I COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FORGOT to address ‘bloomers’ which are NOT IN FACT UNDERGARMENTS! You’ll notice in the video that I’ve only used the term ‘drawers’ to refer to that bifurcated undermost layer, because that’s the term most overwhelmingly prevalent in history. Bloomers, the item of radical reform dress based off of Turkish fashions, were initially adopted in New York in 1851 by Elizabeth Smith Miller. So where does Amelia Bloomer come in to give them the ‘bloomer’ name we know so well today? She was just the editor of the temperance magazine, ‘The Lily’, and responsible for printing an article describing these-an article, by the way, which she apparently didn’t even initially create, as she writes, ‘the first article we saw advocating [the bloomer style] was an editorial in the ’Seneca County Courier’, which article we transferred to our columns.’ (The Lily, June 1851) Yeah, I don’t really get it either. History is a troll sometimes. 🙃 Oh, and ‘bloomers’ weren't even popularised in rational dress styles until the 1890s, nearly 40 years later. TLDR: bloomers are not frilly underpants, they're a questionably-named outer garment.
I have been desperately wondering about bloomers for absolutely AGES now. I'm Ren Faire trash, and I knew that all the gown-based costumes featuring bloomers was inaccurate, albeit a comfy inaccuracy come October, and understood the various reasons the costume designers choose to include them. But I didn't understand where the notion of bloomers even came from, and kept forgetting to look it up. I have done a learning, thank you.
I am still curious about the mechanics of going to the bathroom, though! I presume most wealthy ladies likely wearing the most layers would have had maids to help them with affairs like the chamberpot, especially with hoops or crinolines. But what about regular women/women who were out in public? I distinctly remember reading a (potentially inaccurate) children's history book which described women simply standing over gutters and letting go... And what was one to do about, for lack of a better word, splashes/spattering? How about in other cultures?
Nah I've had it for a while but just thought it Too Fancy for filming talky videos, then realised that Occasion-Appropriate Fashion is dead now and I can do what I want 😎
@@bernadettebanner Wear what you want, when you want. Don't follow fashion, define your own! (Anything worn with confidence can define fashion. Go ahead, bring back some class to the world.)
The split-crotch drawers of the era are what made the Can-Can such a shocking dance. The Moulin Rouge had a wardrobe mistress, armed with straight pins, in the wings. Her job was to ensure each dancer's drawers had been properly pinned shut before the dancers went onstage. However, the dancers realized that they got bigger tips when they stealthily removed the pins as soon as they were onstage.
@@GodsOath_com Hmm, in my experience when one goes to visit the wilderness, the forest is as diverting a view as any other feature of the terrain, especially if it is a hitherto undiscovered country. Though I suppose everyone has different travel goals when sight seeing. Surely they wouldn't have gone to the effort of concealing the view if it was not a subject of interest at the time. As an aside, the comfort with which people use large pins near their flesh has always mystified and unnerved me. I handle knives and bladed things all the time, and the first thing I learned was to keep the sharp bits away from mine.
I had no idea the history of underwear was so fascinating. But then again, you could talk for 6 minutes about chamber pots, and I’d still be just as mesmerised.
I actually clicked on this for the thumbnail as I was researching ("wee vases?) among the court. Horrible Histories Terrible Tudors depicts the ladies asking for permission to go from the queen & they did on the spot in a little vase they carried.
@@Muck006 Because there wasn't much difference between the undergarments of the upper & working classes? If anything the working class garments would have been simpler versions of upper class clothes made with cheaper fabrics and without some of the more extreme structural elements. But the silhouette would have been the same, the use of stays/corsets would have been the same, and the effect on using the bathroom would be the same too.
@@lyreparadox Exactly - people have this strange idea that underwear was different between classes. Poor women wear bras just as often as rich women, I don't understand where this idea comes from.
I am not yet comfortable with the exposed-ness of split drawers in my head. I mean. Everything is then just... hanging out, you know? I am not a fan of that
@@Fuiotter Nobody could see whether you had any drawers at all. Besides, in PriorAttires video one can see how split drawers actually show pretty much nothing as long as one is standing. They fit rather loosely, and therefore the drawers themselves hang below "everything", instead of anything hanging out.
@@MiljaHahto I dont mean others seeing (20 layers of clothes whaddup), I dont like the feeling of ... nakedness? I guess? I also dont like nightgowns without some kind of underwear
Ha! I once had a little book called And Then All Was Revealed... a pictorial history of women's undergarments. I gave it to a woman friend who sewed period costumes... time period costumes. I laughed aloud when you said, at the end, "I don't even know why you're still here." Well - a couple reasons. Or maybe three. I like history, particularly the details about daily life as opposed to Sweeping History of wars and such. Second, your voice is pleasant and I liked the way you presented things. And third, I worked for 30+ years as a hospital lab tech, some of the time testing urine samples - what's known as urinalysis. So I've seen a lot of other people's pee over the decades - sometimes green, orange, red or even purple in color, believe it or not. Sometimes one found a piece of thread or, once, even a button in a sample. One sample arrived at the lab in a washed-out mustard jar, the lid of which had the slogan: Spread a Little Sunshine. We laughed. A fun and informative video :)
Can we just applaud the CosTubing community for doing actual research into these questions and giving legit answers that don't just simplify the history, also while busting myths along the way👏
Honestly, it's a subject that doesn't get discussed much in the 'trendy' sphere, and we the people are curious! It also serves as a way to understand how differently people viewed bathroom breaks in those time periods.
Sue perkins and Giles Coren did a programme called The Supersizers where they lived in different period costume for a week and followed the diet etc always meant to watch it. Now seems like a good time!
@@mnels5214 It totally did. You don't understand how the fact that there were no appropriate places for middle and upper class women to pee in public until you are post-childbirth and in your thirties and think about just how many local public bathrooms you're familiar with. (Grocery store, library, pharmacy....) Cause when you have to go you have to go, and if you can't safely go anywhere but a private home, you don't go anywhere except to the house of your friends, and use theirs while you're there if you must.
In my experience, if you need to pee on the floor/ground, skirt+no undies is easier. If you need to sit on a toilet, trousers are easier, and undies don't really make it any harder. I thus suspect that sewn drawers arose with the rise of sitting toilets.
sitting toilets actually date back to Greece and Rome. I think the reality of undergarments for both genders is not possible to put into full historical context, just because for the most part no one in any given time period considered it important enough to make note of.
Fashion designers in the renaissance: "Ah, welcome one and all to this, the annual meeting for the society of putting things...on top of other things!"
@@Muck006 Thank you! That was most informative, I didn't know most of that, though I am well aware that fashion designers didn't become a thing until the early 1900's, or the late 1800's if you count Charles Frederick Worth sewing his name onto the clothes he created.
"As is the precarious way of history, we're all just interpreting the selected evidence that happens to survive to us, however many centuries later. And subsequently there is no such thing as a straight forward fact when speaking about things we have no first hand experience in" Huge respect for this comment. I suspect those that believe it are the least in need and vice versa.
I want it understood that I’m not complaining, as this was very interesting description of undergarment-ness, but with the exception of that little trailer about men’s underwear at the very end, you did answer the question in your video title in one sentence. The remaining six minutes or so was just delightfully entertaining. Thank you.
Modern tampons are bad for the environment (takes thousands of years to breakdown) and has a high percentage of causing Toxic Shock Syndrome. I hope more would opt for eco-friendly alternatives like cloth pads (there are even modern styles that look like menstrual pads) or menstrual cups; both reusable, rewashable, budget-friendly.
@@woolflower8316 Getting TSS from tampons is very rare. A person can also get TSS from menstrual cups, so if you're trying to dissuade someone from using tampons you should stick with the environmental damage they cause and leave TSS out of your argument.
@@woolflower8316 Using all-cotton tampons reduces both the environmental hazard and the TSS risk to nearly 0, btw. It's the rayon that causes all the problems.
We were discussing your videos in my Cambridge supervision last week when talking about historical clothing in Woolf's 'Orlando' , so you are now an official academic source 😂.
I could literally live on this channel and never need entertainment elsewhere. Thank you, Bernadette, for compiling - into a much more appealing format - all the things I Google late at night when I can’t sleep. I can tell you put a ton of work in!
No one asked but in Italian underwear are called mutande, which comes directly from the Latin gerundive of the verb "mutare" which can be translated as "that needs to be changed".
🤔 "What should we call these things?" 🤷 "Dunno, we'll come up with something later." 😱 "But what if we forget?" 😁 "Just call them 'mutande', to remind us." 🙇 "Genius"
@Charisma Girl Not every girl or woman chooses to experience wearing cumbersome skirts or dresses. Not every woman who has worn such dresses have also worn old times undergarment or any garments at all. Boys and men might also be curious about historical dress as well.
@@actually_curious4773 hoop skirts collapse up on themselves because the area between each hoop is made of fabric. They don't really "bunch", but you just like, lift the bottom hoop. It's not really any harder than any other big dress.
The Merry Pup--both my grandmothers spoke of the hazards of urinating even while crotchless undergarments were supposed to make elimination easier. Easier, perhaps. Odor and leakage free...not so much.
Her sibling, Dani made those portraits. And they have a RUclips channel, with a video of them painting one of them- the one of His Lordship Cesario. It’s was amazing to watch it all come together- Dani is an extremely talented and skilled artist. They also have videos of making cosplays, and one very hilarious video of going shopping in IKEA while wearing an outfit they made out of IKEA bags. Iconic!
This is a really really really dumb family story history thing, but my great grandmother, born in 1899, use to like to brag that all her grandmother wore ‘pant(ies)’ (the wording actually changed depending on whether she was speaking to her American, British, or Irish grandkids) before it was cool. Meaning she (my great grandmother’s grandmother) just shortened her undergarments to the shape of modern day pants. Yeah. Recalling her tell this story is both my earliest memory, it was also one of my grandmother’s earliest memories of her own mother (hearing her tell the story), and oddly enough, my dad did a report on this great underpants story in the 3rd grade, that got him send home from school, so apparently he heard it pretty young too. My great grandmother’s grandmother was born in 1815ish. My great grandmother’s mother in 1857, my great grandmother in 1899, my grandmother in 1917, my father in 1959, and me in 1993. My great grandmother died in ‘98. 42 is a good year to have a baby in my family apparently.
Wow. That side of your family are odd numbers. My mother side the females are born mainly even numbers. My great grandmother was born in 1920s, grandmother in 1942, my mother in 1962 and me in 1982. 😳 I wouldn't be shocked if my great grandmother was born in 1922 considering females from my mother side were born in the years that ended with 2s. Not directly blood related but lots of female cousins from my mother side had kids in their 40s. However, ideally the majority had kids in their later teens early twenties. My great grandmother however had 12 kids in all, so she started off really young and ended really later on, though only 9 of the original 12 survived. Such is the life of a Cuban lady before communism took over and gave the women better natal care. Even today they just pop out kids, because sadly that is all one can do to keep preoccupied in Cuba before, during and after Cuban Communist revolution. Cuban history is a shitty one from a political perspective and even more so as a Cuban woman. Child miscarriages, death by childbirth and many other mishaps were common place until Communism came in and made having a baby in Cuba a lot easier and cheaper than in the US. Even today, right now, the mortality death rate among babies in the US is higher than in Cuba. The advantages of having free universal health care system. If only United States stop gambling with the lives of citizens, we would and could be the number one nation those politicians love to boost about. ....anyways thank you for sharing your family heritage and experiences. This is the history I like looking into and reading about from real people who share their family background. Thank you.
" and oddly enough, my dad did a report on this great underpants story in the 3rd grade, that got him send home from school, so apparently he heard it pretty young too." How glorious is that? :D That's a beautiful piece of family story if you ask me!
@Charisma Girl I enjoyed the heck out of this whole thread, but the last line of your comment *killed* me! I burst out laughing so hard my roommate came to check what happened, if I was okay. Excellent, 10/10, would Like again if I could 👍
And your appreciatiin thereof.... there was not a punch throughout the remainder of the xxxxx that had anything like as much potency as that one. I am interested.... are you an appreciator of the Matrix trilogy??
My mother born in 1925, used to tell me how mortified she was at having to soak her “rags” in a bucket on the back porch. My own kids and grandkids laugh when I try to explain the contraptions we used before tampons became available. Pantyhose wasn’t invented until I was in high school either 🤣
My mommy was also born in 1925, she adopted me when I was 2 days old in 1972 (*math is wrong....I am only 29!!*). I feel so blessed by her experiences and knowledge that. like you said...most "younger" people laugh at, because they can't really fathom the concept of what you are saying. That being said, I too was mortified when she would explain to me about soaking "rags" when I was a young lady....now at my age of 50 (just kidding because math is not real at his moment! LOL) and having kids and such, it is not really that big of an issue or even gross. Just another bodily function that needs to be dealt with. Funny how time and such can change perception.
In my time, the bucket water was used in the garden to fertilize the plants. I was born in the 1950s. My grandmothers were born at the end of the 1890s. The rag soaking method was a common thing.
My mom is borned in the mid-50s. She told me several times how a mom made her those weird belts during her periods (is it the thing you call "contraption" ? English is not my first language). Meanwhile, one of her friends, whom mom died, had a pretty progressive father, who bought her pads. :'D My mom insisted then to were pads too.
@@ellenrittgers990 even when taking several skirts/petticoats, skirt supports and a naked crotch into consideration? Nah man a side saddle is the only reasonable solution to that
@@idasvenning3892 Riding is a magnificent sport, but it’s not worth a broken neck. Even the most placid and well trained horse is capable of getting spooked and tossing a rider- it happens to many a rider even riding astride!
You are just an amazing, highly intelligent, beautiful, and very very classy woman!!!! I greatly admire your love for historical dresses, and the fact that you dress like this regularly. I have always wanted to dress in a Victorian style ball gown, but never had the courage because I was always afraid of bullies. You made me realize that there is at least 1 more person out there in this world who still dresses this way, and has much knowledge of the 1800’s. Please continue being you! You are incredible!!!
You have commendable diction! It’s impressive how every syllable comes out crystal clear despite the speed! Also, thanks for clearing up many doubts I had about undergarments of the past!
I'm so glad you mentioned wills; from what I have found in my own family history research (as well as the research I do for others), one striking thing about them is that they can be so very vague about clothes! I've seen one from 1772 that just mentions "all my wearing Aparell" (spelt that way in the document!), another from 1818 where my ancestor left his "Top Coat and best red waistcoat" to a grandson, and a third (dated 1771) where the testatrix left "my Black Crape Gown my black Quilted Petticoat and my black silk Apron" to her daughter-in-law, but they can be few and far between.
Kate, it's funny you mentioned about the clothing and your family. I asked my aunt about grandma's clothes once. That's when I realized how valuable they would have been. She said there isn't anything, it's all gone. My grandma would have been born at the turn of the century. What a shame, there were probably a lot of treasures that were lost.
I’ve been so curious about this ever since finding out that regency dresses didn’t have any kind of pants at all. Led me down a big rabbit hole ending in finding out that pads in the 1970s really weren’t that different than the Victorian ones is basic design. Much smaller yes, but the same belt style.
I'm now 50, and I remember my Mum sending an embarrassed me, down to the pharmacy when I was about 10 or 11, in the early 80's, to get her some Dr White's Number 2. And they were for a belt and hook.
I've seen Abby and priorattire's videos on the topic so I wasn't blind going into this. Love the enthusiastic and thorough exploration though. IMHO, six minutes is not enough to explore historical minutiae - and that's why I watch your videos. Great work and love the drawings lol!
What a wonderfully breezy overview! I'll bet finding those incredible images was fun. (I feel like there's an inadvertent and awkward pun in there somewhere but damned if I'm going to go looking for it)
I like to think that the pristine examples of modern style underwear were worn by a time traveler, who brought them out of habit and quickly discarded them once she realised her silly mistake, but that may be a slightly too complex explanation and maybe some lady just hated corsets👀
As a gentle aside to modern ladies, if you switch from disposable products with plastic and bleach back to the Victorian belt and cloth, it will change your whole world (at least for a week a month). Absolutely love how Bernadette is willing to flex with historical finds rather than become academically hysterical when something contrary to established ideas is discovered. While I was in the Society for Creative Anachronism some garb police castigated me severely (tacky by SCA standards BTW) for making my working-class dress "too short and looks jarringly out of period". Lo and behold, several years later comes a Scandinavian find and guess where the woman's skirt length was? Up around her ankles, because walking through wet grass to do chores with a trailing skirt would be... stupid. Our ancestors were not by and large stupid, or we wouldn't be here. So if something like menstrual protection while allowing quick and easy peeing seems practical and necessary but doesn't have documentation in historical finds, there's a good chance we just missed it. There may have been another type of underwear that was considered so personal (do you frequently write about your menstrual protection?) or the rags were recycled and not considered for a definite purpose. Yay Bernadette for making history a living thing, that celebrates the creative potential of the human sewist.
SCA folk should know better, for a start. When I used to wear a long floaty dress to garden in, I ALWAYS tucked it up on each hip (under my knickers and out of sight of neighbours), to be out of the way. (I loved that dress; it was so cool in summer). Old paintings sometimes reflect this habit women had on the farms. Also SCA folk should know that 20 yards of fabric to wash is a real pain, just because it trailed in the mud. Only the very rich could afford to mud sweep with their skirts, trains and ruffles, because some other poor person was doing all the laundry and they had more than one dress anyway. Poorer folk may have only had two frocks or skirts, and one would have been for 'good', not for working in. SCA people can get it right royally wrong, because they're not thinking about things in a practical fashion.
hahaha scadians - the idea of wearing a backward apron underneath bc you sit on the back of the skirt is genius, plus you can just manage when you need to manually to absorb, and considering that women menstruating was considered pretty "unclean" i wouldn't be surprised if they were, when worn and less useful, tossed in as fire kindling or routinely burned - we may not have understood germ theory back in the day, but we were pretty petty and awful about female stuff 🤣
yes, SCA probably planted the seed for my love of costumery, sewing, and history. My mom was in it at the beginning, but my family quit when the accuracy police made it no-fun. :( I might try to get back into it :)
What I really wonder is what did people do about thigh chafing before they started wearing drawers?🤔🤔🤔 I refuse to believe it is only a recent phenomenon!
The innermost petticoat has a tendency to end up securely wedged between ones legs while walking, effectively preventing chafing. On hot days, I'll shove it between my legs immediately instead of waiting for it to end up there naturally :)
Abby Cox address this in her video about dressing in 18th century clothing for her job. Basically, if I correctly recall, petticoats help because they get caught and provide a barrier.
The petticoat gets wedged in, but I like to think that I wouldve also wrapped my thighs in bandages. And it seems in the Italian renaissance that women wore drawers, they found some pairs! However they seem to have ditched them again until the 19th century
I wish I could comment this on every one of Bernadette's videos, but...I just APPRECIATE the effort put in to cite everything and provide transparency. Studying and presenting the past (let alone the present) is SO difficult to do well, but it's so IMPORTANT to do it well. Seriously, thank you, and keep up the good work!! Others should look to do this more often. It really encourages important information literacy and critical thinking for all people out there.
Oh, I loved this! I studied history as an undergrad, Tudor England specialty - but really I didn't give a rat's bottom about the politics, wars etc. I was always fascinated by social history - how did people actually live? Glad I found your channel. Great video!
Without wanting to appear as a voyeur, i would be equivocal if I didn’t admit this situation has crossed my mind. You addressed the subject completely yet most gracefully. Thank you.
It’s been #3 for as long as I can remember. #1 is pretty obvious #2 is again, fairly straight forward #3 is what y’all are talking about here, which generally happens for most human females of appropriate age and child bearing capacity for circa 7 out of every 28 days or so.
I was going to comment: "Women now: 'How on earth do you pee while wearing a dress like that?!' Also Women now: *taking off their entire outfit in a freezing public bathroom after realising that wearing a jumper OVER a catsuit wasn't the best idea*
As pretty and wonderful as historical/retro garments are i would never change todays practicity, i mean it would be nice if they make Quality clothes, but i like this situation where we wear one or two layers of clothes as the minimun (it depends where you live, and if the weather alow its).
@Charisma Girl i know i know we had them before but i have not had them for 2 years now. 😣 it is even sadder that i need history and geography(don't have that either) for my next school. but i do have classes like plant where you learn to plant thing in the ground, Animal's where you learn to pick up and care for animals and we have cooking.
@Charisma Girl i will remember that thank you. normally duch public schools are amazing and i agree that students must learn to cook and stuff but at some thing is do not have a say in. i wacht a lot of history movies and read heastory books because they intrest me. if you want to have al look at my school. Clusius college castricum
And I doubt that they cover this little info of history treasure in school ... So much is not being taught , but now I understand why , seeing All the corruption in Education , medicine, Politics and more ....
@Charisma Girl 16, turning 17 in april. I don't have history anymore because of the type of secondary education (in my case vocational college for business and administration that opens up a _huge_ career path for me. I could basically become a doctor or a make-up artist from here). You can get courses outside school, but I kinda don't care for those. Too expensive and I think it tends to be quite shit if something goes wrong. I kinda miss history, but I won't die because I don't have it anymore. What I do have and subsequently hate is having to take chemistry and that stuff. Different countries just have different education plans/programms. Edit: Forgot to mention I am Finnish (we have topped in lists multiple times for education so I am not lackin on that department). If I went to "high school" I think I would have history still. Vocational collage is either way a better option. After high school all you have done is memorised some books and can maybe disect a rat. After vocational collage you have a career, maybe you have specialised on a specific careerpath and you are more likely to get a job. Multiple "degrees/qualifications" to different careers are recommended so you don't just need to rely on being a nurse or a librarian. You can just switch careers and go look for a job as a professional gardener or an actor. I have learned in mandatory history Swedish and Russian history, some world history (our class was slow, okay) and also tad of economics on the side. Of course there's more. I also spend most of my life on the internet so I know way too much weird stuff. Also can recognise songs from the first three beats or less.
I don't know who you are or why RUclips decided this should be in my recommended list, but I am so happy it is. Wonderful intelligent content! Time to catch up on all the other videos you have made!
Would you believe that there are people out there that would prefer that they had already been worn? I accidentally saw some that sold on Ebay years and years ago when they still allowed stuff like that. At first, I was confused (read: NAIVE) because it took me about 5 or 10 minutes before I figured it out. Duh 😉
@@luxurycardstore you can’t sell open drawers on eBay?! That’s so weird. I just bought a handful of them at a brocante in France (score!!) and I see them on Etsy. But not allowed on eBay?! Weird.
I'm more concerned about the modernday ladies wearing jumpsuits, or rather how do they do their "business" when they go to loo...!!! Do they have to remove the upper portion of the dress...?!! I'll be grateful to anyone, enlightening me about the same 🙄🤔🤯
Ms Banner, not only are you intelligent, articulate, well-read but you are very beautiful. I really enjoy your videos (whether I already knew about the topic or not) because no matter what, you not only teach me something new, you do it with such style & grace. Thank you for sharing. 😊
My great grandmother, told me that when they had their period they wore a rubber apron in the back and used rags as a pad. Then they had to wash them and hang them out to dry. They also made their own soap. She also told me that one day as she was walking down a sidewalk, the button holing up her bloomers popped or, and they fell down, she acts cool, and just stepped out of them and walked on! PS she was born in Kansas in a covered wagon!
Hi! Referencing the underwear found at Lengberg Castle: I'm currently researching and recreating the Lengberg Bra found with those underwear, and it has been confirmed by the textiles technicians (Beatrix Nutz and others) that those are actually mens underwear. A fragment of blue wool was found on them that matches a remnant of blue mens hose that was discovered at the same time. The skimpy style of these is actually a newer invention that came after the baggy Braes that were worn with split hose during the early 15thc and before. Why? Because fashion changed around the mid 15thc to joined tightly fitting hose, and so the underwear had to be skimpier to avoid the dreaded VPL and bunchy nappy bum, lol.
But then, why a bra? That seems like a useless garment for a man. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume it is a woman's outfit cobbled together from some leftover mens clothing, or the cabbage thereof?
@@Marialla. the bra wasnt for a man. The underwear was for a man. All the pieces were found together under the floorboards and is believed to have been in fill during renovations in about 1485. Over 1200 fragments in total, ranging from mens hose and shirt fragments, leather shoes, womens garments, and a childs dress. Women did not wear underwear in the 15th century because undies were seen as a symbol of male power and dominance. There's even satiral pictures about it. The Lengberg Bra isnt even a bra as we know it because it would have had a skirt attached (there is remaining evidence of this). You have to be so very careful about making assumptions when this sort of thing is found. Also, if the underwear was refashioned from mens underwear, why on earth would there STILL be wool from the mens hose attached to it?
@@historysquirrel Because underwear being a symbol of male power and dominance isn't just a major assumption on your part, instead of the obvious practicality of having to contain waggly outer bits when oh, I dunno, doing nearly all the dangerous work that waggly outer bits snag on!? Please, you sound like someone who rails against corsetry for the same ridiculous reasons.
@@MiaogisTeas ... erm, i dont rail against corsetry actually. I like corsetry. Also, the fact about them being a symbol of power and dominance is a fact. Its documented.
@@historysquirrel There's obviously a lot of research here I've never had the chance to see yet. i was not even aware there was a huge stash of 1200 pieces in the find! I've only ever seen the photos shown here, and thought they were "solo" artifacts. Looking forward to seeing more information about this find published! Meanwhile, can you tell me more about how/why underwear would be seen as a male dominance thing? I can't make the connection in my own mind. What is "dominant" about wearing underwear?
I was actually wondering about this the other day. I was watching Bridgerton, and there’s a scene where a young lady gets her period unexpectedly and starts stuffing cloth napkins up her dress. I was like, wait, where’s she putting those?
@Charisma Girl I have watched other channels about this mostly to do with Tudor times where they think they used a belt,. There are instances of Elizabeth I and her laundress washing rags,, but she also experimented with a kind of tampon made out of tightly wound cloth which could be washed and presumably reused
@Charisma Girl what about how some sort of diapers? like what they used back in the days for babys and changed after a shit or piss And normal pins (like the ones for sewing were invented by then) hence they pin the cloth around their bum under the dress and change up when its "full" ...and even without pins you can tie a knot or stick it under your corset to secure it for a while Like if you are really at the ball, the maid might have had to cary a cloth with her so in accidental need they would just tie the lady up and she gets home as soon as possible excusing herself of not feeling well ...
@Charisma Girl when it comes to today it is kind of bad that we still see a natural thing as embarassing when we are perfectly honest about it, me myself included because that's what my mother kind of told me BUT that aside wasn't it easier for them back then at least when we are talking about the somthing around the 1800s where they had chaperon basically wherever they went. So Balls and parties wouldn't be much of a problem i would say. But traveling is problematic
The idea that someone created closed seam drawers, but then never wore them is very amusing to me. It’s like they had the idea, made them, and decided it was ridiculous, then centuries later they end up in a museum
@@TheLhester1965 this Wik may be of interest The dance was considered scandalous, and for a while there were attempts to suppress it. This may have been partly because in the 19th century, women wore pantalettes, which had an open crotch, and the high kicks were intentionally revealing. There is no evidence that can-can dancers wore special closed underwear, although it has been said that the Moulin Rouge management did not permit dancers to perform in "revealing undergarments".[6] Occasionally, people dancing the can-can were arrested, but there is no record of its being banned, as some accounts claim. Throughout the 1830s, it was often groups of men, particularly students, who danced the can-can at public dance-halls.[7
Thank you for this very informative video. Some folks seem to forget that the smallest everyday factors are as much a part of our history as the grandest of palaces or most famous battles.
This reminds me of one of the many antique valuation programmes we have on TV here in UK. A lady brought in her gravy boat to be valued and was horrified and mortified to find she had been serving her gravy in an antique potty! It was brought to ladies at dinner who needed to 'go' but didn't want to leave the table so they could relieve themselves right there! Then the poor maid had to take it away and dispose of the contents. Ugh! That poor lady on TV, she went pale and didn't know what to say or where to look. I wonder how she faced her friends and family after that!!
And to think modern-day ppl are embarrassed to accidentally fart in front of others, when in the past they just casually peed at the dinner table with friends. Wtf.
@@iprobablyforgotsomething I don't think I'd even physically be able to pee in public while casually talking to someone. Like the pee would just refuse to come out. I don't know how men do it in urinals.
There is one anecdote of a Japanese tea-master who bought a Chinese valuable chamberpot and smashed it. He wanted to prevent an ignorant buyer to use it for the tea-cermony!
Hello Bernadette, your historical journey of underwear is great! I remember, my grand aunts cleaned out some wardrobe... ages ago and we found all kinds of shifts and drawers with open crotch! In the sommertime they went "full commando " 😂! I still have some things around. Even old bed sheets with wonderful embroideries. Best regards Chrissy
I love this video! I clearly remember the first time I found out people didn’t always wear “panties.” It was looking at an American Girl catalog treading a description of Felicity’s clothes. It rocked my worldview.
I feel slightly attacked! Just after i thought that I felt 6mins was to short of a video about this, you say that you spend 6mins too long on that question. I wanted more, don’t come at me!!!
That's how I had to pee while I was in my wedding gown. What a bother. Thank goodness the lady where we bought it said wear this. Divided knickers hahaha, a real big yes! 😂
I don't believe "sanitary aprons" were ever intended to be worn alone. I believe they were a "second line of defense" to use with sanitary belts & rags. Unless it's uncomfortably thick, a rag sanitary pad can bleed through. Aprons were advertised as "rubberized" fabric. I can imagine it's a lot more comfortable to have that waterproof/rubberized layer hanging loose behind you, than between your thighs. (It would prevent staining the back of your petticoat when you're seated.) I can also imagine that sanitary aprons would be most useful when a woman had to leave home for many hours. At home, you can change your rags as often as required, but the logistics of changing re-usable rags would be more difficult away from home (imagine no restrooms, no running water & no plastic baggies to carry the bloody rags home for washing . I think the "apron" would have been a backup , in case your pad failed. Wearing an apron alone would be a bloody mess between your thighs...... I think our ancestors were more fastidious than that.
Your goofy hypothesis fell apart the moment you mentioned 'rubberized.' I'll let you do your own research about when rubberizing things became practical or standard, esp in terms of the historical period Bernadette is talking about. And you edited your post, too. lmao
I inherited an unused sanitary apron that was in my grandmother-in-law's sewing basket, still in the box. It was pink, dainty, and waterproof. It hung down like the back half of a slip. Yes, it was a second line of defense. But it was also used to prevent your skirts from being ruined - blood stains could be hard to remove. I'm not sure what Fddlstxx meant in his/her comment about your "rubberized" reference being inaccurate. Rubberizing things was in general use before 1850 and the sanitary aprons would have been rubberized. The ad for the sanitary apron looks like it was published around 1915.
My mother was born in the 50's i remember her talking about sanitary belts, not with rags but with saintary towels/pads. I remember her saying they were thick... and uncomfortable...
@@Kalani_Saiko maybe vulcanized rubber didn't. but i want to introduce you to our friendly plants that were producing rubber since before humans ever existed: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber
Question for a future video: How did women wash their clothing, and how frequently? How do you, as a modern conscientious owner of only a few garments wash your clothes?
I'll leave the more detailed answer to the experts like Bernadette, but the short answer is that the only pieces that got changed and washed regularly were the chemises and (later) drawers that were the base layer right on the skin - and maybe the first petticoat layer underneath. The chemise was worn underneath everything, including under the corset, and protected the corset and outer dress layers from your body odor and sweat, so those other pieces were laundered less often, if at all.
You sometimes find in the bodices of dresses that they would have armpit shields sewn in with a few tack stitches or otherwise attached to be removable which would help reduce the amounts of times an outer garment would need laundering. Clothing was generally washed once a week on a Monday (washing day) by a laundry maid if you had one, sent out to someone else if you didn't (my Great Grandma used to take in other's laundry to make some money) or done yourself if poorer. Most of what was washed were the linens that went under everything else. They would be washed with a small amount of soap or, especially if poorer, ash lye. Ash lye is one of the ingredients of soap, but is a very strong alkali in its natural state, so not good to get on your skin at all! When combined with oils it makes soap, so it would be very effective at getting body oils out of garments as it would bind with them, making soap, which would then help shift the rest of the dirt. You'd change the innermost petticoats/chemise more frequently than you'd wash them since it was the done thing to wash on Mondays. So you'd have enough to last the week (sometimes airing a chemise out and rewearing before it went to wash, its a very modern thing to wash things after only one wearing). As for the actual washing process, this was done in barrels of hot water, with a washing board, or they'd hit the wet washing laid out on a bench with a laundry beater, or later in washing machine which was a big metal tub with a clever contraption in it which does the scrubbing for you when you turn the handle. And they had wringing machines to squeeze the water out (useful since linen absorbs a lot of moisture, so would be very wet!) and then it would all get hung up to dry. A lot of very hard work. Then after that there would be the ironing which would involve heating the irons up over the fire and you'd have a few so one could be heating whilst you'd be using the other. Oh and I missed out that some garments would be starched. That would have been done after the washing but before the drying and ironing. Just typing all that makes me so glad we have electrically powered washing machines now!
That ash lye reminds me: My grandmother told me that her mother used to use ash for the nicer textiles, like Sunday table cloths, as the usual washing detergent at the time (around WWII, in Germany) contained abrasives (sand, iirc?). Great to clean heavily soiled work clothes probably, not so great for delicate fabrics.
I have a pair of the ‘crotchless’ bloomers I bought many years ago at an estate sale. I asked a woman who had a well known vintage shop in Austin Texas about them and she said they were picnic pantaloons. Sounds more like they are just everyday garments of the time! Now I need to go find a work woman’s guide - love those kinds of books
Bernadette is a beacon to us all. Knowledge, beauty, grace and a whole lot of well mannered sass. If you don’t come for the whole package, I don’t know why you are here.
Not entirely sure why youtube thought that this video was an appropriate introduction to this channel, but I'm happy to have gained the knowledge either way.
Finally a subject I’m interested in in my recommendations. I’m a 68 year old lady and remember nylon stockings held up with garters and then pantyhose! PS I learned ‘small clothes’ from Game of Thrones.
Well I hate to do some educating here but the garters were created for formed silk stockings. Not nylon ones. Silk ones did not stay up on their own and were not elastic. Nylon stockings were generally available after WWII. The garters were an aesthetic holdover.
Well, I am still here because it is a pleasure to listen to your explanations, even though I am neither a dressmaker nor a historian. However, your videos are most educating. Thank you for posting them.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FORGOT to address ‘bloomers’ which are NOT IN FACT UNDERGARMENTS! You’ll notice in the video that I’ve only used the term ‘drawers’ to refer to that bifurcated undermost layer, because that’s the term most overwhelmingly prevalent in history. Bloomers, the item of radical reform dress based off of Turkish fashions, were initially adopted in New York in 1851 by Elizabeth Smith Miller. So where does Amelia Bloomer come in to give them the ‘bloomer’ name we know so well today? She was just the editor of the temperance magazine, ‘The Lily’, and responsible for printing an article describing these-an article, by the way, which she apparently didn’t even initially create, as she writes, ‘the first article we saw advocating [the bloomer style] was an editorial in the ’Seneca County Courier’, which article we transferred to our columns.’ (The Lily, June 1851)
Yeah, I don’t really get it either. History is a troll sometimes. 🙃
Oh, and ‘bloomers’ weren't even popularised in rational dress styles until the 1890s, nearly 40 years later.
TLDR: bloomers are not frilly underpants, they're a questionably-named outer garment.
OK bloomers
I think Karolina covered that... yes The 1851 Women's Pants...
I have been desperately wondering about bloomers for absolutely AGES now. I'm Ren Faire trash, and I knew that all the gown-based costumes featuring bloomers was inaccurate, albeit a comfy inaccuracy come October, and understood the various reasons the costume designers choose to include them. But I didn't understand where the notion of bloomers even came from, and kept forgetting to look it up. I have done a learning, thank you.
THANK YOU for addressing this!
I am still curious about the mechanics of going to the bathroom, though! I presume most wealthy ladies likely wearing the most layers would have had maids to help them with affairs like the chamberpot, especially with hoops or crinolines. But what about regular women/women who were out in public? I distinctly remember reading a (potentially inaccurate) children's history book which described women simply standing over gutters and letting go... And what was one to do about, for lack of a better word, splashes/spattering? How about in other cultures?
The ability to list all the layers of multiple historical dress styles is j'iconic!
This is the collab I need.
I was impressed!!
@@thewordshifter i second that notion. this needs to happen and it needs to happen *now*
Right, I played it back 3x and still feel I have no clue! 😂
I liked the animation that went along with it 👌🏽👌🏽
Haha, the Elizabethan saying 'cometh at me brother' is *chef's kiss! Also, is that a new blazer?
Nah I've had it for a while but just thought it Too Fancy for filming talky videos, then realised that Occasion-Appropriate Fashion is dead now and I can do what I want 😎
@@bernadettebanner you go girl!
Bernadette mentioning ladies going "commando" got an audible chuckle out of me. :}
@@bernadettebanner Wear what you want, when you want. Don't follow fashion, define your own! (Anything worn with confidence can define fashion. Go ahead, bring back some class to the world.)
@@karencostanzo2906 bro she knows
The split-crotch drawers of the era are what made the Can-Can such a shocking dance. The Moulin Rouge had a wardrobe mistress, armed with straight pins, in the wings. Her job was to ensure each dancer's drawers had been properly pinned shut before the dancers went onstage. However, the dancers realized that they got bigger tips when they stealthily removed the pins as soon as they were onstage.
Straight pins? Ouch!
@@SunnyGirlFlorida I oloo
Pause. Probably remove them because they kept getting stabbed between the legs.
The size of the forests would have obscured any view.
@@GodsOath_com Hmm, in my experience when one goes to visit the wilderness, the forest is as diverting a view as any other feature of the terrain, especially if it is a hitherto undiscovered country. Though I suppose everyone has different travel goals when sight seeing. Surely they wouldn't have gone to the effort of concealing the view if it was not a subject of interest at the time.
As an aside, the comfort with which people use large pins near their flesh has always mystified and unnerved me. I handle knives and bladed things all the time, and the first thing I learned was to keep the sharp bits away from mine.
I had no idea the history of underwear was so fascinating. But then again, you could talk for 6 minutes about chamber pots, and I’d still be just as mesmerised.
I actually clicked on this for the thumbnail as I was researching ("wee vases?) among the court. Horrible Histories Terrible Tudors depicts the ladies asking for permission to go from the queen & they did on the spot in a little vase they carried.
@@vanessaelhenicky5288 I also read that at the French court, they were handed a chamber pot by a footman and simply going behind the curtains 🤨
@@Muck006 Because there wasn't much difference between the undergarments of the upper & working classes? If anything the working class garments would have been simpler versions of upper class clothes made with cheaper fabrics and without some of the more extreme structural elements. But the silhouette would have been the same, the use of stays/corsets would have been the same, and the effect on using the bathroom would be the same too.
Bernadette actually refers to the recent video by PriorAttire, which shows how.
@@lyreparadox Exactly - people have this strange idea that underwear was different between classes. Poor women wear bras just as often as rich women, I don't understand where this idea comes from.
I do indeed enjoy a thorough trip into the history of undies. My goodness, did past humans enjoy sketching naked bums... lol
I’d say ppl still do!
I love drawing bums, but I may not be human
How was this posted a day ago lol
@@solao3298 I guess there is some patron system allowing early access to new videos.
Unlike today? 😂
Split drawers > whole drawers
Cometh at me if you disagree.
I am not yet comfortable with the exposed-ness of split drawers in my head. I mean. Everything is then just... hanging out, you know? I am not a fan of that
So curious to try them!
@@Fuiotter Nobody could see whether you had any drawers at all.
Besides, in PriorAttires video one can see how split drawers actually show pretty much nothing as long as one is standing. They fit rather loosely, and therefore the drawers themselves hang below "everything", instead of anything hanging out.
@@MiljaHahto I dont mean others seeing (20 layers of clothes whaddup), I dont like the feeling of ... nakedness? I guess? I also dont like nightgowns without some kind of underwear
But the rubbing? I am somewhat chunky but I am quite uncomfortable if not bifurcated 24/7 is this a mind over matter issue?
Ha! I once had a little book called And Then All Was Revealed... a pictorial history of women's undergarments. I gave it to a woman friend who sewed period costumes... time period costumes. I laughed aloud when you said, at the end, "I don't even know why you're still here." Well - a couple reasons. Or maybe three. I like history, particularly the details about daily life as opposed to Sweeping History of wars and such. Second, your voice is pleasant and I liked the way you presented things. And third, I worked for 30+ years as a hospital lab tech, some of the time testing urine samples - what's known as urinalysis. So I've seen a lot of other people's pee over the decades - sometimes green, orange, red or even purple in color, believe it or not. Sometimes one found a piece of thread or, once, even a button in a sample. One sample arrived at the lab in a washed-out mustard jar, the lid of which had the slogan: Spread a Little Sunshine. We laughed. A fun and informative video :)
Can we just applaud the CosTubing community for doing actual research into these questions and giving legit answers that don't just simplify the history, also while busting myths along the way👏
Yep, no history of textiles and wool production of the Middle ages PhD. losers here.😮
Bernadette: "So, you are a woman in the mid 18th century"
Me, a boy, in the 21st century: *nod*
Me, an enby in the 21st century: nod
Respect😉
😂😂
Me also a boy in the 21st century: *nods*
Me, a fighter jet in the 54th century: *Nods*
Honestly, it's a subject that doesn't get discussed much in the 'trendy' sphere, and we the people are curious!
It also serves as a way to understand how differently people viewed bathroom breaks in those time periods.
The little stuff adds up! Questions like how did people go to the bathroom seem so stupid but these details are really meaningful.
Sue perkins and Giles Coren did a programme called The Supersizers where they lived in different period costume for a week and followed the diet etc always meant to watch it. Now seems like a good time!
@@mnels5214 It totally did. You don't understand how the fact that there were no appropriate places for middle and upper class women to pee in public until you are post-childbirth and in your thirties and think about just how many local public bathrooms you're familiar with. (Grocery store, library, pharmacy....) Cause when you have to go you have to go, and if you can't safely go anywhere but a private home, you don't go anywhere except to the house of your friends, and use theirs while you're there if you must.
Makes me appreciate modern plumbing.
In my experience, if you need to pee on the floor/ground, skirt+no undies is easier. If you need to sit on a toilet, trousers are easier, and undies don't really make it any harder. I thus suspect that sewn drawers arose with the rise of sitting toilets.
sitting toilets actually date back to Greece and Rome. I think the reality of undergarments for both genders is not possible to put into full historical context, just because for the most part no one in any given time period considered it important enough to make note of.
Fashion designers in the renaissance: "Ah, welcome one and all to this, the annual meeting for the society of putting things...on top of other things!"
Got an actual chuckle out of me
@@Muck006 Thank you! That was most informative, I didn't know most of that, though I am well aware that fashion designers didn't become a thing until the early 1900's, or the late 1800's if you count Charles Frederick Worth sewing his name onto the clothes he created.
I think we need a Ryan George style sketch about historical dress, not sure how, but I am sure it would work
I take it Staffordshire opted to forego the fashionable silhouette because "it all felt a bit silly really" ;)
@@solertree8653 clothes he created? Designs?
Whenever Bernadette talks about EXPLICITLY RESEARCHED topics like victorian pee it gives me true chaotic academia vibes. That's all.
Chaotic Academia might be my new aesthetic now.
Can you imagine the uptight Victorian ladies peeing at the table? I giggle every time I think about it.
"As is the precarious way of history, we're all just interpreting the selected evidence that happens to survive to us, however many centuries later. And subsequently there is no such thing as a straight forward fact when speaking about things we have no first hand experience in"
Huge respect for this comment. I suspect those that believe it are the least in need and vice versa.
I want it understood that I’m not complaining, as this was very interesting description of undergarment-ness, but with the exception of that little trailer about men’s underwear at the very end, you did answer the question in your video title in one sentence. The remaining six minutes or so was just delightfully entertaining. Thank you.
I love that the jack-o-lantern turnip Easter Egg is becoming a thing in your videos.
"Women didn't wear underwear"
My brain: *immediately things about how they dealt with periods, them imagines a small trail of blood following a woman*
Abby Cox did a video on how women dealt with periods historically! Its great you should check it out
Modern tampons are bad for the environment (takes thousands of years to breakdown) and has a high percentage of causing Toxic Shock Syndrome.
I hope more would opt for eco-friendly alternatives like cloth pads (there are even modern styles that look like menstrual pads) or menstrual cups; both reusable, rewashable, budget-friendly.
@@woolflower8316 no thank you
@@woolflower8316 Getting TSS from tampons is very rare. A person can also get TSS from menstrual cups, so if you're trying to dissuade someone from using tampons you should stick with the environmental damage they cause and leave TSS out of your argument.
@@woolflower8316 Using all-cotton tampons reduces both the environmental hazard and the TSS risk to nearly 0, btw. It's the rayon that causes all the problems.
We were discussing your videos in my Cambridge supervision last week when talking about historical clothing in Woolf's 'Orlando' , so you are now an official academic source 😂.
😦😦...🤯
@@bernadettebanner So, ya know... No pressure. 🤣
@@bernadettebanner lol. You do more research than 95% of content creators, you're information is amazing and full of life and interest.
I could literally live on this channel and never need entertainment elsewhere. Thank you, Bernadette, for compiling - into a much more appealing format - all the things I Google late at night when I can’t sleep. I can tell you put a ton of work in!
No one asked but in Italian underwear are called mutande, which comes directly from the Latin gerundive of the verb "mutare" which can be translated as "that needs to be changed".
As a true Italian, I think that's brilliant.
🤔 "What should we call these things?"
🤷 "Dunno, we'll come up with something later."
😱 "But what if we forget?"
😁 "Just call them 'mutande', to remind us."
🙇 "Genius"
No kidding.
As in, the garments that need changing most often? Perfect.
@@irenejohnston6802
Indeed it does.
"How Did They Pee in Those Dresses?"
They peed in those dresses. 😬
Hahahaha 😂😂😂
@Charisma Girl Not every girl or woman chooses to experience wearing cumbersome skirts or dresses. Not every woman who has worn such dresses have also worn old times undergarment or any garments at all. Boys and men might also be curious about historical dress as well.
@Charisma Girl most modern dresses have 1-2 skirts... and no hoops. How do you bunch up the hoops? that's what I wonder
@@actually_curious4773 hoop skirts collapse up on themselves because the area between each hoop is made of fabric. They don't really "bunch", but you just like, lift the bottom hoop. It's not really any harder than any other big dress.
The Merry Pup--both my grandmothers spoke of the hazards of urinating even while crotchless undergarments were supposed to make elimination easier. Easier, perhaps. Odor and leakage free...not so much.
i cant stop starring at the guinea pig portraits in the back
Thank you for pointing out. Very appreciated.
You are a blessed human for giving me this information
😂
Wow I noticed them too!
Thought I was imagining things.
Her sibling, Dani made those portraits. And they have a RUclips channel, with a video of them painting one of them- the one of His Lordship Cesario. It’s was amazing to watch it all come together- Dani is an extremely talented and skilled artist. They also have videos of making cosplays, and one very hilarious video of going shopping in IKEA while wearing an outfit they made out of IKEA bags. Iconic!
Terri here. I found this to be quite informative, and at the same time, it is precious. Your speaking manner is enviable. Thank you!
This is a really really really dumb family story history thing, but my great grandmother, born in 1899, use to like to brag that all her grandmother wore ‘pant(ies)’ (the wording actually changed depending on whether she was speaking to her American, British, or Irish grandkids) before it was cool. Meaning she (my great grandmother’s grandmother) just shortened her undergarments to the shape of modern day pants. Yeah.
Recalling her tell this story is both my earliest memory, it was also one of my grandmother’s earliest memories of her own mother (hearing her tell the story), and oddly enough, my dad did a report on this great underpants story in the 3rd grade, that got him send home from school, so apparently he heard it pretty young too.
My great grandmother’s grandmother was born in 1815ish. My great grandmother’s mother in 1857, my great grandmother in 1899, my grandmother in 1917, my father in 1959, and me in 1993. My great grandmother died in ‘98. 42 is a good year to have a baby in my family apparently.
Wow. That side of your family are odd numbers. My mother side the females are born mainly even numbers. My great grandmother was born in 1920s, grandmother in 1942, my mother in 1962 and me in 1982. 😳 I wouldn't be shocked if my great grandmother was born in 1922 considering females from my mother side were born in the years that ended with 2s.
Not directly blood related but lots of female cousins from my mother side had kids in their 40s. However, ideally the majority had kids in their later teens early twenties. My great grandmother however had 12 kids in all, so she started off really young and ended really later on, though only 9 of the original 12 survived. Such is the life of a Cuban lady before communism took over and gave the women better natal care. Even today they just pop out kids, because sadly that is all one can do to keep preoccupied in Cuba before, during and after Cuban Communist revolution. Cuban history is a shitty one from a political perspective and even more so as a Cuban woman. Child miscarriages, death by childbirth and many other mishaps were common place until Communism came in and made having a baby in Cuba a lot easier and cheaper than in the US. Even today, right now, the mortality death rate among babies in the US is higher than in Cuba. The advantages of having free universal health care system. If only United States stop gambling with the lives of citizens, we would and could be the number one nation those politicians love to boost about.
....anyways thank you for sharing your family heritage and experiences. This is the history I like looking into and reading about from real people who share their family background. Thank you.
That book report though! I LIVE!!!
Op send us a copy of the book report the people need to know
" and oddly enough, my dad did a report on this great underpants story in the 3rd grade, that got him send home from school, so apparently he heard it pretty young too."
How glorious is that? :D
That's a beautiful piece of family story if you ask me!
@Charisma Girl I enjoyed the heck out of this whole thread, but the last line of your comment *killed* me! I burst out laughing so hard my roommate came to check what happened, if I was okay. Excellent, 10/10, would Like again if I could 👍
The fact that I discussed this exact topic yesterday with my mother, probably says something about me.
The thoughtful addressing to the multilingual viewers is, in fact, very much appreciated.
And your appreciatiin thereof.... there was not a punch throughout the remainder of the xxxxx that had anything like as much potency as that one. I am interested.... are you an appreciator of the Matrix trilogy??
My mother born in 1925, used to tell me how mortified she was at having to soak her “rags” in a bucket on the back porch. My own kids and grandkids laugh when I try to explain the contraptions we used before tampons became available. Pantyhose wasn’t invented until I was in high school either 🤣
My mommy was also born in 1925, she adopted me when I was 2 days old in 1972 (*math is wrong....I am only 29!!*). I feel so blessed by her experiences and knowledge that. like you said...most "younger" people laugh at, because they can't really fathom the concept of what you are saying. That being said, I too was mortified when she would explain to me about soaking "rags" when I was a young lady....now at my age of 50 (just kidding because math is not real at his moment! LOL) and having kids and such, it is not really that big of an issue or even gross. Just another bodily function that needs to be dealt with. Funny how time and such can change perception.
In my time, the bucket water was used in the garden to fertilize the plants. I was born in the 1950s. My grandmothers were born at the end of the 1890s. The rag soaking method was a common thing.
My mom is borned in the mid-50s. She told me several times how a mom made her those weird belts during her periods (is it the thing you call "contraption" ? English is not my first language). Meanwhile, one of her friends, whom mom died, had a pretty progressive father, who bought her pads. :'D
My mom insisted then to were pads too.
Riding side saddle makes a lot more sense now...
I hadn't thought of that! Ugh and now I can viscerally imagine the chafing....
As a rider, side saddle makes very little sense at all!
@@ellenrittgers990 even when taking several skirts/petticoats, skirt supports and a naked crotch into consideration? Nah man a side saddle is the only reasonable solution to that
@@idasvenning3892 Riding is a magnificent sport, but it’s not worth a broken neck. Even the most placid and well trained horse is capable of getting spooked and tossing a rider- it happens to many a rider even riding astride!
@@ellenrittgers990 but.... the aesthetics... I wanna look like a princess 👑
All elizabethan women wore sick sunglasses, it's entirely historically accurate. Fite me.
*cometh at me
@@maebholeary2734 i aspire to achieve your way with words
@@pay1370 "sick sunglasses". what are u talking?
they did not have sunglasses back then! 0_0 you're joking
Was very confused when I started getting loads of adverts online for urine collection bags, then I remembered I watched this video yesterday 😂
😂
Oh no, I should probably make sure people don't look at whatever I'm going to be recommended for the next couple days lmao
You are just an amazing, highly intelligent, beautiful, and very very classy woman!!!! I greatly admire your love for historical dresses, and the fact that you dress like this regularly. I have always wanted to dress in a Victorian style ball gown, but never had the courage because I was always afraid of bullies. You made me realize that there is at least 1 more person out there in this world who still dresses this way, and has much knowledge of the 1800’s. Please continue being you! You are incredible!!!
I use the term ‘underpants’ because it's impossible for the average person in my culture to misunderstand and gets me out of saying words I dislike.
You have commendable diction! It’s impressive how every syllable comes out crystal clear despite the speed!
Also, thanks for clearing up many doubts I had about undergarments of the past!
Yes, and no irritating vocal fry like most American females seem to lazily and idetically seem to emulate.
And amazing lung capacity and breathing control: the amount of talking you do in just one breath makes me dizzy!
I collect antique dolls and antique doll clothing. Even the very old under clothing had a open crotch design.
I would love to see a video introducing your collection! Antique dolls with clothing details like that would be fascinating.
@@Marialla. I second that. If @Romance with the Past is comfortable making that video, I would love to see it!
@@Marialla. Thank you how nice.
@@Caroline28483 I wish I had this talent. It's nice to know other people are interested. Thank you
Great evidence! Thank you for sharing.
Not sure why this showed up as a suggested video....that being said i am glad i did. I found this incredibly fascinating.
I'm so glad you mentioned wills; from what I have found in my own family history research (as well as the research I do for others), one striking thing about them is that they can be so very vague about clothes! I've seen one from 1772 that just mentions "all my wearing Aparell" (spelt that way in the document!), another from 1818 where my ancestor left his "Top Coat and best red waistcoat" to a grandson, and a third (dated 1771) where the testatrix left "my Black Crape Gown my black Quilted Petticoat and my black silk Apron" to her daughter-in-law, but they can be few and far between.
Kate, it's funny you mentioned about the clothing and your family. I asked my aunt about grandma's clothes once. That's when I realized how valuable they would have been. She said there isn't anything, it's all gone. My grandma would have been born at the turn of the century. What a shame, there were probably a lot of treasures that were lost.
I love how eloquently you explained everything ❤️ I had no idea how much went into a women's wardrobe back then!
6:48 Bernadette saying why are you here until the end of the video
Me: I'm a loyal subscriber
EXACTLY!
And all her videos are interesting - why else would we still be here?
@@katiezee2 the point is that Bernadette Banner's channel has good quality content
@@katiezee2 You could have switched off - I didn't find it too much 'blah, blah' I found it interesting, entertaining and amusing.
I’ve been so curious about this ever since finding out that regency dresses didn’t have any kind of pants at all. Led me down a big rabbit hole ending in finding out that pads in the 1970s really weren’t that different than the Victorian ones is basic design. Much smaller yes, but the same belt style.
I'm 67. Yes we wore a waist strap with garters to hold our napkins in place
I'm now 50, and I remember my Mum sending an embarrassed me, down to the pharmacy when I was about 10 or 11, in the early 80's, to get her some Dr White's Number 2. And they were for a belt and hook.
@@lynnodonnell4764 62 year old here. Yep, been there, done that. And sooooo glad I'm past that now! 😎
Yes I’m now 70 and remember first wearing the belt and pads. I found them very uncomfortable
I've seen Abby and priorattire's videos on the topic so I wasn't blind going into this. Love the enthusiastic and thorough exploration though. IMHO, six minutes is not enough to explore historical minutiae - and that's why I watch your videos. Great work and love the drawings lol!
Completely official! Dearest Bernadette can literally talk about Anything and we will feel Educated and well informed there after.
What a wonderfully breezy overview! I'll bet finding those incredible images was fun.
(I feel like there's an inadvertent and awkward pun in there somewhere but damned if I'm going to go looking for it)
I cannot stop looking at small paintings of HAMSTERS in old time clothes on the shelf behind this wonderful lady.
The pictures are of Guinea Pigs, not Hamsters. I agree they're very cute.
@@debarkovit Thank You Sir. You are correct.
One - I spy new blazer.... possible. Second - this made my day. The drawings were brilliant.
I adore this channel. Bernadette is so eloquent and pleasant to listen to.
I like to think that the pristine examples of modern style underwear were worn by a time traveler, who brought them out of habit and quickly discarded them once she realised her silly mistake, but that may be a slightly too complex explanation and maybe some lady just hated corsets👀
This needs to be a show/book/something now, we must see all the historical antics
Companion- Doctor, we need to go back to 1670.
Doctor- Why?
Companion- I left my knickers on a Versailles room.
@@aliatheli I'd watch it ngl
@@Nikki-tx6kh Now, that would be quite an episode 👀
I was thinking that as well...naked time traveller fleeing the scene...Bond...Jane Bond
As a gentle aside to modern ladies, if you switch from disposable products with plastic and bleach back to the Victorian belt and cloth, it will change your whole world (at least for a week a month). Absolutely love how Bernadette is willing to flex with historical finds rather than become academically hysterical when something contrary to established ideas is discovered. While I was in the Society for Creative Anachronism some garb police castigated me severely (tacky by SCA standards BTW) for making my working-class dress "too short and looks jarringly out of period". Lo and behold, several years later comes a Scandinavian find and guess where the woman's skirt length was? Up around her ankles, because walking through wet grass to do chores with a trailing skirt would be... stupid. Our ancestors were not by and large stupid, or we wouldn't be here. So if something like menstrual protection while allowing quick and easy peeing seems practical and necessary but doesn't have documentation in historical finds, there's a good chance we just missed it. There may have been another type of underwear that was considered so personal (do you frequently write about your menstrual protection?) or the rags were recycled and not considered for a definite purpose. Yay Bernadette for making history a living thing, that celebrates the creative potential of the human sewist.
SCA folk should know better, for a start. When I used to wear a long floaty dress to garden in, I ALWAYS tucked it up on each hip (under my knickers and out of sight of neighbours), to be out of the way. (I loved that dress; it was so cool in summer). Old paintings sometimes reflect this habit women had on the farms. Also SCA folk should know that 20 yards of fabric to wash is a real pain, just because it trailed in the mud. Only the very rich could afford to mud sweep with their skirts, trains and ruffles, because some other poor person was doing all the laundry and they had more than one dress anyway. Poorer folk may have only had two frocks or skirts, and one would have been for 'good', not for working in. SCA people can get it right royally wrong, because they're not thinking about things in a practical fashion.
hahaha scadians - the idea of wearing a backward apron underneath bc you sit on the back of the skirt is genius, plus you can just manage when you need to manually to absorb, and considering that women menstruating was considered pretty "unclean" i wouldn't be surprised if they were, when worn and less useful, tossed in as fire kindling or routinely burned - we may not have understood germ theory back in the day, but we were pretty petty and awful about female stuff 🤣
Society for Creative Anachronism Do you have to have a license for that you have to have?
yes, SCA probably planted the seed for my love of costumery, sewing, and history. My mom was in it at the beginning, but my family quit when the accuracy police made it no-fun. :( I might try to get back into it :)
Well said! 💜
What I really wonder is what did people do about thigh chafing before they started wearing drawers?🤔🤔🤔 I refuse to believe it is only a recent phenomenon!
The innermost petticoat has a tendency to end up securely wedged between ones legs while walking, effectively preventing chafing. On hot days, I'll shove it between my legs immediately instead of waiting for it to end up there naturally :)
Abby Cox address this in her video about dressing in 18th century clothing for her job. Basically, if I correctly recall, petticoats help because they get caught and provide a barrier.
Seconding Abby's 'I Wore 18th Century Dress' video! She mentions the petticoats/shift thing. :)
The petticoat gets wedged in, but I like to think that I wouldve also wrapped my thighs in bandages. And it seems in the Italian renaissance that women wore drawers, they found some pairs! However they seem to have ditched them again until the 19th century
Oh! And I keep yanking it out of there. I guess I'll leave it next time. (I thought it was just me.)
I wish I could comment this on every one of Bernadette's videos, but...I just APPRECIATE the effort put in to cite everything and provide transparency. Studying and presenting the past (let alone the present) is SO difficult to do well, but it's so IMPORTANT to do it well. Seriously, thank you, and keep up the good work!! Others should look to do this more often. It really encourages important information literacy and critical thinking for all people out there.
Oh, I loved this! I studied history as an undergrad, Tudor England specialty - but really I didn't give a rat's bottom about the politics, wars etc. I was always fascinated by social history - how did people actually live? Glad I found your channel. Great video!
Without wanting to appear as a voyeur, i would be equivocal if I didn’t admit this situation has crossed my mind. You addressed the subject completely yet most gracefully. Thank you.
From now on I’ll be referring to my period as “that time of moon”
I refer to it by "monthly blood-sacrifice", which feels appropriately dramatic!
My friends and I call it "Japan" because at the start it resembles the Japanese flag, and guys have no idea what we are talking about as a bonus!
@@PeachPlastic oooh i love it
I call it ‘sharks’. I don’t remember if it was because of the blood or the fact it used to feel like a shark was tearing out my uterus.
It’s been #3 for as long as I can remember.
#1 is pretty obvious
#2 is again, fairly straight forward
#3 is what y’all are talking about here, which generally happens for most human females of appropriate age and child bearing capacity for circa 7 out of every 28 days or so.
Needing to pee while wearing a jumpsuit > needing to pee with a crinoline
I was going to comment: "Women now: 'How on earth do you pee while wearing a dress like that?!' Also Women now: *taking off their entire outfit in a freezing public bathroom after realising that wearing a jumper OVER a catsuit wasn't the best idea*
Also not flushing a strap or a sleeve down the WC or worse. Like clumsy pregnant me did!
@@butcheromance ahah it's so true isn't it!
@@BeerElf66 I feel like there's a very interesting story to be told there hehe
@@BeerElf66 And no accidentally getting your skirt tucked into your undergarments!
I never realized just how grateful I am for modern underwear.
As pretty and wonderful as historical/retro garments are i would never change todays practicity, i mean it would be nice if they make Quality clothes, but i like this situation where we wear one or two layers of clothes as the minimun (it depends where you live, and if the weather alow its).
This was fascinating! Thank you for sharing and teaching us these interesting yet often overlooked parts of history.
I don’t need history class anymore
I’m learning everything here. 😏😏😏
i don't have history anymore. but i love history so i am kinda sad.
care to switch a day whit a history less 16 year old Dutch female.
@Charisma Girl i know i know we had them before but i have not had them for 2 years now. 😣 it is even sadder that i need history and geography(don't have that either) for my next school. but i do have classes like plant where you learn to plant thing in the ground, Animal's where you learn to pick up and care for animals and we have cooking.
@Charisma Girl i will remember that thank you. normally duch public schools are amazing and i agree that students must learn to cook and stuff but at some thing is do not have a say in. i wacht a lot of history movies and read heastory books because they intrest me. if you want to have al look at my school. Clusius college castricum
And I doubt that they cover this little info of history treasure in school ...
So much is not being taught , but now I understand why , seeing
All the corruption in
Education , medicine,
Politics and more ....
@Charisma Girl 16, turning 17 in april.
I don't have history anymore because of the type of secondary education (in my case vocational college for business and administration that opens up a _huge_ career path for me. I could basically become a doctor or a make-up artist from here). You can get courses outside school, but I kinda don't care for those. Too expensive and I think it tends to be quite shit if something goes wrong.
I kinda miss history, but I won't die because I don't have it anymore. What I do have and subsequently hate is having to take chemistry and that stuff.
Different countries just have different education plans/programms.
Edit: Forgot to mention I am Finnish (we have topped in lists multiple times for education so I am not lackin on that department). If I went to "high school" I think I would have history still.
Vocational collage is either way a better option. After high school all you have done is memorised some books and can maybe disect a rat. After vocational collage you have a career, maybe you have specialised on a specific careerpath and you are more likely to get a job. Multiple "degrees/qualifications" to different careers are recommended so you don't just need to rely on being a nurse or a librarian. You can just switch careers and go look for a job as a professional gardener or an actor.
I have learned in mandatory history Swedish and Russian history, some world history (our class was slow, okay) and also tad of economics on the side. Of course there's more. I also spend most of my life on the internet so I know way too much weird stuff. Also can recognise songs from the first three beats or less.
5:13 the sparkly clean "underwear" made me laugh in a highly undignified manner
Incredibly good English. More than anything. Thanks - a pleasure to listen to you!!
I don't know who you are or why RUclips decided this should be in my recommended list, but I am so happy it is. Wonderful intelligent content! Time to catch up on all the other videos you have made!
Agreed!
For sale drawers with the crotch sewn closed, never worn.
Original Owner- opens gift of closed crotch drawers (having worn open ones her entire life) Thinking "What hell am I supposed to do with these?!."
Or someone buying the discount mistake with every intention of 'fixing' it....and never gets to it just like all of us.
haha
Would you believe that there are people out there that would prefer that they had already been worn? I accidentally saw some that sold on Ebay years and years ago when they still allowed stuff like that. At first, I was confused (read: NAIVE) because it took me about 5 or 10 minutes before I figured it out. Duh 😉
@@luxurycardstore you can’t sell open drawers on eBay?! That’s so weird. I just bought a handful of them at a brocante in France (score!!) and I see them on Etsy. But not allowed on eBay?! Weird.
Off topic, but whenever i watch your videos i always become so self-aware of my posture 😂
I'm more concerned about the modernday ladies wearing jumpsuits, or rather how do they do their "business" when they go to loo...!!! Do they have to remove the upper portion of the dress...?!! I'll be grateful to anyone, enlightening me about the same 🙄🤔🤯
Mousumi, that's exactly what happens with jumpsuits. You have to remove or unchain the jumpsuit to pee.
@@mskim-wo7vh you have to remove the jumpsuit down to your legs so you can go
Ms Banner, not only are you intelligent, articulate, well-read but you are very beautiful. I really enjoy your videos (whether I already knew about the topic or not) because no matter what, you not only teach me something new, you do it with such style & grace. Thank you for sharing. 😊
My great grandmother, told me that when they had their period they wore a rubber apron in the back and used rags as a pad. Then they had to wash them and hang them out to dry. They also made their own soap. She also told me that one day as she was walking down a sidewalk, the button holing up her bloomers popped or, and they fell down, she acts cool, and just stepped out of them and walked on! PS she was born in Kansas in a covered wagon!
I remember reading somewhere that Princess Charlotte (she who died in childbirth in 1817) wore drawers and that this was considered very daring.
Lady in the past writing her will: ah yes, and I leave my shoes to my daughter and my jewelry to my son. My underwear... to my husband
Somthing to remember her by of course
When "It still smells like her" gets a completely new universe.
Honestly that’s kind of sweet
'My underwear to that horrid woman living across the street'
I was wondering who in their right mind lists their underwear in their will! 🤣🤣
6:46 It's simple really: Because, regardless of topic, your presentation is fascinating! Cheers!
Hi! Referencing the underwear found at Lengberg Castle: I'm currently researching and recreating the Lengberg Bra found with those underwear, and it has been confirmed by the textiles technicians (Beatrix Nutz and others) that those are actually mens underwear. A fragment of blue wool was found on them that matches a remnant of blue mens hose that was discovered at the same time.
The skimpy style of these is actually a newer invention that came after the baggy Braes that were worn with split hose during the early 15thc and before. Why? Because fashion changed around the mid 15thc to joined tightly fitting hose, and so the underwear had to be skimpier to avoid the dreaded VPL and bunchy nappy bum, lol.
But then, why a bra? That seems like a useless garment for a man. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume it is a woman's outfit cobbled together from some leftover mens clothing, or the cabbage thereof?
@@Marialla. the bra wasnt for a man. The underwear was for a man.
All the pieces were found together under the floorboards and is believed to have been in fill during renovations in about 1485. Over 1200 fragments in total, ranging from mens hose and shirt fragments, leather shoes, womens garments, and a childs dress.
Women did not wear underwear in the 15th century because undies were seen as a symbol of male power and dominance. There's even satiral pictures about it.
The Lengberg Bra isnt even a bra as we know it because it would have had a skirt attached (there is remaining evidence of this).
You have to be so very careful about making assumptions when this sort of thing is found.
Also, if the underwear was refashioned from mens underwear, why on earth would there STILL be wool from the mens hose attached to it?
@@historysquirrel Because underwear being a symbol of male power and dominance isn't just a major assumption on your part, instead of the obvious practicality of having to contain waggly outer bits when oh, I dunno, doing nearly all the dangerous work that waggly outer bits snag on!? Please, you sound like someone who rails against corsetry for the same ridiculous reasons.
@@MiaogisTeas ... erm, i dont rail against corsetry actually. I like corsetry.
Also, the fact about them being a symbol of power and dominance is a fact. Its documented.
@@historysquirrel There's obviously a lot of research here I've never had the chance to see yet. i was not even aware there was a huge stash of 1200 pieces in the find! I've only ever seen the photos shown here, and thought they were "solo" artifacts. Looking forward to seeing more information about this find published!
Meanwhile, can you tell me more about how/why underwear would be seen as a male dominance thing? I can't make the connection in my own mind. What is "dominant" about wearing underwear?
I was actually wondering about this the other day. I was watching Bridgerton, and there’s a scene where a young lady gets her period unexpectedly and starts stuffing cloth napkins up her dress. I was like, wait, where’s she putting those?
I just came here from watching that exact scene
I read this and all I suddenly started thinking of lasagna images. I'm never eating pasta again.
@Charisma Girl I have watched other channels about this mostly to do with Tudor times where they think they used a belt,. There are instances of Elizabeth I and her laundress washing rags,, but she also experimented with a kind of tampon made out of tightly wound cloth which could be washed and presumably reused
@Charisma Girl what about how some sort of diapers? like what they used back in the days for babys and changed after a shit or piss
And normal pins (like the ones for sewing were invented by then) hence they pin the cloth around their bum under the dress and change up when its "full" ...and even without pins you can tie a knot or stick it under your corset to secure it for a while
Like if you are really at the ball, the maid might have had to cary a cloth with her so in accidental need they would just tie the lady up and she gets home as soon as possible excusing herself of not feeling well ...
@Charisma Girl when it comes to today it is kind of bad that we still see a natural thing as embarassing when we are perfectly honest about it, me myself included because that's what my mother kind of told me
BUT that aside wasn't it easier for them back then at least when we are talking about the somthing around the 1800s where they had chaperon basically wherever they went. So Balls and parties wouldn't be much of a problem i would say. But traveling is problematic
The idea that someone created closed seam drawers, but then never wore them is very amusing to me. It’s like they had the idea, made them, and decided it was ridiculous, then centuries later they end up in a museum
Problem? Do not wear.Nude is better.
Presumably Cancan dancers and the like required special garments or face arrest.
Oh dear that would have been a problem for the Rocketts as well.
@@TheLhester1965 this Wik may be of interest
The dance was considered scandalous, and for a while there were attempts to suppress it. This may have been partly because in the 19th century, women wore pantalettes, which had an open crotch, and the high kicks were intentionally revealing. There is no evidence that can-can dancers wore special closed underwear, although it has been said that the Moulin Rouge management did not permit dancers to perform in "revealing undergarments".[6] Occasionally, people dancing the can-can were arrested, but there is no record of its being banned, as some accounts claim. Throughout the 1830s, it was often groups of men, particularly students, who danced the can-can at public dance-halls.[7
I can totally imagine Claire or Brianna in Outlander making a pair, wearing them once, and deciding they were useless.
First video that came straight to the point, in clear concise wording. Amazing.
Thank you for this very informative video. Some folks seem to forget that the smallest everyday factors are as much a part of our history as the grandest of palaces or most famous battles.
You immediately won me over with the guinea pig pictures in the background!
This reminds me of one of the many antique valuation programmes we have on TV here in UK. A lady brought in her gravy boat to be valued and was horrified and mortified to find she had been serving her gravy in an antique potty! It was brought to ladies at dinner who needed to 'go' but didn't want to leave the table so they could relieve themselves right there! Then the poor maid had to take it away and dispose of the contents. Ugh! That poor lady on TV, she went pale and didn't know what to say or where to look. I wonder how she faced her friends and family after that!!
And to think modern-day ppl are embarrassed to accidentally fart in front of others, when in the past they just casually peed at the dinner table with friends. Wtf.
I kinda need to see this
@@iprobablyforgotsomething I don't think I'd even physically be able to pee in public while casually talking to someone. Like the pee would just refuse to come out. I don't know how men do it in urinals.
There is one anecdote of a Japanese tea-master who bought a Chinese valuable chamberpot and smashed it. He wanted to prevent an ignorant buyer to use it for the tea-cermony!
Loving this channel for an accurate depiction to my book. THANK YOU!
Bernadette uploads a video.
Immediately stopping everything at once, grabbing one's tea and enjoing her content.
The cakes of the people in those illustrations are particularly generous.
"Surprisingly pristine"--her face and gesture cracked me up there! 😁
Hello Bernadette, your historical journey of underwear is great! I remember, my grand aunts cleaned out some wardrobe... ages ago and we found all kinds of shifts and drawers with open crotch! In the sommertime they went "full commando " 😂! I still have some things around. Even old bed sheets with wonderful embroideries. Best regards Chrissy
I love this video! I clearly remember the first time I found out people didn’t always wear “panties.” It was looking at an American Girl catalog treading a description of Felicity’s clothes. It rocked my worldview.
This is *such* a vital question to be addressed!
This is absolutely vital historical research and analysis. Thank you, Bernadette.
Bernadette you are a wonderful speaker, in my view you are wonderful talent in what you talk about. I simply love the way that you deliver your speech
I know many of us are saying this, but you should wear that Blazer more often, it is fantastic on you!
I feel slightly attacked! Just after i thought that I felt 6mins was to short of a video about this, you say that you spend 6mins too long on that question. I wanted more, don’t come at me!!!
That's how I had to pee while I was in my wedding gown. What a bother. Thank goodness the lady where we bought it said wear this. Divided knickers hahaha, a real big yes! 😂
Imagine being a time traveler and seeing your underwear in a museum
I don't believe "sanitary aprons" were ever intended to be worn alone. I believe they were a "second line of defense" to use with sanitary belts & rags. Unless it's uncomfortably thick, a rag sanitary pad can bleed through. Aprons were advertised as "rubberized" fabric. I can imagine it's a lot more comfortable to have that waterproof/rubberized layer hanging loose behind you, than between your thighs. (It would prevent staining the back of your petticoat when you're seated.) I can also imagine that sanitary aprons would be most useful when a woman had to leave home for many hours. At home, you can change your rags as often as required, but the logistics of changing re-usable rags would be more difficult away from home (imagine no restrooms, no running water & no plastic baggies to carry the bloody rags home for washing . I think the "apron" would have been a backup , in case your pad failed.
Wearing an apron alone would be a bloody mess between your thighs...... I think our ancestors were more fastidious than that.
Your goofy hypothesis fell apart the moment you mentioned 'rubberized.' I'll let you do your own research about when rubberizing things became practical or standard, esp in terms of the historical period Bernadette is talking about. And you edited your post, too. lmao
I inherited an unused sanitary apron that was in my grandmother-in-law's sewing basket, still in the box. It was pink, dainty, and waterproof. It hung down like the back half of a slip. Yes, it was a second line of defense. But it was also used to prevent your skirts from being ruined - blood stains could be hard to remove. I'm not sure what Fddlstxx meant in his/her comment about your "rubberized" reference being inaccurate. Rubberizing things was in general use before 1850 and the sanitary aprons would have been rubberized. The ad for the sanitary apron looks like it was published around 1915.
@@Fddlstxx Ah yes, rubber didn't exist before the 1900's.
My mother was born in the 50's i remember her talking about sanitary belts, not with rags but with saintary towels/pads. I remember her saying they were thick... and uncomfortable...
@@Kalani_Saiko maybe vulcanized rubber didn't. but i want to introduce you to our friendly plants that were producing rubber since before humans ever existed: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber
Question for a future video: How did women wash their clothing, and how frequently? How do you, as a modern conscientious owner of only a few garments wash your clothes?
I watched a documentary on this were people like Ruth Goodman did experimental archeology.
i second this question!
I'll leave the more detailed answer to the experts like Bernadette, but the short answer is that the only pieces that got changed and washed regularly were the chemises and (later) drawers that were the base layer right on the skin - and maybe the first petticoat layer underneath. The chemise was worn underneath everything, including under the corset, and protected the corset and outer dress layers from your body odor and sweat, so those other pieces were laundered less often, if at all.
You sometimes find in the bodices of dresses that they would have armpit shields sewn in with a few tack stitches or otherwise attached to be removable which would help reduce the amounts of times an outer garment would need laundering.
Clothing was generally washed once a week on a Monday (washing day) by a laundry maid if you had one, sent out to someone else if you didn't (my Great Grandma used to take in other's laundry to make some money) or done yourself if poorer. Most of what was washed were the linens that went under everything else. They would be washed with a small amount of soap or, especially if poorer, ash lye. Ash lye is one of the ingredients of soap, but is a very strong alkali in its natural state, so not good to get on your skin at all! When combined with oils it makes soap, so it would be very effective at getting body oils out of garments as it would bind with them, making soap, which would then help shift the rest of the dirt.
You'd change the innermost petticoats/chemise more frequently than you'd wash them since it was the done thing to wash on Mondays. So you'd have enough to last the week (sometimes airing a chemise out and rewearing before it went to wash, its a very modern thing to wash things after only one wearing).
As for the actual washing process, this was done in barrels of hot water, with a washing board, or they'd hit the wet washing laid out on a bench with a laundry beater, or later in washing machine which was a big metal tub with a clever contraption in it which does the scrubbing for you when you turn the handle. And they had wringing machines to squeeze the water out (useful since linen absorbs a lot of moisture, so would be very wet!) and then it would all get hung up to dry. A lot of very hard work. Then after that there would be the ironing which would involve heating the irons up over the fire and you'd have a few so one could be heating whilst you'd be using the other. Oh and I missed out that some garments would be starched. That would have been done after the washing but before the drying and ironing.
Just typing all that makes me so glad we have electrically powered washing machines now!
That ash lye reminds me: My grandmother told me that her mother used to use ash for the nicer textiles, like Sunday table cloths, as the usual washing detergent at the time (around WWII, in Germany) contained abrasives (sand, iirc?). Great to clean heavily soiled work clothes probably, not so great for delicate fabrics.
The fact I knew this all already, but still come running because its Bernadette talking UwU
I have a pair of the ‘crotchless’ bloomers I bought many years ago at an estate sale. I asked a woman who had a well known vintage shop in Austin Texas about them and she said they were picnic pantaloons. Sounds more like they are just everyday garments of the time! Now I need to go find a work woman’s guide - love those kinds of books
My grandma called them “ever readies” handy for picnic romances or everyday.
That shutterstock underwear picture cracks me up omg!
I love that fact that she can make history even more interesting!! (but then again she can talk about anything and we will still be sucked it!)
Bernadette is a beacon to us all. Knowledge, beauty, grace and a whole lot of well mannered sass. If you don’t come for the whole package, I don’t know why you are here.
Not entirely sure why youtube thought that this video was an appropriate introduction to this channel, but I'm happy to have gained the knowledge either way.
Finally a subject I’m interested in in my recommendations. I’m a 68 year old lady and remember nylon stockings held up with garters and then pantyhose! PS I learned ‘small clothes’ from Game of Thrones.
Well I hate to do some educating here but the garters were created for formed silk stockings. Not nylon ones. Silk ones did not stay up on their own and were not elastic. Nylon stockings were generally available after WWII. The garters were an aesthetic holdover.
@@sgeine interesting.
I preferred stockings over panty hose - panty hose get so hose, stockings were much better. We just continue to regress as we "progress".
@@mehitablestorm8877 wow I haven’t worn pantyhose since Dubya’s first term.
@@nhmooytis7058 stockingsand ģarter belts are so much more better
Bernadette, how did you know I needed underclothing history right now? Genetics notes can wait: I have to learn about peeing in historical dress
OK Google, what kinda weird ass searches have I been doing to get this in my suggestions?
You have a piss kink don't you?
LOL
Well, I am still here because it is a pleasure to listen to your explanations, even though I am neither a dressmaker nor a historian. However, your videos are most educating. Thank you for posting them.
No one makes peeing sound more eloquent than Bernadette.
Yesss she says it with class