For our third issue of In Retrospect Magazine, I took over the task of writing the men’s vintage style guides, and I set out with the grand idea of presenting the history and development of each aspect of men’s clothing, starting from the skin outwards. So this first article tells the story of the evolution of Men’s underwear in the 20th Century… I even had to turn male model at the last minute when one of our photographers models dropped out.
Undergarments have been in use from the dawning of history in the form of the humble loincloth and this particular item continues to be in use in some form or another throughout the world and into modern history (most notably by Japanese soldiers in the Second World War).
The first noticeable evolution (aside from the codpiece, but this falls into the ridiculous category for me) comes in the form of medieval ‘braies’, later just known as ‘drawers’. A fashioned garment covering each leg and tied at the waist with a drawstring, this is arguably the first form of modern underwear.
It’s also at the time we get the first ‘undershirt’, a close-fitting garment called a Chemise (or sometimes smock or shift), which would be worn under ones doublet and tucked into drawers.It’s not until the industrial revolution and the invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney that we start to get mass-produced undergarments and the real evolution begins.
