Did you know that an Icelandic witchcraft ritual dating from the 16th century implied the meticulous casualness of the skin of the lower half of human corpses to wear like a pair of magic panties called Nibers? Or that tight lace corsets have been historically blamed for tuberculosis, epilepsy and ugly children? This information in fashion history is among hundreds transparent in the new book of the British writer Nina Edwards, The virtues of underwear: modesty, flamboyance and dirt (2024).
Published by Reaktion Books, the text of 253 pages of Edwards on the origins and the evolution of underwear is supplemented by 89 illustrations and historical photos – of which 24 are printed in color on brilliant pages – concerning cultural, social, sexospecific and economic imports “underneath. “Based on tedious research, Edwards deals with countless perspectives on contextual account in an accessible but non -linear way. The result is a winding but engaging story that manages to maintain an entertaining grip, even on the most added attention by Tiktok.
Serving a radical introduction into the world of underwear, Edwards' text is organized in eight chapters examining the goal and origins, social and economic connotations, material history, marketing and mainly Western intimate Appliances – Corsets and codpies, lingerie, swimming and nappies sports clothes for infants and menstrual hygiene clothes. It underlines at the start of the book that “a problem for the clothing historian is that he tends to be the least worn, the most formal, sometimes the least loved clothes that are kept for the future”, which inevitably leaves gaps in the history of underwear.
“The material examples, we tend to be clothes that were not worn, and so we have very little clothes; unless it was taken in a ice period like Ötzi in the Alps, that simply does not exist,” said Edwards in an interview with The The New books in women's history podcast. “If he was more or less exhausted by the wearer, he could then be reused as rags or for other purposes, he would not have been saved.”
Fortunately, proof of the social and material evolution of underwear Was preserved by documentary photography, which Edwards strongly presents throughout the book. She refers and includes a color photo of the pale blue knit silk shirt carried by King Charles I of England for his execution on January 30, 1649 – a garment he asked to prevent shiver in the cold and thus appear frightened to meet his spell – as well as a black and white photo of a preserved inuit – as well as a black and white photo of a kept inuit preserved seedsor thong lined with seal fur, from the 19th century.
Paintings, prints, sculptures and illustrations abound throughout the pages of the book as vital resources to understand the long arc of the relationship of humanity with underwear – including a range of ancient Roman mosaics, illuminations of medieval manuscripts, rebirth and Rococo paintings and photos of Billboard in the 21st century. Juxtaposing printed in Japanese wood blocks from the 19th century with a photo of Cardrona Bra end in New Zealand and more, Edwards brings together militancy and modesty, class and cleanliness, sexuality and spirituality, awareness campaigns for screech and cancer, and sheep wool exchange for spandex for ease and comfort in a rapid overview of people and their intimate wear – both in constant evolution.
“In the middle of what I tried to provide – what a reliable story I can – I also made a number of supceluances and suggestions, and some examples of my own experiences,” said Edwards New books in women's history. “I hope that readers will question these examples with their own, and may add them and make them a richer image because I think it is an area where an enormous quantity of subjective knowledge must be provided.”
