Underwear: A Brief History April 6, 2011

Underwear -- it's the first thing you put on in the morning and the last thing you take off at night. For centuries it has come in a variety of unique and often torturous designs, and in many colors, shapes, and sizes to fit each individual. Besides securing one's valuables, wearing underclothing also provides the benefits of warmth, protection, and cleanliness. These unmentionables change the shape of the body and make statements about social class. Similar to clothing fashions, undergarments progressed from simple loincloths to sophisticatedly engineered products. In order to appreciate the history of our outerwear, we must first take a brief peek at the hidden history of our underwear.