500 years of Women's Underwear History

hello everyone and welcome back i have  been going down yet another rabbit hole   looking into 1920s undergarments while  working on what is essentially going to be an   entire trousseau of lingerie for an upcoming trip  and i thought it'd be a good time to look at the   evolution of underwear really throughout the  last 500 years because that's what i've got in   my closet but before we get into our time machine  and travel all the way back to the 15th century   there are a few things that i need to cover first  and foremost myself a lot of this underwear is not   exactly great with coverage so i am going to be  wearing things underneath of all of it so that   way this can be up on youtube in reality all of  what you're going to see wouldn't have had other   things beneath it unless i mentioned them so just  kind of ignore that factor the second thing i need   to cover is that all of the garments i'm going to  be wearing are examples of the time period they   are not the end-all be-all there are plenty of  different variations and options worn by different   people most of what i'm going to be focusing on  is going to be england centric just because that's   what i have in my closet and that is what i am  the most familiar with there would be variations   throughout the regions and variations throughout  the different classes and types of people that   you're dealing with as well so there are just too  many styles to cover all of them this is a great   sampling though the third thing i need to cover  is what is underwear we kind of define it today   by something that is hidden below your clothing  it's the stuff that should not be seen it is   the private clothing granted there are certainly  fashions today where showing off some lingerie   is the trend but in general we think of it as  that's meant to go beneath clothing in reality   underwear undergarments are going to be defined  differently in different eras and they'll all   have different purposes some things will  be supportive some things will adjust   the body make it larger make it smaller give  you the fashionable silhouette some things are   going to be intentionally visible or invisible  and it's going to change throughout all of time   a lot of it comes down to however needing to be  the layer between you and your outer clothing it   is a protective layer whether that is protecting  your clothing from you sweating and body oils   and all sorts of other stuff or protecting  you from itchy scratchy abrasive clothing   there's a whole variety of different reasons to  have that mid layer between the two and that's   really what i'm going to be focusing on so that  means that my definition for today for underwear   is going to be whatever is closest to the skin  that one layer or a couple of pieces that are   meant to be right up against the body we're not  going to be dealing with all of the extra layers   that go on top so if you want to see more about  corsets i have a video that's 100 years of corsets   if you want to know more about the transition  from 18th century stays into 19th century corsets   i have a video on that as well and if you want to  know more about how structures petticoats bustles   hit pads and all that sort of stuff built  out this body in order to get the right   ideal shapes abby has a wonderful video all about  butts throughout history and there are honestly   so many other garments that could require their  own videos of this format but in order to keep   this succinct we're just sticking to that closest  layer and the fourth thing i need to cover is that   today we have a lovely sponsor for our video  care of care of is a subscription service that   ships high quality personalized vitamins to your  door every month i've tried so often to figure   out a system of vitamins that fills the gaps in  my life but it can feel extremely overwhelming   when looking at all the options and not knowing  what's going to work best for my goals finding   time to do the hours of research is daunting but  with care of they do the research with you you   start by taking an in-depth quiz about your goals  and they give you personalized recommendations   each result comes with a thorough description  so you can understand how it fits into your life   and it's simple to amend and update your packs  to match your changing lifestyle fun fact i am   actually a morning person but i tend to wear down  by midday and i know that i am not doing nearly   enough in terms of my nutrition to help with  that so a set of vitamins custom fit to what   my concerns and needs are is exactly what i need  every morning i've only been using care of for a   couple of weeks now but i can definitely tell by  afternoon if i forgot to take them my favorite   part is that everything is so conveniently  wrapped up in a daily package and the prompts   are so much fun care of makes the complex process  of managing to research and source and remember to   take your daily vitamins so simple they talk  at length about what goes into every option   so you know that what you're putting in your body  is made from good for you clean ingredients go   take care of quiz to find out what's recommended  for you use my code nicoler50 for 50% off of your   first order and you can make one thing in your  daily self-care just that much easier thanks   again to care of for sponsoring this week's video  and now that we have everything important covered   let's travel back to the 15th century we're  starting off with the smock this garment is   a fairly simple shape it is that way because it's  easier to make it doesn't need to be complicated   and fitted and the shapes that it's made out of  are very economical when it comes to fabric usage   there's almost no waste in fabric when you're  cutting entirely squares rectangles and triangles   this is a theme that will continue well into the  19th century this garment is very similar in cut   to the garments that go over it such as the kirtle  it's going to mimic that style because you don't   want a bunch of bulk underneath tight areas and  you don't want it super tight fitting in areas   where you need a lot of movement so that means  it's going to be snugly fitted about the shoulders   loose around the rest of the body going down to  usually somewhere around mid-calf to the knee   area because you don't need the full length by the  time you reach below the knee you have hose there   and in later eras you'll have petticoats as well  so you don't need coverage in that area so much   it's more concerning to have it in the torso area  and around the upper body and arms where again you   will not only want to protect the outer garments  from needing to be laundered nearly as much as   well as making sure that you are protected from  the textiles and tight sleeves especially if it's   an itchy wool or something like that so it makes  sense that this garment has the same open neckline   as the garments it's intended to go under has the  same general styling one of the only additional   pieces is that of gussets under the arm this is  something that you'll see throughout just because   it's a really useful little piece that means  you have a little bit more movement in your arms   nothing's going to be choking up underneath your  arms because that's a pretty sensitive area so   this general cut is the style that you're going  to see as the basis for the next few centuries   it is made out of a white bleached linen  and that's definitely the most common as   well wool undergarments do exist however they  tend to be more for specific medical purposes   when it comes to say needing extra warmth but  linen does really well at wicking away the   moisture in sweat and keeping you dry it stays  cool to the touch so even with lots of heavy   layers of wool you're not going to be sweating  and overheated and unable to let your skin really   breathe because of your undergarments so linen is  the preferred option white is the preferred color   because it can be bleached and scoured and boiled  and so many things done to it to get it clean   because you're going to wear hopefully optimally  that garment for the one day and that goes into   the wash pile this is not the situation with  everyone of course but it is meant to be the   garment that keeps constantly being cleaned and  cleaned really hard so white makes sense because   like i said you can bleach it and then it will not  only be clean but it will really look clean it's   a sign of cleanliness which is a sign of health  even as far back as the 15th century there are   certainly unbleached linens that are common but  they're chosen because they're less expensive   and so the ideal and the standard is white linen  now this smock is the only thing that i'm going   to consider undergarments in this time period  there is nothing that goes underneath of this   in the lower half when it comes to the typical  fashions there are always going to be oddball   archaeological things but in general there's  little to no evidence for anything else being worn   has a sense of underwear other than this smock so  we're going to take this smock and move it forward   about 100 years going into the 16th century  and this is where something interesting happens   it becomes visible the neckline rises up from  being about the same open shape as the curdles   to being a collared style usually with a little  ruffle same thing goes with the cuffs they're   fuller sleeves so they are gathered into a  cuff again commonly with little ruffles and   these cuffs and collars can be left plain or  they can be smocked they can be embroidered   they can have all sorts of extra work and effort  done to them because they're visible so this is   an undergarment that is meant to be seen they add  in lace and all sorts of other expensive textiles   and efforts so that way it visibly looks  fashionable it is part of the ensemble and   it is expected to be seen so underwear not always  hidden even far back in the past as we move into   the 17th century this trend continues though the  styles do change midway through the century the   bodices change the neckline and sleeve shape so  it's a very off the shoulder sort of look large   full sleeves that are relatively short in  comparison to a lot of the earlier decades and the   smock matches up with this it too has a very large  and open neckline though it is very often visible   around the edge of the bodice just a little bit  of extra fullness sort of ruffling around the edge   there same thing goes with the sleeves they are  very large and full sometimes they are gathered   down to a cuff or to another ruffle and sometimes  they're left very large and folded back and pinned   up to the sleeves of the bodice this style again  is meant to be visible in quite a few locations   so it is really important to keep it clean keep  it white and bright and occasionally it will be   decorated with some extra expenses such as  lace moving into the 18th century however   the now called shift starts to disappear  underneath the clothing those ruffles that we   could visibly see around all the edges are still  there but they have detached themselves from the   undergarment and are now attached directly to  the gown or jacket they are made up on their own   and then just simply very loosely stitched in so  they can be easily removed for cleaning as for the   shift it usually is fairly plain big open neckline  because the gowns have a fairly open neckline   the sleeves start off still pretty full at the  beginning of the century because gown sleeves are   rather large and they will continue to narrow  as sleeves continue to narrow throughout the   18th century as for the body it hasn't really  changed in all of these centuries it's still   that basic trapezoid shape fitted up with the  shoulders and loose down to just below the knees   there's no reason to change what works under so  many different eras as we move into the early   19th century not much changes there the sleeves  do shorten and sometimes disappear entirely just   because of the style of the gowns that it's going  under so you don't want it visibly sticking out in   weird places so it's going to have to shrink as  the gown styles do interestingly enough this era   really does feel like it has the least coverage  in many ways of all of the areas we looked at in   terms of clothing just because there's not a lot  of structure there's not a lot of heaviness to it   but of course the weather has not really kept up  so if you're finding yourself a tidbit chilly with   just the single layers that you've got you can  always add in a few extra things such as a pair   of drawers this is when something underneath  that shift or smock does come into play more   commonly drawers or sometimes called pantalettes  were becoming popular at the beginning portion of   the 19th century and they do offer warmth they're  also there for fashion purposes and a little bit   of modesty just in case everything is really sheer  but that's not seemingly as often the concern   interestingly enough the thing about drawers  in this time is that they are split drawers   that means that they are two separate legs they  might be attached around the waistband together   but sometimes they are separately tied about  the waist and the important thing is they   aren't connected anywhere else so that entire seam  running from front all the way under to back is   left open because then you don't have to remove  them to deal with your daily activities this is   just a practical thing these are getting put on  usually underneath a lot of your other garments   and they're going to go underneath the corset  underneath the petticoats underneath all sorts   of things that are tied about the waist they're  going to be difficult to remove and put back on so   you need to still be able to function and  these split drawers will continue in that   manner throughout the rest of the 19th century as  for the shift we have now started transition to   what we call the chemise this is not necessarily  because it is a dramatically different garment   there are still chemises in the 1830s that  really resemble the shift of the 18th century   however they just kind of like french names at  this time it's just you know more cool i guess   so the chemise and this era that is coming into  being and transitioning out of the earlier style   of t-shaped shift is because we're getting back to  that off-the-shoulder style with gowns and again   the full sleeves they kind of go hand-in-hand  in a lot of cases and unlike the 17th century   where having a loose blousy undergarment that  would otherwise when sits off the shoulders   just simply slump down and be really hard to keep  up on your shoulders and in place they're instead   not going to have it pull up over the edges of the  bodice to hold the arm sign that stuff into place   they're going to depend on a yoke and that is that  fitted band of fabric around the top edge that   usually buttons in order to keep it snug to the  body and that means it's going to stay supported   you can gather your body and your sleeves into  it so that way there's enough room for movement   you're not going to be super tight the whole way  down the body just at that one point that you need   the support everything else gets gathered in still  fairly full the sleeves are generally shorter just   because there are a lot of fashionable styles  and have fairly short sleeves and this style will   continue well through the 1860s until the neckline  starts to change it's also around this time that   we start to see a major transition and a few other  features of underwear a lot of these shifts are   coming around because of the industrial revolution  machines are making everything cheaper and easier   so fabric is less expensive and in the case  of cotton it really heavily depended on a lot   of features of the industrial evolution not just  machines but also the massive growth of slavery in   the united states at the beginning part of the  19th century and all of these things mean that   cotton is cheaper it's more available and  therefore it's also pretty fashionable and   it's not the better option for undergarments  in fact it really isn't it doesn't deal with   moisture nearly as well or body temperature but  it still can be washed and cleaned and bleached   so it works pretty well as an undergarment fabric  and becomes incredibly popular because of all the   factors of the time additionally we also have  the sewing machine which means that all of these   garments are being able to be made much faster  and that also means they're adding in a lot more   detail whereas before things were hand-stitched  and it made sense to stick with really simple   straight edges you didn't need to be complicated  it took a lot of time to make these things anyway   because you wanted fine stitching so it lasted a  long time instead the machines can speed through   that really fast and suddenly we want to start  adding more decoration we want to start adding a   little more lace a little more detail a little bit  of embroidery a little bit of pizzazz even though   these aren't visible unlike the 16th century when  they added their pizzazz they put it out for show   the 19th century keeps it tucked away and so  as we move into the 1880s you're seeing more   and more lace added to these garments you're  seeing more and more ruffles and fluff and   really unnecessary things my 1880s example is  still made out of linen because you do still   find linen occasionally and i prefer it as an  undergarment myself over cotton so i held on as   long as i possibly could to my linen when it comes  to my collection but i chose to go the sleeveless   style because sometimes i'm wearing it along with  evening gowns and in this era sometimes they're   sleeveless so i need to be able to drop that out  of the way simply unties at the shoulders and it   drops down over the corset and then i don't have  to worry about it slipping out and being visible   anywhere around my shoulders which means of course  that we've started to change our concepts of what   underwear is doing just a little bit it's still  being a protective layer between the body and   the corset and the gown to some extent but  now suddenly our armpits are free and sweaty   so this is also when a few changes take place  first off we've already talked about the fact   that things are cheaper to make and faster  to make this really is the origination of   fast fashion as we know it i did a whole video  about that as well and there's an expectation   that you might not wear these garments nearly as  much so sweating into them whatever there's also   a lot of washable garments that are coming  into existence they're losing some of the   extra structure and extra fluff so that way they  become washable they're more simple in their style   and you also have dress shields which i think is  something that we really need to bring back it's   just a little piece of fabric and usually that  inner layer that sits over the armpit area of your   bodice and protects it from you and you can  pull them out wash them separately or throw   them away and replace them when they are one  of the disposable styles that come later on and   this idea of the undergarments not really doing  everything they originally intended to do and   instead becoming a bit more superfluous is going  to continue from here on out we're just going to   keep coming up with new inventions to replace the  things that it was already doing for us we just   we're just new inventions they're great right  so when we get to the 1890s and early 1900s   i have one of my favorite pieces that i've made  but one of the most fluffy and really in so many   ways absolutely pointless pieces this is what  they call combinations that's because we've taken   the chemise and those drawers and combined them  together now that part is quite functional it   means that they didn't have two things around  their waist it really allows you to get rid of   the bulk in that area it allows you to get rid of  the bulk around your legs even though this style   does have a lot of ruffles as we get into the  early 20th century the gowns are going to slim   down you're going to want less and less bulk there  so two layers versus one layer kind of can make   a difference but you'll notice this is out of a  very lightweight cotton lawn it's not doing a lot   to protect whatever is going over it it does cover  the portion of the body where the corset will sit   but it's full of lace and it's just got lace  straps it's it's not doing a lot to put a barrier   between me and my exterior clothing it's fluffy  and pretty and to hand stitch all that would   have been a lot of extra work but to machine  stitch it it actually goes surprisingly fast   so we're adding in all of these ribbons and  lace and extra fluff and frills because we can   why not suddenly fashion over form is an option  for undergarments in the way that it really wasn't   before and as we move further into the 20th  century the gowns simplify at the beginning of   the 19 teens they slim down the undergarments that  need to go under them also slim down we get rid of   ruffles and move towards pleats we get rid of all  the gathers and drawstrings around the bodices and   moves towards things that are seamed and darted  things that are shaped and fitted to the body   we're really not utilizing our fabric in the same  way that we used to be we're not trying to make   the most of our yardage we're cutting weird  shapes out to get this but it's a matter of   the modern concept of we have plenty and we can do  more with this and so even though these garments   are slimming down and simplifying they're still  putting in plenty of lace they're still putting   plenty of detail and decor into them even  for the simple ones they might still have   embroidery to finish off the edges or a little  bit of a floral style in front just for some   added pizzazz even if they are out of a  fairly heavy cotton and with this pretty   equal importance placed over form and function we  move into the late 1910s and early 1920s which is   in many ways the birth of our modern fashion  and boy it gets colorful really fast that's   because no longer are we relying on just linen  and cotton as our basic undergarment materials   we have also added silk and rayon which is just  faux silk this wasn't as much of an option before   the little bits of silk such as the ribbons or the  petticoats things like that would often be in silk   we didn't use it before because most of the  options that we had were stiff and crisp taffetas   things you didn't want up against your body and  things that honestly weren't terribly washable but   the crepe weave that is popularized in the early  20th century for things like georgette and chiffon   really takes off and it's pretty washable  without losing your luster or your texture   and it means you can do brilliant bright wonderful  colors that weren't necessarily the easiest   options on cotton or linen just because sometimes  they don't die nearly as bright and vivid and   while colorful undergarments certainly existed in  the past they were seen as more of a novelty they   weren't something that was the standard fashion  and so it's terribly interesting to see this   absolute explosion of color in this era that is  still paired with lace and ribbons and trims all   of these things that will never be seen outside  of the garments because as the outer clothing   is simplifying it doesn't have the same structure  it doesn't have the same coverage as before   the undergarments too need to be less bulky need  to have less coverage so many of them such as   these step-ins or the cami knickers or teddies  or all sorts of different names that they have   for these garments are just going to hit below  the hips and just above the bust they're going   to cover the parts of the body that will need  a corset or girdle or some other support on top   and that's about it in the case of my step in i do  have buttons in the crotch area so that way that   can be opened up and dealt with but if they are  loose enough you can also pull that to the side   so while these garments are not meant to be  easily removed and put back on as they will   be under corsets and garments and things like  that they are still meant to be functional at   least in that format this is also the point where  that lower garment is becoming uh more like shorts   they are sometimes called knickers they have a  bunch of different names as well but they are   kind of developing into what we consider  our modern day underwear this is just an   earlier state of it and this is also the point  where we're developing the modern day brazier   bus supports had existed prior to this point  corsets they started dropping down lower and lower   at the end of the 19th century so bus support had  to pick up this is something that is still worn   over that innermost layer so i'm wasn't really  considering it underwear up until this point if   you look at 19 teens you will still see that the  braziers are worn on top of these camisoles and   other undergarments but as we transition into the  1920s that starts to change and you see more and   more examples of the brazier and those knickers  being worn underneath a slip so you have an   option which way you want to wear it but it's  starting to change as of the 1920s and that's   because the dresses are changing suddenly you have  a lot of sheer lightweight and see-through options   you need something in between your body and the  outer garment that is going to be opaque and   hide everything and that's going to include hiding  the brazier or the knickers or the camisole or   whatever goes underneath so this is where the  slip comes into play as not quite the same thing   as what we considered an undergarment previously  it is a mid layer but now the garments underneath   of it can depend on what the person needs they  might still choose to have a camisole or cami   knickers or combination step-ins whatever they  might also just choose to have a brassiere and   with nothing else underneath of those and that's  really what we start to see more and more commonly   as we get into the 1930s is just the separate  brassiere and knickers as the actual undergarments   with a slip on top which functions much like the  chemise used to but can also be a visual addition   to the garment so that way your underwear as we  now think of it is hidden from outer view and   so that's how we get to the version that we have  today there are of course still plenty of garments   that are used throughout the different decades of  the 20th century those innermost garments don't   entirely disappear because even though the brazier  might be the closest thing to the skin if you're   wearing say a garter belt or a girdle you might  not want that directly up against your body and   in some cases it is more practical to actually  put the knickers over it because then you can   pull them down really easily rather than trying  to pull them out from underneath a tight girdle   or a garter belt it's easier sometimes to just go  over and as we move further into the century they   will get smaller tighter more elasticated because  we're moving into the era of women wearing tight   skirts and trousers and you can't fit a whole lot  of bulk into a lot of those garments so you need   undergarments that are even more tightly fitted  but both the brazier and the knickers in their   own formats are going to stick around the slip  does also stick around though it goes in and out   a fashion as to whether it's being used or not but  in reality once we've reached that 1920s point it   starts to look pretty familiar to our modern eye  and with all of that we can see the general slow   transition through all of these different  centuries to get us to where we are today   in reality there are so many variations on all of  these which will change depending on the person   and their needs what their body needs in terms  of support or coverage what their outer garments   need in terms of protection and we will continue  to shift and change our modern styles as well

Channel: Nicole Rudolph

Views: 207,303

Keywords: nicole rudolph, fashion history, history myths, weird history, explainer videos, fashion analysis, fashion evolution, busting myths, historical fashion, historical costuming

Id: bUlb2h99mWw

Length: 27min 22sec (1642 seconds)

Published: Mon May 23 2022