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What is the history of underwear?
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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. [5]
- Overview
- Ancient and early forms of underwear
- Boxers, briefs, and other innovations in underwear
- Underwear goes mainstream
King Tut was buried with 145 pairs. Codpieces were designed to protect—and accentuate. These undergarments inspired our modern boxers and briefs.
Male underpants found at Lengberg Castle, North-Tyrol, dating to the second half of the 15th century.
Ancient Egyptians had schenti, Romans wore subligaculum, and the Medieval world embraced braies and chausses before the introduction of the codpiece during the Renaissance. Through it all, one element remained consistent—covering up a man's private parts.
It was not until much later that boxers, briefs, and boxer-briefs came to fruition. In the end, the history of underwear is a mix of practicality, change, and fashion.
The earliest form of underwear was a loincloth. Prehistorically, loincloths were worn by men and women, crafted out of strips of fabric that ran between one's legs and were fastened around the waist.
(Bras are also older than you think—much older.)
Ancient Egyptians fashioned triangular swatches of linen with strings at the ends. Modern observers may associate the look with a kilt, but the lengths of these schenti varied. Schenti were worn by pharaohs and, later, members of lower social classes. King Tut was actually entombed with 145 schenti, a large collection of loincloths to take with him to the underworld.
Left: Limestone statuette of a male votary with Cypriot shorts and an Egyptian crown, Archaic, first half of the 6th century B.C, Cypriot, Limestone, Overall: 17 1/2 x 8 3/8 x 3 3/8 inches (44.5 x 21.3 x 8.6 cm), Stone Sculpture, Male votary with pointed helmet and Cypriot loin-cloth
Photograph by Sepia Times, Universal Images Group, Getty Images
Right: Venus in a bikini. Roman marble copy after a Hellenistic original found in the House of Julia Felix (Praedia di Giulia Felice) in Pompeii (1st century AD) on display in the Secret Cabinet (Gabinetto Segreto) in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Campania, Italy.
But the need for fabric garments to wear under tunics and the like remained. By the early 19th century, pantaloons emerged as a practical part of any outfit for men and women because they kept outer wear clean by absorbing dirt and sweat.
This time period also brought the introduction of union suits—predecessors of long johns and onesies—to meet the needs of both men and women. Men could wear blouses and shirts on the outside, while women could do away with their corsets, stockings, and garters. This was useful as industrialization meant that more men and women were working in factories.
Left: King Henry VIII of England is well-known to have worn codpieces—according to the fashion at the time, the bigger and more elaborate the codpiece, the more manly was the wearer.
Photograph by Fine Art Images, Heritage Images, Getty Images
Right: In 1876, American men commonly wore drawers like this pair of long, cream-colored pants that cinched at the waist.
Photograph by Heritage Art, Heritage Images via Getty Images
Underwear became a fashion item in the 1950s and 1960s as they went from traditional white to an array of colors and patterns and the development of fabrics like rayon and Dacron made new styles possible for men and women.
As a result, underwear advertisements became more explicit—and bikini briefs and nylon thongs soon accompanied Tighty-Whities (as Kneibler’s jockey shorts would later be called) in marketing campaigns.
By the 1980s and 1990s, the world was debating the critical question: Boxers or briefs? Boxers had grown increasingly popular after World War II, as men who served in the military adjusted to the standard-issue boxer shorts. But as the century progressed, people began to question whether there were health benefits to wearing them—and a trend was born of asking famous men, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, to share which one they wore.
(How advertisers sold a post-World War II dream.)
Soon, however, a new option arose: Boxer briefs—a hybrid of the two styles.
Calvin Klein designer John Varvatos is credited with inventing boxer briefs in the early 1990s, although he may not have been the first person to come up with the idea. They took off after a 1992 Calvin Klein ad campaign featuring rapper-turned-actor Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg wearing nothing but white Calvin Klein boxer briefs. The explicit ads, shot by photographer Herb Ritz, stoked controversy and, in the process, made Calvin Klein a household name in underwear.
From 19th-century ruffle-fronted shirts to 1990s Calvin Kleins, Shaun Cole, Associate Professor in Fashion at Winchester School of Art, explores the hidden history of men's underwear in this edited extract from the V&A book, 'Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear'.
Sep 1, 2021 · Underwear actually started as an outer garment back in the 5000’s BC and appeared for cavemen and cavewomen as a small piece of fabric wrapped around the waist and through the leg called a loincloth.
Aug 5, 2014 · Composed of a triangular piece of fabric and strings, the risqué underthings show an eerie resemblance to the original loincloths — perhaps underwear hasn't changed that much at all.
Aug 5, 2021 · The ancient Egyptians were the first to introduce a layer of clothing between the skin and an outer, more decorative garment. However, this was worn more as a status symbol than for practical or alluring reasons. In fact, until the 19thcentury, underwear in Europe and North America was largely unisex.
Apr 17, 2016 · From the British "Keelapso" bustle of 1887 and the German "austerity corset" of the First World War to a 1970 bra made of beaten metal, the exhibition uses 200 objects to tell the story of...
