were indecent. Even as late as 1879, a visible shirt with nothing over it was considered improper. The shirt sometimes had frills at the neck or cuffs. In the sixteenth century, men's shirts often had embroidery , and sometimes frills or lace at
4312-418: The modern bra, date back to hundreds of years before it was thought to exist. The invention of the spinning jenny machines and the cotton gin in the second half of the 18th century made cotton fabrics widely available. This allowed factories to mass-produce underwear, and for the first time, large numbers of people began buying undergarments in stores rather than making them at home. Women's stays of
4389-543: The most commonplace event." European and American women began wearing shirts in 1860, when the Garibaldi shirt , a red shirt as worn by the freedom fighters under Giuseppe Garibaldi , was popularized by Empress Eugénie of France. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Century Dictionary described an ordinary shirt as "of cotton, with linen bosom, wristbands and cuffs prepared for stiffening with starch,
4466-446: The neck and cuffs and through the eighteenth-century long neck frills, or jabots , were fashionable. Coloured shirts began to appear in the early nineteenth century, as can be seen in the paintings of George Caleb Bingham . They were considered casual wear, for lower-class workers only, until the twentieth century. For a gentleman, "to wear a sky-blue shirt was unthinkable in 1860, but had become standard by 1920 and, in 1980, constituted
4543-428: The number of buttons and increased accessibility. Most of these experimental designs had to do with new ways to hold closed the crotch flap common on most union suits and drawers. A new woven cotton fabric called nainsook gained popularity in the 1920s for its durability. Retailers also began selling preshrunk undergarments. Also in the 1920s, as hemlines of women's dresses rose, women began to wear stockings to cover
4620-419: The only clothing worn (effectively making it an outer garment rather than an undergarment), as was doubtless its origin, but in colder regions, the loincloth often formed the basis of a person's clothing and was covered by other garments. In most ancient civilizations, this was the only undergarment available. A loincloth may take three major forms. The first, and simplest, is simply a long strip of material that
4697-407: The overcoat rather than the under-coat. The older usage of the word coat can still be found in the expression "to wear a coat and tie", which does not mean that wearer has on an overcoat. Nor do the terms tailcoat , morning coat or house coat denote types of overcoat . Indeed, an overcoat may be worn over the top of a tailcoat . In tailoring circles, the tailor who makes all types of coats
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#17327728161574774-471: The recommended washing machine cycle or because they are, simply put, delicate. Women's undergarments collectively are also called lingerie . They also are called intimate clothing and intimates . An undershirt ( vest in the United Kingdom) is a piece of underwear covering the torso , while underpants (often called pants in the United Kingdom), drawers , and undershorts cover
4851-484: The same as lounge coats, tailors traditionally call both of these special types of jackets a coat . An overcoat is designed to be worn as the outermost garment worn as outdoor wear; while this use is still maintained in some places, particularly in Britain, elsewhere the term coat is commonly used mainly to denote only the overcoat, and not the under-coat. A topcoat is a slightly shorter overcoat, if any distinction
4928-401: The scythian nomads of the eurasian steppes, though this style of coat may be much older, having been found with four-thousand-year-old Tarim mummies and in five-thousand-year-old mummy of Otzi The medieval and renaissance coat (generally spelled cote or cotte by costume historians) is a mid-length, sleeved outer garment worn by both men and women, fitted to the waist and buttoned up
5005-498: The so-called Gibson Girls who enjoyed pursuits such as cycling and tennis. This new female athleticism helped push the corset out of style. The other major factor in the corset's demise was the fact that metal was globally in short supply during the First World War. Steel-laced corsets were dropped in favor of the brassiere. Meanwhile, World War I soldiers were issued button-front shorts as underwear. The buttons attached to
5082-401: The strict sense. Braies were usually fitted with a front flap that was buttoned or tied closed. This codpiece allowed men to urinate without having to remove the braies completely. Codpieces were also worn with hose when very short doublets – vest- (UK: waistcoat-) like garments tied together in the front and worn under other clothing – were in fashion, as early forms of hose were open at
5159-517: The time of the Renaissance , braies had become shorter to accommodate longer styles of chausses. Chausses were also giving way to form-fitting hose , which covered the legs and feet. Fifteenth-century hose were often particolored, with each leg in a different-colored fabric or even more than one color on a leg. However, many types of braies, chausses and hose were not intended to be covered up by other clothing, so they were not actually underwear in
5236-575: The torso and those that are worn to cover the waist and legs, although there are also underclothes which cover both. Different styles of underwear are generally worn by females and males. Undergarments commonly worn by females today include bras and panties ( knickers in British English ), while males often wear boxer briefs or boxer shorts . Items worn by both sexes include T-shirts, sleeveless shirts (also called singlets, tank tops, A-shirts, or vests), classic briefs , bikini briefs , thongs , G-strings and T-fronts . Undergarments are known by
5313-424: The waist with buttons or laces. The crotch was left open for hygiene reasons. As skirts became fuller from the 1830s, women wore many petticoats to achieve a fashionable bell shape. By the 1850s, stiffened crinolines and later hoop skirts allowed ever wider skirts to be worn. The bustle , a frame or pad worn over the buttocks to enhance their shape, had been used off and on by women for two centuries, but reached
5390-404: The wearer room to move. The small fringe formed during weaving along one edge of the cloth has been placed by the designer to decorate the neck opening and side seam." The shirt was an item of clothing that only men could wear as underwear, until the twentieth century. Although the women's chemise was a closely related garment to the men's, it is the men's garment that became the modern shirt. In
5467-530: The world – it is the traditional form of undergarment in many Asian societies, for example. In various, mainly tropical, cultures, the traditional male dress may still consist of only a single garment below the waist or even none at all, with underwear as optional, including the Indian dhoti and lungi , or the Scottish kilt . In the Middle Ages , western men's underwear became looser fitting. The loincloth
5544-412: The wrists and legs down to the ankles. It had a buttoned flap (known colloquially as the "access hatch", "drop seat", or "fireman's flap") in the back to ease visits to the toilet. The union suit was the precursor of long johns , a two-piece garment consisting of a long-sleeved top and long pants possibly named after American boxer John L. Sullivan who wore a similar garment in the ring. The jockstrap
5621-646: Was invented in 1874, by C. F. Bennett of a Chicago sporting goods company, Sharp & Smith, to provide comfort and support for bicycle jockeys riding the cobblestone streets of Boston, Massachusetts . In 1897 Bennett's newly formed Bike Web Company patented and began mass-producing the Bike Jockey Strap. By the early 20th century, the mass-produced undergarment industry was booming, and competition forced producers to come up with all sorts of innovative and gimmicky designs to compete. The Hanes company emerged from this boom and quickly established itself as
5698-524: Was replaced by loose, trouser -like clothing called braies , which the wearer stepped into and then laced or tied around the waist and legs at about mid-calf. Wealthier men often wore chausses as well, which only covered the legs. Braies (or rather braccae ) were a type of trouser worn by Celtic and Germanic tribes in antiquity and by Europeans subsequently into the Middle Ages. In the later Middle Ages they were used exclusively as undergarments. By
5775-423: Was usually worn over a thin shirt-like shift of linen or cotton or muslin . Skirt styles became shorter and long drawers called pantalettes or pantaloons kept the legs covered. Pantalettes originated in France in the early 19th century, and quickly spread to Britain and America. Pantalettes were a form of leggings or long drawers. They could be one-piece or two separate garments, one for each leg, attached at
5852-545: Was visible through her sheer dress. Jacob began making brassieres for her family and friends, and news of the garment soon spread by word of mouth. By 1914, Jacob had a patent for her design and was marketing it throughout the US. Although women had worn brassiere-like garments in years past, Jacob's was the first to be successfully marketed and widely adopted. By the end of the decade, trouser-like " bloomers ", which were popularized by Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818–1894) but invented by Elizabeth Smith Miller , gained popularity with
5929-605: Was written cote or cotte . The word coat stems from Old French and then Latin cottus. It originates from the Proto-Indo-European word for woolen clothes. An early use of coat in English is coat of mail (chainmail), a tunic-like garment of metal rings, usually knee- or mid-calf length. The origins of the Western-style coat may be traced to the sleeved, close-fitted and front-fastened coats worn by
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