The fascinating history of women’s underwear

Underwear is one of those everyday items that feels almost timeless. Whether it is a pair of panties, knickers, boxer shorts or briefs, we simply assume people have always worn something similar. History tells a very different story. For centuries, many women in Europe wore no underpants at all.

That does not mean they went without underclothes. Far from it. Women typically wore a long linen garment called a shift or chemise beneath their dresses. It protected expensive outer clothing from sweat and body oils, could be washed more frequently than heavy gowns and provided a comfortable layer against the skin.

But beneath that? Often, there was nothing. It seems astonishing today, yet for generations this was entirely normal.

Men and women dressed very differently

The reason lies in the way clothing developed. For much of history, men and women wore fundamentally different styles.

Men rode horses, fought wars, worked outdoors and wore separate garments for each leg. As a result, they developed undergarments such as braies, loose linen trousers that provided comfort beneath outer clothing and later evolved into breeches and other forms of underwear.

Women’s clothing followed a different path. Long dresses and skirts covered the entire lower body, making separate undergarments seem unnecessary. A full-length shift provided modesty and comfort, while layers of petticoats added warmth and shape.

Because dresses hung freely rather than dividing the legs, there was little practical reason to wear what we would now recognise as knickers.

Washing clothes was hard work

To understand medieval clothing, it also helps to remember that laundry was nothing like it is today. There were no washing machines, tumble dryers or detergents.

Cleaning clothes was a physically demanding task that could take an entire day.

Outer garments were expensive and often difficult to wash without damaging delicate fabrics. Linen shifts solved that problem by absorbing sweat and dirt before they reached the dress itself.

These simple garments were washed regularly, while expensive gowns might be cleaned only occasionally. In many ways, the shift performed the same hygienic role that underwear does today.

The surprisingly practical reason women did not wear knickers

Modern readers often assume that the absence of underwear must have been uncomfortable or embarrassing but it made perfect sense given the fashions of the time. Women’s skirts could weigh several kilograms and consisted of numerous layers of fabric, petticoats and, later, structures such as hoops and bustles. Getting dressed could take considerable time and so could getting undressed.

Without separate underwear, using the toilet was much simpler. Rather than removing multiple layers of clothing, women could lift their skirts and use a chamber pot or privy with relative ease. Adding fitted undergarments would only have complicated the process.

It is one of those details of everyday life that rarely appears in history books but helps explain why underwear arrived so late.

Then fashion became much bigger

By the 18th and especially the 19th century, women’s clothing grew even more elaborate. Hooped skirts, crinolines and later bustles created enormous silhouettes that could extend several feet from the body.

These spectacular fashions made movement more difficult but also highlighted the growing problem of practicality. At the same time, ideas about modesty were changing.

Society increasingly expected women to cover more of the body, even beneath their clothing. The stage was set for one of fashion’s most surprising inventions.

The curious invention of split drawers

When women’s underwear finally became more common during the 19th century, it looked nothing like modern knickers.

Instead, many women wore drawers, a loose pair of underpants that looked more like wide shorts or lightweight trousers than modern knickers. Unlike today’s underwear, many pairs were not stitched together in the middle. Instead, each leg remained separate, leaving an opening between them. To modern eyes, it seems a bizarre design but at the time, it was brilliantly practical.

Removing several heavy layers of skirts, corsets and petticoats every time nature called was almost impossible. Split drawers allowed women to use the toilet without completely undressing, preserving both modesty and convenience.

The design remained common for decades and solved a genuine everyday problem created by Victorian fashion.

Not everyone approved

Even as drawers became more widely available, they were not universally accepted and some people considered them unnecessary. Others regarded them as oddly masculine because they resembled men’s garments.

Fashion magazines debated their merits, while etiquette writers discussed whether respectable women should wear them at all. It would take many decades before underwear became a routine part of every woman’s wardrobe.

The woman who made underwear controversial

If underwear was slowly becoming more common, one woman helped turn it into a national talking point.

In the mid-19th century, American women’s rights campaigner Amelia Bloomer began promoting a new style of dress that challenged almost every fashion convention of the day. The outfit consisted of a shorter skirt worn over loose, full-length trousers gathered at the ankle.

The design was not entirely her invention, but after she championed it in her newspaper The Lily, the garment quickly became known as “bloomers”.

The reaction was extraordinary. Newspapers mocked the outfit relentlessly. Cartoonists portrayed women in bloomers as unfeminine, rebellious or ridiculous, while critics claimed the style threatened traditional ideas about womanhood. The outrage seems almost comical today.

Yet it revealed just how emotionally charged clothing had become. Something as simple as women wearing bifurcated garments beneath, or instead of, long skirts was enough to provoke public debate across Britain and America.

Although bloomers never became everyday fashion, they planted an important idea that women’s clothing did not have to follow the old rules.

Imbed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suHDzMcOZwc

Bicycles changed everything

One invention did more than almost any fashion designer to transform women’s underwear. The bicycle.

During the late 19th century, cycling became enormously popular, but it also exposed the limitations of traditional clothing. Long skirts became tangled in wheels and corsets restricted movement. Heavy petticoats made riding uncomfortable and, in some cases, dangerous.

Practical undergarments suddenly made far more sense. Some women adopted bloomers for cycling, despite attracting criticism from those who thought the outfit improper. Others embraced lighter, less restrictive clothing that allowed greater freedom of movement.

The bicycle became closely linked with women’s independence, encouraging fashions that prioritised practicality alongside appearance.

As one social change gathered pace, another followed.

War reshaped the wardrobe

The two World Wars accelerated changes that had already begun. Millions of women entered factories, offices and farms to replace men serving in the armed forces. Clothing designed for drawing rooms and formal social occasions simply could not cope with industrial work.

Comfort became increasingly important and so did practicality. Mass production also made underwear more affordable than ever before.

By the early 20th century, the garment had evolved considerably. Bulky split drawers gradually gave way to closed designs that more closely resembled modern knickers, while improvements in manufacturing produced lighter fabrics that were easier to wash and more comfortable to wear.

What had once been considered unusual was becoming entirely ordinary.

New fabrics changed fashion forever

Technology transformed underwear almost as much as changing attitudes. For centuries, linen and cotton had dominated underclothing because they were breathable and relatively easy to clean. The 20th century introduced entirely new possibilities.

Elastic waistbands improved comfort and fit and rayon offered a softer feel.

Then came nylon, first introduced in the late 1930s, which revolutionised hosiery and lingerie by creating garments that were lighter, stronger and more affordable.

Manufacturers increasingly marketed underwear not simply as a practical necessity but as something fashionable.

Advertisements shifted their focus from hygiene to elegance, confidence and personal style. Underwear had become part of fashion rather than something hidden from it.

From necessity to luxury

By the second half of the 20th century, lingerie had developed into a major industry and department stores devoted entire sections to underwear. Luxury brands transformed practical garments into aspirational purchases – and sexy must-haves!.

What had once existed almost entirely for comfort and cleanliness was now associated with glamour, self-expression and design. An item that had barely existed for many women just a few centuries earlier was now available in countless colours, fabrics and styles.

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Image credits: Anastassiya Bezhekeneva, Michael Lee, clu, Luis Alvarez