Leigh Anthony Ross
Member
I'm curious to know what men, women and children wore as underwear in 1912????
Underwear in 1912
- Thread starter Leigh Anthony Ross
- Start date
Kyrila Scully
Member
A quick perusal of the National Cloak & Suit Catalog of the early 1900's shows advertisements for "drawers, chemises, corsets, petticoats, princess slips, camisoles, cotton vests and union suits."
Kyrila
Kyrila
Randy Bryan Bigham
Member
Men wore flannel or linen boxers, undershirts of flannel or cotton, and in winter those awful woolly things - union suits I think they were called, which had a panel for - shall we say - "necessity."
Some very elegant men of course wore silk underthings - boxers, night shirts, robes. The Broadway producer Flo Ziegfeld had a partiality for silky underclothes, according to his wife Billie Burke. She said he was very fastidious about his underwear and night clothes - one would imagine he would have been since he spent so much time bed-hopping with his "Follies" stars! Poor Billie.
As for the ladies: They wore corsets made of cord or silk in white or colors; corset covers or chemises in light, gauzy fabrics and usually trimmed in lace and ribbon; underdrawers or "knickers" (which reached to the knees) or else what was called a "combination" which was just what the word implies - a chemise and knickers in one.
By the 1910s, women were wearing brassieres. These actually went OVER the corset and reached all the way to the waist! Because of the fashion for very narrow skirts, petticoats (in the old sense of ruffled, fluffy things) were quite "out" in 1912, having been replaced by the new-fangled straight slip. But many women wore no slip at all. In fact, in a "hobble skirt" - the most extreme version of the scant skirt fashion - it was impossible to wear anything under it but underdrawers (and even these had to be quite tight or else one would get unsightly bulges!)
Women also wore cotton, lisle or silk stockings, held by garters. Sometimes these attached to the bottom of the corset which extended down over the hips.
Some very elegant men of course wore silk underthings - boxers, night shirts, robes. The Broadway producer Flo Ziegfeld had a partiality for silky underclothes, according to his wife Billie Burke. She said he was very fastidious about his underwear and night clothes - one would imagine he would have been since he spent so much time bed-hopping with his "Follies" stars! Poor Billie.
As for the ladies: They wore corsets made of cord or silk in white or colors; corset covers or chemises in light, gauzy fabrics and usually trimmed in lace and ribbon; underdrawers or "knickers" (which reached to the knees) or else what was called a "combination" which was just what the word implies - a chemise and knickers in one.
By the 1910s, women were wearing brassieres. These actually went OVER the corset and reached all the way to the waist! Because of the fashion for very narrow skirts, petticoats (in the old sense of ruffled, fluffy things) were quite "out" in 1912, having been replaced by the new-fangled straight slip. But many women wore no slip at all. In fact, in a "hobble skirt" - the most extreme version of the scant skirt fashion - it was impossible to wear anything under it but underdrawers (and even these had to be quite tight or else one would get unsightly bulges!)
Women also wore cotton, lisle or silk stockings, held by garters. Sometimes these attached to the bottom of the corset which extended down over the hips.
Tracy Smith
Member
I'm thinking women would have had an awkward time of it using the bathroom while wearing the "combinations" you mention.
Randy Bryan Bigham
Member
Merry Xmas Tracy,
Yes, the combinations could be a problem there unless they had an "access" panel!
Warm regards,
Randy
Yes, the combinations could be a problem there unless they had an "access" panel!
Warm regards,
Randy
Tarn Stephanos
Member
what about burlap underwear?
Wasnt that the rage back then?
regards
tarn
Wasnt that the rage back then?
regards
tarn
Michael H. Standart
Member
Burlap??? Sounds...itchy! I doubt the fad lasted for long if it existed at all.
Tracy Smith
Member
I think Tarn was pulling our collective legs with the burlap reference.
Randy Bryan Bigham
Member
I think you are right, Tracy. My fashion suggestion to Tarn is to try on a pair of burlap knickers. They're just the thing he needs to ... bring him up to scratch.
Michael H. Standart
Member
>>They're just the thing he needs to ... bring him up to scratch.<<
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Cundiff
Member
I just can't imagine Lady Duff strutting in a pair of Victoria Secret pink lace bikini panties...
;-)
Michael A. Cundiff
USA
;-)
Michael A. Cundiff
USA
Randy Bryan Bigham
Member
Michael Cundiff wrote: "I just can't imagine Lady Duff strutting in a pair of Victoria Secret pink lace bikini panties..."
Ah, come on Michael, admit it. You've been fantasizing about that for years.
Ah, come on Michael, admit it. You've been fantasizing about that for years.
Michael Cundiff
Member
You betcha Randy...for what it's worth my ex, oh how I hate that word :-( one wife that was...
...bears similar resembleance to a younger Miss Gordon. And pink is her...uh my favorite ;-)
BTW Randy, my ex's don't live in TEXAS...
Michael A. Cundiff
USA
...bears similar resembleance to a younger Miss Gordon. And pink is her...uh my favorite ;-)
BTW Randy, my ex's don't live in TEXAS...
Michael A. Cundiff
USA
Tarn Stephanos
Member
Hey, dont knock burlap underwear, its great, especially on hot days.....
Its beats barbed wire thongs, thats for sure...
reagrds
Tarn Stephanos
Its beats barbed wire thongs, thats for sure...
reagrds
Tarn Stephanos
Tracy Smith
Member
I'm almost in pain contemplating the idea of a barbed wire wedgie.
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