Call me uncouth, but I have always wondered what was happening UNDERNEATH all the clothes ladies and gents have worn through the ages!
They wore layers and layers of petticoats, chemises, bustles, hoops, bum rolls,corsets- but European ladies apparently did not cover their nether regions at all before the 1780's.
King Tut (Pharaoh Tuthankamen)was buried wearing 145 loincloths - enough for all of afterlife! In 1991 the frozen body of a man was found in the Tyrolean Alps -approximate age about 5 300 years, and still dressed in a leather loin cloth. Of course, in many cultures today, the loincloth is still the only garment men wear.
In the 16th century Spanish fashions had an influence on what ladies in the rest of Europe and Great Britain wore. Queen Elizabeth 1 was probably wearing a cast iron, hinged corset, which must have been incredibly uncomfortable!
In the early Victorian era, the American Mrs. Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894), promoted the idea of women abandoning their petticoats for trousers like those worn by Turkish women. The idea actually appealed to a few ladies, since bicycles became fashionable and the 'bloomers' made riding one possible.
The Rational Dress Society (formed in 1881 in London) liked Mrs. Bloomer's ideas on more practical and comfortable fashions. The society drew attention to the restrictiveness and immobility of the fashions of the day, and promoted the thought that 'no woman should have to wear more than seven pounds of underwear'!
Nice list! H5
Yeah, Elaine, girl-power even then!
Loved this list Rianna. Our lady ancestors went 'commando' before it was popularized by certain segments of our population, LOL!
select one here...